Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The space elevator's not just another competitive technology, promoted by people who simply like the idea of diminishing the luster of the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
A practical way to travel between the stars is a must-have for space opera, and a sine qua non for our frequently… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
It bears mentioning that the Milky Way is only one of 150 billion galaxies visible to our telescopes - and each of… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
If aliens are really hanging out in our 'hood, it's hard to imagine any other fact more worthy of study. If not,… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Admittedly, it would take industrial-grade chutzpah and a massive dose of malevolence for anyone to bulldoze the spot where Neil Armstrong stepped… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
It seems that 'rocket scientist' is a job category that's here for the long haul, like 'mortician.' But all this activity masks… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Explorers tend to be the aggressive types - why else would they risk scurvy, mutiny and other bad things to go out… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Five centuries from now - barring unimaginable catastrophe - the moon will be developed real estate. There's economic incentive to exploit the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The total funding of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) in the U.S. is 0.0003 percent of the tax monies spent on… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Mining asteroids is a well-oiled trope of science-fiction. But someday, actually doing it will make economic sense. Many of the essential metals… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Buying insurance is no one's idea of fun. And it's especially easy to berate something as funky-sounding as writing checks to defend… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Consider that the overwhelming majority of those 40,000 near-Earth asteroids are small enough to fit on the parking lot at the mall.… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The total number of people that do a job that has the same description as mine in the entire world is fewer… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
There is little chance that aliens from two societies anywhere in the Galaxy will be culturally close enough to really 'get along.'… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Star Trek's genial premise is that the cosmos is flush with intelligent species, and our descendants will interact with them face-to-face, thanks… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
NASA's Office of Commercial Exploration has been concerned about protecting the landing zones where humans first walked on the Moon, and one… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
We can no better imagine what will be happening on the moon 500 years from now than Columbus could imagine contemporary Manhattan.… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
If this is the only planet on which not only life, but intelligent life, has arisen, that would be very unusual. — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
'E.T.' was far-fetched. 'E.T.' was this wimpy-looking kid that came to Earth to pick some plants, but he came from the Andromeda… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Planets that don't currently sport plate tectonics, such as Venus and Mars, are scarcely habitable. Tectonics might be a requirement of any… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The thing to keep in mind is that we're still in the very early days when it comes to the search for… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The math is dead simple: it seems that the frequency of planets able to support life is roughly one percent. In other… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
A factory that can turn carbon nanotubes into a sheet a yard wide and long enough to stretch one-fourth of the way… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
What's a space elevator? Simply described, it's a thin ribbon, about 3 feet wide and 60 thousand miles long, stretching upwards from… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In the four years since its launch, Kepler has chalked up 122 new and confirmed planets. It's also caught the scent of… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
It's hardly a secret that I'm skeptical of declarations that the aliens are out and about on our planet. Still, I try… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Are two eyes, four appendages and an upright posture really essential for any creature that can ace the galactic SAT's? Maybe not.… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Like prospecting in the 19th century, reconnaissance of the asteroids would of necessity take place in an arena where trouble is likely… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Mars still remains the astrobiology community's number one choice for 'nearest rock with life,' but there are many researchers who argue that… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Nine out of 10 Hollywood aliens look like us. Oh, sure, they might be short, big-eyed and hairless - decked out in… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
While human space travel is daunting, machines - with their indefinitely long lifetimes - could travel the galaxy. It might make little… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Neil Armstrong was no Christopher Columbus. In most respects, he was better. Unlike the famous fifteenth century seafarer, Armstrong knew where he… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In days gone by, scientists would speak solemnly about our solar system's 'habitable zone' - a theoretical region extending from Venus to… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In 1908, there was a persuasive demonstration of the power of high-speed, low-mass asteroids in rural Siberia. The Tunguska impactor iced millions… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
I you look at the drawings of aliens made by people who believe that Earth is under saucer attack, you'll quickly note… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Ever since the Second World War, television signals (as well as FM radio and radar) have served as Homo sapiens' emissaries into… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system has been… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio signals, despite… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Sure, nobody will make a fortune if we figure out why the Big Bang happened. But just about everyone would like to know. — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
If you could drive straight down, into a tunnel bored through the crust of the planet, you'd hit this molten mess in about an… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
While I have always thought that the motivation for looking for E.T. was both self-evident and patently worthy, it's possible that I'm a victim… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
I studied Latin in high school, and I was reading stuff from Cicero. And that signal took a few thousand years to get to… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most likely be… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
This plucky NASA telescope is able to find planets en masse. If you compare planet hunting to prospecting for gold, then Kepler is equivalent… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
