Could Aliens Be Using Light to Communicate? A New Era of SETI with Shelley Wright [ep. 483]

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Are We Searching for Aliens the Wrong Way?

Historically, SETI has focused primarily on radio waves because they can travel vast distances through interstellar gas and dust with minimal absorption and require less energy to transmit compared to other wavelengths. This approach dates back to the 1960s, when astronomer Frank Drake conducted the first modern SETI experiment, Project Ozma. However, in recent years, optical SETI and infrared SETI have started to gain traction.

Here today to tell us everything about this new era of SETI is the remarkable observational and experimental astrophysicist Shelley Wright! Shelley is a Professor of Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Physics at UCSD. She specializes in designing and using astronomical instruments that make use of adaptive optics, with a particular focus on techniques involving integral field spectrographs. As a SETI researcher and instrumentalist, there is no one better to shed light on this topic than her!

Join us in our hunt for extraterrestrial life.

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Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro: Shelley Wright

01:26 Shelley’s background

02:19 Drake equation and life in the universe

08:28 Instrument development 

14:55 Optical SETI and Fresnel lenses 

16:49 SETI vs. radio listening 

20:32 Background contamination and protocols 

22:35 Ethical considerations and messaging aliens

23:57 Life on Mars and the origins of life 

27:57 UAP committee and conspiracy theories

39:08 Galileo Project

40:46 Final thoughts and advice 

45:21 Outro


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Additional resources: 

➡️ Learn more about Shelley Wright:

💻  Website: https://saw.physics.ucsd.edu/

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✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 
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