The Last Arecibo Message Celebrates the Observatory and One of its Greatest Accomplishments

The Arecibo Message, transmitted on November 16th, 1974, from the Arecibo Observatory, was humanity’s first true attempt at Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). The message was a simple pictorial signal in binary code composed by famed astronomer and SETI researcher Frank Drake (inventor of the Drake Equation) with the assistance of Sagan and other prominent astronomers. …

New Study Examines Cosmic Expansion, Leading to a New Drake Equation

In 1960, in preparation for the first SETI conference, Cornell astronomer Frank Drake formulated an equation to calculate the number of detectable extraterrestrial civilizations in our Milky Way. Rather than being a scientific principle, the equation was intended as a thought experiment that summarized the challenges SETI researchers faced. This became known as the Drake …

Project Hyperion is Seeking Ideas for Building Humanity’s First Generation Ship

The dream of traversing the depths of space and planting the seed of human civilization on another planet has existed for generations. For long as we’ve known that most stars in the Universe are likely to have their own system of planets, there have been those who advocated that we explore them (and even settle …

New Study Suggests that Our Galaxy is Crowded or Empty. Both are Equally Terrifying!

Is there intelligent life in the Universe? And if so, just how common is it? Or perhaps the question should be, what are the odds that those engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) will encounter it someday? For decades, scientists have hotly debated this topic, and no shortage of ink has been spilled …

Formation-Flying Spacecraft Could Probe the Solar System for New Physics

It’s an exciting time for the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. Thanks to cutting-edge observatories, instruments, and new techniques, scientists are getting closer to experimentally verifying theories that remain largely untested. These theories address some of the most pressing questions scientists have about the Universe and the physical laws governing it – like the …

Does the Rise of AI Explain the Great Silence in the Universe?

Artificial Intelligence is making its presence felt in thousands of different ways. It helps scientists make sense of vast troves of data; it helps detect financial fraud; it drives our cars; it feeds us music suggestions; its chatbots drive us crazy. And it’s only getting started. Are we capable of understanding how quickly AI will …