Saturday, February 1, 2014

An Interview with the Father of the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence





In 2012, during a weekend astronomy event (called SETICon II), I had the pleasure and privilege of doing a 45-minute on-stage interview with Frank Drake, the distinguished astronomer who did the first scientific experiment searching for evidence of intelligent life among the stars. The interview was videotaped at the time, but not released.

Now, to celebrate the beginning of the 30th year of the SETI Institute (the organization engaged in continuing that search), they have released the interview on YouTube and you can see it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPQz-kdaxNo

Dr. Drake was the first President of the SETI Institute, and I have been a board member there since the beginning. We discuss both his career and his current thinking about the search, including his current view of the Drake Equation (a way of estimating the chances of intelligent life out there). He also reflects on a number of modern developments, including the discovery of numerous planets orbiting other stars and novel ways of searching for extra-terrestrial civilizations.

For more about the non-profit Institute, you can explore their web site at: www.seti.org

No comments:

Post a Comment