Seth Shostak: 2036, First Contact | Challenges & hopes in the search for extraterrestrials:
Seth Shostak directs the search for extraterrestrials at the SETI Institute in California—trying to find evidence of intelligent life in space. He is also committed to getting the public, especially young people, excited about astrobiology and science in general. For much of his career, Seth conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately fifty papers in professional journals. He also founded and ran a company producing computer animation for TV. Seth has written several hundred popular magazine and Web articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film and television. He has edited and contributed to a half dozen books. His first popular tome, “Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life” appeared in 1998. He has also authored “Life in the Universe” (2006, 2nd edition, textbook, with Jeff Bennett) and “Cosmic Company” (2003, with Alex Barnett). His most recent book is “Confessions of an Alien Hunter” (2009).
EPISODE LINKS:
Seti Institute: https://seti.org/
Seth Shostak Web: http://sethshostak.com/
BigPictureScience: https://bigpicturescience.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-shostak-1457221/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sethshostak
INFO:
Podcast website: https://volandino.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3O74ctu6Hv5zZdHYT9Ox3Z
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond/id1509949724
RSS: https://volandino.com/feed/podcast
Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXRmG-SrXaHiysqmzKg78kW1g_VBxHyjj
OUTLINE:
01:21 – 2036, First Contact, Speed of Search, computation power, machine learning and AI contribution
04:00 – What percentage of the stars are we analyzing?
05:14 – The million sweet spoot, why 2036 could see a first contact
05:51 – The WOW Signal and other unique signals, seen once and never again
07:39 – Technosignatures
10:22 – Communication with alien civilizations
12:44 – Radio signal density and intensity in Space
13:55 – First contact, how advanced will they be?
14:27 – Life in our solar system, from the 7 worlds with water to the phosphine in Venus
16:31 – Enceladus: best bet on finding life in our solar system
17:51 – The SETI Institute, current status
19:11 – 1 Pixel – taking pictures of exoplanets with the upcoming James Webb Telescope
20:40 – Contributing to the search from home
22:14 – Supporting the SETI institute
23:07 – Terraforming Mars – Spacex mars mission
24:13 – The nature of consciousness
25:48 – Astronomy today: exoplanets, gravitational waves, dark matter
27:22 – Are we living in a simulation?
29:06 – Moral existence in a simulated reality
29:37 – Who wrote our code?
30:30 – Our cognitive limits, figuring out the infinite
31:10 – Dark matter
32:06 – How fast could we travel?
33:06 – Wormholes in space
34:12 – The 21cm Hydrogen line, 1.4Ghz, universal radio frequencies
35:46 – How Seth got involved in SETI, animation and sci-fi filmmaking
37:23 – Seth’s film equipment
38:02 – Sci-fi movies
39:55 – Railroading
41:10 – Seth’s podcast – Big Picture Science
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