With research on extraterrestrial life continuing across the world, a noted researcher from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute launched a new tool to help researchers keep track of results.
Jill Tarter, a co-founder of the institute who inspired the fictional character Ellie Arroway in the Carl Sagan novel "Contact" (which later became a 1997 movie), led the development of a newly announced web tool called Technosearch. This database includes all published SETI searches between 1960 and the present day. You can view the database online at https://technosearch.seti.org/.
Ina Jan. 9 statement announcing the database, SETI representatives said that they hope the entire SETI community will work together to keep Technosearch accurate and up to date. The tool is meant to address the ongoing need in the community for a resource representing the hundreds of searches conducted in the sky. [13 Ways to Search for Intelligent Aliens]
"I started keeping this search archive when I was a graduate student," Tarter said in the statement. "Some of the original papers were presented at conferences or appear in obscure journals that are difficult for newcomers to the SETI field to access. I'm delighted that we now have a tool that can be used by the entire community and a methodology for keeping it current."
Technosearch was developed by Tarter with Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) interns working at the SETI Institute, including San Francisco State University student Andrew Garcia, who presented Technosearch to the American Astronomical Society at its winter meeting in January. Penn State graduate students Will Bowman and Caleb Cañas, working with stellar astrophysicist Jason Wright, also contributed data from their search of the SETI literature.
"I've become convinced that Technosearch will become an important instrument for astronomers and amateurs interested in exploring the cosmos for indications of other technological civilizations," Garcia said in the statement. "We can't know where to look for evidence tomorrow if we don't know where we have already looked."
Technosearch was released yesterday (Jan. 9) at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society during a poster session.
Editor's Note: This article was corrected to clarify the affiliation of Alex Garcia.
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
