Extraterrestial

Millions of computers. Two decades of listening. The most comprehensive search for aliens in history has concluded. What did we find? In 1999, UC Berkeley launched a wild idea: use idle home computers to process radio data from Arecibo. The Process: The telescope recorded radio waves. This raw data was split into chunks and sent to volunteers. Their screensavers crunched the numbers, looking for artificial spikes in the noise.

Astrobiology poses some of humanity's biggest questions. But how is the search for life communicated to the public? Researchers from Leiden University analyzed academic papers, press releases, and news articles from 1996 to 2024 to see what kinds of speculations and promises are circulating. Their findings reveal a clear "pipeline" where the message changes as it moves from scientists to the public.