G. Seth Shostak | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | Princeton (BA) California Institute of Technology (PhD) |
Known for | SETI research |
Awards | Klumpke-Roberts Award (2004) Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization (2015) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics, astronomy, science communication |
Seth Shostak (born July 20, 1943) is an American astronomer and author, and is currently the senior astronomer for the SETI Institute. [1] [2] [3]
Shostak hosts SETI's weekly radio show/podcast Big Picture Science , has played himself numerous times in TV and internet film dramas, and has acted in several science fiction films.
Seth Shostak was born in a Jewish family in Arlington, Virginia, the son of Arthur and Bertha Shostak (née Gortenburg); his father was an electrical engineer. [4] [5] He earned his BS in physics from Princeton University and a PhD in astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology. [6]
Shostak used radio telescopes in the US and the Netherlands, searching for clues to the ultimate fate of the universe by analyzing galaxy motion. In 1999, he produced twelve 30-minute lectures on audio-tape and video titled "The Search for Intelligent Life in Space" for The Teaching Company. An updated overview about the search for extraterrestrial life was presented in 2019. [7]
Since 2001, he has been the senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to "explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe". SETI Institute, located in Mountain View, California, employs over 50 researchers that study all aspects of the search for life, its origins, the environment in which life develops, and its ultimate fate.
He was the chair of the International Academy of Astronautics SETI Permanent Committee from 2003-2012. [8]
Shostak is an active participant in the Institute's observation programs and has been hosting SETI's weekly radio show Big Picture Science [9] since 2002. Each week, Shostak interviews guests about the latest scientific research on a variety of topics: cosmology, physics, genetics, paleontology, evolutionary biology and astrobiology. Big Picture Science is distributed on the Public Radio Satellite System and the Public Radio Exchange and is available for download at the SETI Institute's website and through podcasts.
Shostak also hosts the monthly "Skeptic Check" episodes of Big Picture Science, focused on debunking pseudoscience, UFOs and practices such as astrology and dowsing. [10]
He has published four books, nearly 300 popular articles on astronomy, technology, film and television and gives frequent talks to both young and adult audiences. [11]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2008 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | advisor: astrobiology (crew) | A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth. |
2007 | Star Trek: Of Gods and Men | Enterprise Communications Officer (actor) | Video |
Year | Title | As | Notes |
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2017 | How the Universe Works | Himself as Astronomer | Episode: "Strangest Alien Worlds" |
2013 | Alien Encounters (TV Mini-Series) | Himself as Senior Astronomer | Episode:"The Offspring" Episode:"The Invasion" |
2012-2013 | Ancient Aliens (TV Series Documentary) | Himself as Senior Astronomer | Episode: "Destination Orion" Episode:"Aliens and Cover-Ups" Episode:"The Time Travelers" Episode:"The NASA Connection" |
2012 | Science Club (TV Series) | Himself - SETI Institute | Episode:"Space" |
2008-2012 | Horizon (TV Series Documentary) | Himself - SETI Institute | Episode:"The Transit of Venus: A Horizon Special" Episode:"Are We Alone in the Universe?" |
2012 | Prophets of Science Fiction (TV Series Documentary) | Himself | Episode:"George Lucas" |
2011 | Curiosity (TV series documentaries) | Himself | Episode: Alien Invasion Are We Ready" |
2010 | Ideas That Changed the World [12] (TV Series Documentary) | Himself | Episode:"Communication" |
2010 | Lost Tapes (TV Series) | Himself - Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute | Episode:"Reptilian" |
2010 | Bad Universe (TV Series Documentary) | Himself | Episode:"Alien Attack!" |
2010 | Naked Science (TV Series Documentary) | Himself as Senior Astronomer | Episode: "Hunt for Aliens" Episode:"Alien Contact(2004)" |
2009 | The Colbert Report (TV Series) | Himself (Guest) - SETI Institute | Episode:"Episode #5.70" |
2007 | UFO Files (TV Series Documentary) | Himself - SETI Institute | Episode:"Alien Hunters" Episode (2005):"UFO Hunters" Episode (2005):"The Day After Roswell" |
2007 | The Universe (TV Series Documentary) | Himself as Senior Astronomer | Episode:"Search for E.T." |
2007 | Is It Real? (TV Series Documentary) | Himself as Astronomer | Episode: "Life on Mars" |
2005 | Extraterrestrial (TV Movie Documentary) | Himself - SETI Institute | "SETI Institute" |
2005 | How William Shatner Changed the World (TV Movie Documentary) | Himself - SETI Institute | "SETI Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence" |
1998 | Life Beyond Earth [13] (TV Movie Documentary) | Science Advisor (crew) | Written by Timothy Ferris for Public Broadcasting Service |
Shostak was the 2004 winner of the Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy. [14]
In January 2010 he was elected as a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), [15] and in October 2019 was a featured speaker at the organization's annual conference, CSICon. [16]
He has been an observer for Project Phoenix (SETI) as well as an active participant in various international forums for SETI research. He served as chair of the International Academy of Astronautics SETI Permanent Study Group from 2002 to 2012. [17]
Shostak has been nominated by the SETI Institute to be one of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Nifty Fifty Speakers, who will speak about his work and career to middle and high school students in October 2010. [5]
Seth became interested in electronics and amateur radio as a young student. [18]
Shostak's hobbies include film making, railroading, and computer animation. While working at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, he founded DIGIMA, a computer animation company. [14] He is a brother of Robert Shostak, developer of the Paradox relational database.[ citation needed ]
In the spring of 1988 Seth left Groningen to help his brother, who was then working on image database software in Silicon Valley. [19]
According to his C.V., Shostak has a considerable body of creative writing, mostly for corporate clients. He was also "idea man" behind a plan to build a large space and technology theme park in The Netherlands and also the Air and Space Exhibit at the California Science Center, where he also serves on the board. [20]
The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life compared to the apparently high a priori likelihood of its existence. As a 2015 article put it, "If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now."
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets.
Frank Donald Drake was an American astrophysicist and astrobiologist.
SETI@home is a project of the Berkeley SETI Research Center to analyze radio signals with the aim of searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. Until March 2020, it was run as an Internet-based public volunteer computing project that employed the BOINC software platform. It is hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of many activities undertaken as part of the worldwide SETI effort.
Jill Cornell Tarter is an American astronomer best known for her work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Tarter is the former director of the Center for SETI Research, holding the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute. In 2002, Discover magazine recognized her as one of the 50 most important women in science.
The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit research organization incorporated in 1984 whose mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to use this knowledge to inspire and guide present and future generations, sharing knowledge with the public, the press, and the government. SETI stands for the "search for extraterrestrial intelligence".
Project Ozma was a search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) experiment started in 1960 by Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank at Green Bank, West Virginia. The object of the experiment was to search for signs of life in distant planetary systems through interstellar radio waves. The program was named after Princess Ozma, ruler of the fictional land of Oz, inspired by L. Frank Baum's supposed communication with Oz by radio to learn of the events in the books taking place after The Emerald City of Oz. The search was publicized in articles in the popular media of the time, such as Time magazine and was described as the first modern SETI experiment.
The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope in the United States, then used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and bore the expected hallmarks of extraterrestrial origin.
The communication with extraterrestrial intelligence (CETI) is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) that focuses on composing and deciphering interstellar messages that theoretically could be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment of its kind was the 1974 Arecibo message composed by Frank Drake.
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), formerly known as the One Hectare Telescope (1hT), is a radio telescope array dedicated to astronomical observations and a simultaneous search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The array is situated at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Shasta County, 290 miles (470 km) northeast of San Francisco, California.
Big Picture Science is the national science radio program and podcast, produced at the SETI Institute and hosted by Senior Astronomer Seth Shostak and journalist Molly Bentley, the executive producer of the show.
Abraham "Avi" Loeb is an Israeli-American theoretical physicist who works on astrophysics and cosmology. Loeb is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. He had been the longest serving chair of Harvard's Department of Astronomy (2011–2020), founding director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative and director of the Institute for Theory and Computation within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
H. Paul Shuch is an American scientist and engineer who has coordinated radio amateurs to help in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
Active SETI is the attempt to send messages to intelligent extraterrestrial life. Active SETI messages are predominantly sent in the form of radio signals. Physical messages like that of the Pioneer plaque may also be considered an active SETI message. Active SETI is also known as METI.
Robert Hansen Gray was an American data analyst, author, and astronomer, and author of The Elusive Wow: Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
The cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact is the corpus of changes to terrestrial science, technology, religion, politics, and ecosystems resulting from contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. This concept is closely related to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), which attempts to locate intelligent life as opposed to analyzing the implications of contact with that life.
SETIcon was a public convention organized by the SETI Institute and held twice in Santa Clara, California. It was an interdisciplinary conference, with talks focusing on a wide range of issues related to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The programs included panels with prominent scientists from NASA and SETI; talks by science fiction writers, artists, and actors; and panels to explore controversial issues and compare perspectives. The sessions were non-technical and meant to increase awareness, interest, and funding for the SETI Institute. The convention attracted professional scientists, educators, space enthusiasts, and science fiction fans. Astronomical tattoos were not uncommon among attendees.
Thomas Pierson was founder and CEO of the SETI Institute, a non-profit institute conducting research in Astrobiology.
Technosignature or technomarker is any measurable property or effect that provides scientific evidence of past or present technology. Technosignatures are analogous to biosignatures, which signal the presence of life, whether intelligent or not. Some authors prefer to exclude radio transmissions from the definition, but such restrictive usage is not widespread. Jill Tarter has proposed that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) be renamed "the search for technosignatures". Various types of technosignatures, such as radiation leakage from megascale astroengineering installations such as Dyson spheres, the light from an extraterrestrial ecumenopolis, or Shkadov thrusters with the power to alter the orbits of stars around the Galactic Center, may be detectable with hypertelescopes. Some examples of technosignatures are described in Paul Davies's 2010 book The Eerie Silence, although the terms "technosignature" and "technomarker" do not appear in the book.
Library resources |
By Seth Shostak |
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