SETI INSTITUTE INFORMATION

(The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)

SETI Institute
2035 Landings Drive
Mt. View, CA 94043

PURPOSE

The SETI Institute serves as an institutional home for scientific and educational projects relevant to the nature, distribution, and prevalence of life in the universe. The Institute conducts and/or encourages research and related activities in a large number of fields including, but not limited to, all science and technology aspects of astronomy and the planetary sciences, chemical evolution, the origin of life, biological evolution, and cultural evolution. The Institute also has a primary goal to conduct and encourage public information and education related to these topics.

Institute projects have been sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Headquarters, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the US Geological Survey, the International Astronomical Union, Argonne National Laboratory, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, the Paul G. Allen Foundation, the Moore Family Foundation, private industry, and private donations. The Institute welcomes support from private foundations or other groups/individuals interested in SETI. Each funded effort (44 separate multi-year projects funded since 1984) is supervised by a principal investigator who is responsible to the Board of Directors for the conduct of the activity.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Frank Drake, President: Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics (1984-present), and Dean of Natural Sciences (1984-88), University of California at Santa Cruz; Member, National Academy of Sciences (1972-present); Chairman, Board of Physics and Astronomy, National Research Council (1989-present); President, Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1988-90); Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University (1964-84); former Director of Arecibo Observatory; and pioneer SETI researcher.
William J. Welch, Vice President: Director, Radio Astronomy Lab (1971 to present), Professor of Astronomy (1971-present) and Professor of Electrical Engineering (1960-present), University of California, Berkeley.
Bernard M. Oliver: Senior Technical Advisor SETI Institute (1994-present); Deputy Chief, SETI Office, NASA Ames Research Center (1983-1993); Vice President for Research & Development, Hewlett Packard Company (1957-1981), Director Hewlett Packard Corporate Laboratories (1952-1981); Member National Academy of Sciences (1973-present); Member National Academy of Engineering (1966-present); recipient of National Medal of Science (1986); and Fellow and former President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Roger Heyns: President William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (1977-1992); President, American Council on Education (1972-77); Chancellor, University of California at Berkeley (1965-71).
Andrew Fraknoi: Chairman, Astronomy Department, Foothill College (1992 to present), Executive Director, Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1978-1992); and Instructor of Astronomy and Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Extension (1973 to present
Thomas Pierson, Sec'y/Treasurer: Executive Director, SETI Institute (1984 to present); Associate Director for Research Administration, San Francisco State University Foundation (1976-84); Business Manager, Sonoma State University Foundation (1974-76).

ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS

The SETI Institute is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1984 (California Corporation #1261957). The Institute is a scientific and educational organization governed by the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and the Institute's Federal identification number for reporting and tax purposes is 94-2951356. All contributions to the Institute will be used to further the goals described above and are deductible to the donor for both State and Federal income tax purposes. Questions regarding the Institute or its programs should be directed to Mr. Pierson at the above address.

THE DRAKE EQUATION

How can we estimate the number of technological civilizations that might exist among the stars? While working as a radio astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, Dr. Frank Drake (now President of the SETI Institute) conceived an approach to bound the terms involved in estimating the number of technological civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. The Drake Equation, as it has come to be known, was first presented by Drake in 1961 and identifies specific factors thought to play a role in the development of such civilizations. Although there is no unique solution to this equation, it is a generally accepted tool used by the scientific community to examine these factors. The equation is usually written:

Where,

N: The number of civilizations in The Milky Way Galaxy whose radio emissions are detectable.
R*: The rate of formation of stars suitable for the development of intelligent life.
fp: The fraction of those stars with planetary systems.
ne: The number of planets, per solar system, with an environment suitable for life.
fl: The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears.
fi: The fraction of life bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges.
fc: The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space.
L: The length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

Within the limits of our existing technology, any practical search for distant intelligent life must necessarily be a search for some manifestation of a distant technology. A search for extraterrestrial radio signals has long been considered the most promising approach by the majority of the scientific community. Besides illuminating the factors involved in such a search, the Drake Equation is a simple, effective tool for stimulating intellectual curiosity about the universe around us, for helping us to understand that life as we know it is the end product of a natural, cosmic evolution, and for making us realize how much we are a part of that universe. A key goal of the SETI Institute is to further high quality research that will yield additional information related to any of the factors of this fascinating equation.

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