exosearch@juno.com (Jason H.) writes:

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0009CDEA-33FC-1C74-9B81809EC588EF21

Some interesting quotes from this article:
   
   Of course, we are still in the early days of SETI, and the lack 
   of success to date cannot be used to infer that ET civilizations 
   do not exist. The searches have so far covered only a small 
   fraction of the total "parameter space"--that is, the 
   combination of target stars, radio frequencies, power levels 
   and temporal coverage that observers must scan before drawing 
   a definitive conclusion.

and near the end:

   In 1853 William Whewell, a prominent protagonist in the 
   extraterrestrial-life debate, observed, "The discussions 
   in which we are engaged belong to the very boundary regions 
   of science, to the frontier where knowledge ... ends and 
   ignorance begins." In spite of all the advances since Whewells 
   day, we are in basically the same position today. And the 
   only way to lessen our ignorance is to explore our cosmic 
   surroundings in greater detail.

   That means we should continue the SETI programs until either 
   we detect signals or, more likely in my view, we can place 
   tight limits on the number of radio-transmitting civilizations 
   that may have escaped our attention.

Definitely not a 'SETI is futile' article, even though the author
does not expect it to succeed.

   Lou Scheffer