From SETI Institute: Every day is "Earth Day"

From SETI Institute: Every day is "Earth Day" 

SETI Observer
May 2004


Dear SETI Enthusiast,

Every day is "Earth Day" at the SETI Institute. Searching for life
beyond Earth inherently requires searching for "life as we understand
it". Thus, one aspect of our research involves a keen focus on Earth
as a point of reference. To understand other worlds we must first
comprehend our own world.

Knowing that Earth is one small part of an enormous universe that may
be ripe with biology is a powerful driver, unifying disparate fields
under the umbrella of astrobiology. Whether the field is SETI and the
researcher is Dr. Jill Tarter, or the project is humpback whale
communication and the researcher is Dr. Laurance Doyle, Institute
scientists are concerned with their terrestrial home.

I invite you to learn more about some of the remarkable people of the
SETI Institute as you explore the links offered through the SETI
Observer.

Thomas Pierson 
CEO, SETI Institute 


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Time Magazine's Top 100 
We've often said our scientists are world leaders, and recently, TIME
magazine formally acknowledged Dr. Jill Tarter as such, naming her one
of their Top 100 most influential and important people in the world.
Read the story at http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/04/15/tarter/

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Special Tribute to Jill Tarter
Hear what those who work with Jill Tarter have to say about their
colleague in a special edition of Voices
http://www.seti.org/about_us/voices/tarter_time_top_100.php

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Signal Processing
What can signal processing do to help humpback whales in Glacier Bay
Alaska? Learn about the work of the SETI Institute's Dr. Laurance
Doyle, who is using his signal processing expertise in studies of an
endangered terrestrial marine mammal. Read more at
http://publish.seti.org/general/articles.php?id=174

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The Day After Tomorrow: Wrong Planet? 
As the heavy-duty new Hollywood film, The Day After Tomorrow washes
over Manhattan, not to mention theaters across the country, folks are
lining up like bar magnets to see the first major disaster film based
on runaway climate change. But as any astronomer can tell you, if you
want to foresee what global warming can really do, just check out our
sister world, Venus.
For details see: http://www.seti.org/arewealone/

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SETI Education in Italy 
This June, the University of Insubria of Varese (located in Northern
Italy), will be adding a new class to it's curriculum. The class,
entitled "Listening to the Infinite Silence - The Interstellar
Communications within the SETI Program", will be the first ever SETI
seminar offered by a European University.
Learn more about the class (in Italian) 
http://www3.uninsubria.it/pls/uninsubria/uninsubria_021.menu_news?sede=&operazione=2&id_news=413
Visit the University of Insubria website.(in Italian) 
http://web.crii.uninsubria.it/pages/corsoStudi.php3?uLogin=web&passwd=web&css2=&codCorsoStudi=F57

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Mars and the Teachable Moment
It's a good time for critical thinking in classrooms. With the
observations being made from Mars orbiters, students and teachers can
critically consider the "face on Mars". In a reprise of an earlier
column, Edna DeVore, the SETI Institute's Director of Education,
offered her thoughts on this "face". Read more at:
http://publish.seti.org/general/articles.php?id=176


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Challenge
Be one of the first five to answer the following question correctly
and get a cool SETI Institute T-shirt. We'll post the answer in next
month's e-newsletter. Choose the phrase that best completes this
statement and send your answer to newsletter@seti.org.

What is a Zipf plot? 

A. A graph of shipping noise in Glacier Bay, Alaska. 
B. A statistical tool that can be used to study non-human
communication.
C. An international conspiracy. 
D. A common method of identifying individual dolphin and whales. 

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In the March Challenge, we asked you to choose the phrase that best
completed this sentence:

The Allen Telescope Array 

A. will be located in Chile. 
B. is a joint project of the SETI Institute and the University of
California, Santa Cruz.
C. begins construction of a 206-dish iteration of the full-up array
this summer.
D. will begin conducting scientific research at a 32-dish
configuration.

The correct answer was D. 

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Clear skies from NW Italy! ;-)

Bruno Moretti IK2WQA
Cicognola Astronomical Observatory & IK2WQA Ham Radio Station
45�43'28"N 8�36'35"E QTH Locator: JN45HR
http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/ap/team_display.php?teamid=8
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_7422.html