[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5993\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EAlien signal likely discovered within our lifetimes \u2013 Dr Seth Shostak\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat can Europe contribute to the search for alien civilisations?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Europe is building the Square Kilometre Array. The Europeans are already considering the fact that it ought to be outfitted with the right kind of equipment to do searches, and they would be the most sensitive searches ever. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat difference would the Square Kilometre Array make to the search for alien civilisations?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018To me this is a numbers game, you are looking for something that you think is there, you\u2019re looking for a needle in a haystack. So, instead of going through the haystack with a teaspoon, if you can go through with a shovel then success will happen a lot quicker.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECan you apply a numerical value to the chances of finding alien civilisations?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022img_legend\u0022 style=\u0022float: left;\u0022\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Dr Seth Shostak. \u00a9EC\u0022 height=\u0022263\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Seth-Shostak_0.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Dr Seth Shostak. \u00a9EC\u0022 width=\u0022200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EDr Seth Shostak. \u00a9EC\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003Cem\u003EDr Seth Shostak. \u00a9EC \u003Cbr\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Yes you can, it depends on how many societies you think are out there broadcasting signals that are going through our bodies as we stand here in downtown Brussels. Nobody knows the answer to that. Carl Sagan (a NASA astronomer who wrote the book on which the 1997 movie \u003Cem\u003EContact\u003C\/em\u003E was based) thought a few million, Frank Drake (a pioneer of SETI) says maybe 10 000.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If any of those numbers are even approximately correct, then what that implies is that, in order to succeed, you have to look at millions of star systems, millions. So far in the entire history of the search for alien civilisations we\u2019ve looked carefully at only a few thousand, so that\u2019s far short of the mark. It\u2019s very early days, but technology is speeding up the search all the time. The Square Kilometre Array would not only increase the search speed, it would increase the sensitivity, so if there is a needle in that haystack, it will find it more quickly.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow much will the increased speed and sensitivity of the Square Kilometre Array influence our chances of finding an alien civilisation?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Instead of going through the haystack with a teaspoon, if you can go through with a shovel then success will happen a lot quicker.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at SETI\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Well it depends on how much time they spend doing it, but the Square Kilometre Array obviously has a sensitivity that is 10 to 100 times better than the kind of experiments that have been done before. It\u2019s 10 times the collecting area of Arecibo (a radio telescope located in Puerto Rico). It has receivers that allow it to look at a wide range of the radio dial all at once. The other thing it\u2019ll be able to do is maybe look at a big chunk of the sky at once instead of one star at a time like we used to do at Arecibo. If they can map a big chunk of the sky at once, obviously that\u2019s a good thing, it\u2019s impossible to think of a way in which it\u2019s not better.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIn terms of the percentage improvement, what will it contribute?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Well, it\u2019s orders of magnitude, but SETI has been getting better. Compared to what was done in 1960, it has been estimated that today\u2019s experiments are hundreds of trillion times more effective, whatever that number means. But, of course there is this improvement all the time, and that\u2019s why I remain optimistic. If we were still doing the same experiment today that we were doing 20 years ago, I might not be so optimistic.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOptimistic of what exactly?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I\u2019m optimistic that we will find a signal within the lifetime of the people standing around here. I\u2019m optimistic of that, I could be wrong.\u2019\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EThe world\u2019s most sensitive radio telescope\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ERadio waves from space constantly bombard our planet, and cause the static we can see and hear between TV channels and commercial radio stations. The Square Kilometre Array will span two continents and be the world\u2019s most sensitive telescope listening to these radio waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Square Kilometre Array, located in South Africa and Australia, will consist of three types of sensors which when combined can cover a square kilometre of collecting area, hence its name. This will make it 50 times more sensitive and 10 000 times faster than anything currently in use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConstruction is scheduled to begin in 2016, for initial observations by 2019, and the installation is expected to be up and running by 2024. At the core of the initiative are 11 member countries, while close to 100 organisations from around 20 countries have participated in the design and development of the telescope.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EU has spent over EUR 15 million on research projects preparing for the Square Kilometre Array, and the initiative is backed by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-1iwbhddgo2gnata04dwrfs7tpx6en5eopyenbpm2784\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-1iWBhdDgo2gNata04dwRfS7tpx6eN5eOPyeNBPm2784\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]