Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Search for extraterrestrial intelligence

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.Scientific investigation began shortly after the advent of radio in the early 1900s, and focused international efforts have been ongoing since the 1980s. In 2015, Stephen Hawking and Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner announced the Breakthrough Listen Project, a $100 million 10-year attempt to detect signals from nearby stars.

2 episodes

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  1. Exoplanets

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss exoplanets, planets detected outside our solar system.

    3 October 2013

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    Featuring: Carolin Crawford, Don Pollacco, Suzanne Aigrain

     
  2. Extra Terrestrials

    Melvyn Bragg discusses whether there are reasons to suppose that some form of life might exist beyond, or even within, our solar system and what our chances of ever discovering such a planet are.

    4 April 2002

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    Featuring: Simon Goodwin, Heather Couper, Ian Stewart