The AllenTelescope Array will speed SETI experiments

Tag : Electronic Game
Electronic Arts’ eagerly awaited video game, Spore, which was released yesterday , is based on serious scientific research that is out of this world. Literally. The game, which incubated for five years in thestudios of the world’s leading developer of video games,takes much of its inspiration from the real-world research of the SETI Institute , an organization dedicated to the deep scientific understanding oflife in all its forms on Earth and to exploration of the cosmos forevidence of life, especially intelligent life.

In partnership with EA, the SETI Institute is giving gamers aspecial opportunity to join its membership organization, TeamSETI,at reduced cost. The Institute also plans to augment its web site ( www.seti.org ) so members will be able to access interactive activities, getspecial updates on the Institute’s research (as it applies tothe scenarios found in Spore ), and read game-related blogs by scientists Frank Drake, directorof the SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center for the study oflife in the Universe, Jill Tarter, Center director for SETIresearch, and many of the Institute’s other scientists.

Spore is the latest brainchild of Will Wright, who once wished to becomean astronaut and is best known for designing the hit videosimulation games “Sim City” and “The Sims.” Wright notes, “I’ve long been interested in the workof the SETI Institute because the people there are trying to findreal alien life using massive telescopes and other tools ofscience. Microbes on Mars or intelligent beings on a distant planet– they’re investigating it all.”

Spore allows players to create cosmic life ranging from microbes tocomplex sentients, and have them form social groups and evenreshape galaxies. The Creature Creator, a Spore software tool that’s already available, allows anyone toquickly design their own “aliens” for use in Spore , starting with a basic body form and adding appendages, facialfeatures, and various skin textures and colors.

Even serious scientists can quickly become enamored of thisinteractive Mr. Alien Potato Head:

“I’ve been searching the skies for signs of intelligentlife for more than four decades,” said Frank Drake, SeniorScientist at the SETI Institute and the man who pioneered the useof large radio telescopes to hunt for signals from other societies. “I’ve often given thought to what aliens might belike. Well, this is the first time I could quickly bring to life ahypothetical extraterrestrial, even if only on my computerscreen.”

The SETI Institute’s flagship search for intelligent beingselsewhere is about to gain an impressive boost as the firstantennas of the Allen Telescope Array – a massive radioinstrument located in the Cascade Mountains of California –are used to hunt for signals coming from the dense star clouds thatlie in the central regions of the Milky Way. Eventually, the AllenTelescope Array will speed SETI experiments by hundreds andthousands of times. Updates will be ported to Spore TeamSETImembers regularly.

“Young people study science because they’ve becomeemotionally involved,” notes Drake. “Many of mycolleagues point to movies or sci-fi novels that first spurredtheir interest. Well, tomorrow’s generation of scientistscould very well get their start today playing games like Spore .”


THE SETI INSTITUTE IS A NON-PROFIT SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONDEDICATED TO RESEARCH, EXPLORATION, AND EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OFASTROBIOLOGY.