Will scan heavens for flashes of light
HARVARD -- The search for intelligent life on other planets was ramped up by a factor of 100,000 yesterday.
A new telescope, unveiled by a group of Harvard University scientists, will soon begin scanning the heavens for bright flashes of light sent by aliens, the first time any telescope has been entirely dedicated to that task.
Housed in an unassuming wooden shed 30 miles west of Boston, the telescope is designed to detect a flash that would last just a billionth of a second, a sort of high-speed interstellar hello.
''It is overwhelmingly likely that life exists on other planets," said Harvard physicist Paul Horowitz, who led the project. ''And while this search is undoubtedly a long shot, the payoff would be profound."
The modern search for extraterrestrial intelligence has been underway for five decades. Scientists built huge antennae to listen for interstellar radio waves and shot powerful radio frequencies into space hoping that someone would hear them. Harvard researchers sent radio waves from this 700-foot ridge in Harvard for two decades, until a windstorm broke the 84-foot-wide dish.
Douglas Belkin can be reached at dbelkin@globe.com. © Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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