SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is a scientific effort aiming to determine if there is intelligent life out in the universe. There are many methods that SETI scientific teams use to search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Many of these search billions of radio frequencies that flood the universe, looking for another civilization that might be transmitting a radio signal. Other SETI teams search by looking for signals in pulses of light emanating from the stars.

SETI@home is one of the SETI projects that searches for extraterrestrial life. It is based at the University of California, Berkeley. You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. SETI@home allows anyone with a computer and an Internet connection to take part in the search. By using the computer while the owner is away, the SETI@home screensaver is able to search for extraterrestrial signals.


The SETI@home screen saver is a complex piece of scientific analytical software. It performs a large set of mathematical operations on the data that you are downloading from the Berkeley SETI program. What you see on the screen gives you only a glimpse of what is happening inside your computer.

Getting Started


First, you need to download the screensaver program.


For Windows systems (95/98/NT) you'll need a computer with at least 32 MB of RAM, the ability to display 8-bit graphics in 800x600 resolution, 10 MB of disk space, and an Internet connection (dialup is OK).

For Macintosh systems you'll need the above, as well as a PowerPC processor and Mac OS 7.5.5 or later. You can use SETI@home on a laptop that is connected sporadically. The SETI@home project at UCB also supports many versions of UNIX, including Linux on various CPUs. SETI@home hopes to eventually support other systems such as OS/2 and BeOS. SETI@home won't support WebTV. There are no CPU speed or modem speed requirements. It doesn't matter where in the world you live.

Contacting SETI@home

For more information, including news, updates, and links to download the SETI@home screensaver, go to setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu .

 

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