What is the SETI project?

SETI stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It is a project which started in 1959 to search for radio signals from intelligent life in space. The SETI project uses radio telescopes from around the world to scan the sky and look for special patterns in radio waves which could have been sent by another civilization in space. Radio telescopes are used because radio waves can travel very far in space without being absorbed by the thick clouds of gas and dust which lie in many regions of space. Also, radio telescopes can be used both day and night. We have been sending out our own radio waves into space for over sixty years. All of our radio and televison signals travel into space at the speed of light and may one day be detected by another civilization in space