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<B>Speaker presents UFOs to UK</B><P>
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>By Gary Wulf</B><BR></FONT>Associate News Editor
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Ever since the first person looked at the stars, a search for life on other planets has been the mission of astronomy.<P>
The Search for Extra Terrestrial Institute continues this search in the 1990s.A massive 1,000-foot diameter radio telescope in Mountain View, Calif., using supercomputers and large radio telescopes, the institute searches for extra terrestrial radio wave signals that are artificial rather than naturally occurring.
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Jill Tarter, director of the SETI Institute, will speak at 3:30 p.m. today in 155 Chemistry-Physics building about her institution and how it distinguishes the differences between radio waves.
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"Everything emits a radio signal, so they pick up a lot of radio signals," astronomy and physics Professor Moshe Elitzur said.
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Tarter's colloquium is titled, "SETI: Science fact, not fiction."
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Elitzur said much has been made of people who claim they have been abducted by aliens, and this speech will explain exactly what extraterrestrial life is.
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"A lot of people are talking about it. Those are considered by all serious people to be untrue," he said.
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Elitzur said, though, the galaxy contains millions of stars, and it would be extremely difficult to determine if life does not exist on other planets.
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In light of the recent findings of possible life on Mars and discovery of planets by other stars, Elitzur said the speech is very relevant. Tarter said she thinks the vast number of stars and the probable existence of habitable planets make it likely that intelligent life exists beyond Earth.
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Elitzur taught a related course last semester entitled "Extraterrestrial life: Are we alone in the universe?" He hopes to offer the class again next year.
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"It's a way to take a fun science class," he said.
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The class studied the essentials for life to form on other planets and where exactly life could occur.
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He said he has known Tarter for many years and called her to talk about the search for extraterrestrial life.
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Tarter was instrumental in Congress' funding of the SETI Institute, which was cut in 1993. Now the institute is privately funded. He said Tarter's speech should be understandable to everyone. In fact, Elitzur has invited his son's high school to attend the speech.
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