March 13, 2002: SETI - Seth Shostak
Podcast: The Art Bell ArchivePublished On: Sat Mar 15 2025
Description: Art Bell calls directly into the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to speak with Seth Shostak, astronomer and public face of the SETI Institute's Project Phoenix. The conversation opens with Shostak explaining how he and Jill Tarter, the real-life inspiration for Jodie Foster's character in Contact, split observing shifts at the world's largest radio telescope, a 1,000-foot dish nestled in a bowl-shaped valley.Art presses Shostak about a NASA report describing a puzzling X-ray beacon near Jupiter's north pole, pulsing every 45 minutes with gigawatt intensity. Shostak suggests the phenomenon likely results from cosmic rays interacting with Jupiter's powerful magnetic field rather than an extraterrestrial signal. The discussion expands to cover why SETI has examined only about 600 star systems so far, and how advances in computing power could push that number to millions within two decades.Art raises Stanton Friedman's standing challenge to debate the merits of searching distant stars versus investigating UFO evidence already present on Earth. Shostak responds that the key difference remains the quality of evidence, while acknowledging the search has only just begun. The episode also features listener questions about pulsars, exoplanets, and the privately funded future of SETI research.
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