TED Prize enables launch of new citizen science initiative, Science Channel dedicates the month of March to SETI Science Programming

As part of the TED Prize Wish made by renowned astronomer Jill Tarter, the TED Prize today launches SETI Live (setilive.org): a site where -- for the first...

By Dr. Gerry Harp, Senior Astrophysicist, Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs

Trained as a quantum mechanic, Dr. Gerry Harp was deeply interested in possibilities for using the multiple telescopes of the Allen Telescope...

By Gail Jacobs

Astronomer Dr. Jill Tarter is Director of the SETI Institute's Center for SETI Research, and also holder of the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). She is one of the few...

By Dr. Janice Bishop, Senior Scientist
SETI Institute
October 3, 2011

Two small depressions on Mars found to be rich in minerals formed by water could have been places able to support life relatively recently in the planet's history. These findings were published October 1,...

By Dr. Gerry Harp, an astrophysicist at the SETI Institute.

By Dr. Richard Quinn; Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs

Is the surface of Mars really sterile, or could there be still-undiscovered traces of life littering this hostile...

By Dr. Laurance Doyle, an astrophysicist at the SETI Institute, and lead author of a paper that will appear in the journal Science on September 15, 2011.

For the first time, astronomers with the NASA Kepler spacecraft mission...

By Dr. Rachel Mastrapa; Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs

Rachel Mastrapa studies the surface processes of icy Solar System bodies by interpreting their infrared spectra. The...

By Gail Jacobs

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The cosmos can be mysteriously alluring to all -- from the young in age to the young at heart. In particular, space science and astrobiology fill us with wonder, amazement and awe -- but the scientists who work in these intriguing...

By Dr. Cynthia B. Phillips
Research Scientist, SETI Institute

The final mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis has spawned a whole series of perspective pieces on the history, state, and future of space exploration. Some, like the YouTube video "

By Dr. Friedemann Freund; Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs

Friedemann Freund doesn't shrink from taking on the really big problems. His research has elucidated such important phenomena...

By Dr. Janice Bishop; Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, and Gail Jacobs

Dr. Janice Bishop is a chemist and planetary scientist who explores the planet Mars using spectroscopy. Her investigations of...

By Gail Jacobs and Lori Fenton

Planetary scientist Dr. Lori Fenton joined the SETI Institute as a principal investigator in 2006, and was awarded NASA's Carl Sagan Fellowship for Early Career Researchers that same year. Lori's primary research interests include aeolian...

By Dr. Mark R. Showalter
Senior Research Scientist
SETI Institute

Four and a half billion years ago, a fluffy "snowball" coalesced out of the cloud of ice, dust and debris still surrounding our Sun. Most of the...

by Gail Jacobs

Dr. Jon Jenkins is the Analysis Lead for NASA's Kepler Mission. He works at the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute. Jon heads...

By Gail Jacobs

Dr. Ignacio Mosqueira is an astrophysicist at the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute. He works with Paul Estrada to piece together the way in which giant planets...

By Gail Jacobs

Dr. Darlene Lim is a geobiologist and limnologist at the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute. Her research interests span Earth and Space Science. She conducts limnological and...

By Gail Jacobs

Keen to achieve a wide picture of where life and its signatures for life are most successfully distributed, concentrated, preserved, and detected, Environmental Scientist Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi has expanded her work to include environmental aspects of Planetary Protection....

By Gail Jacobs

When most people look at photos of the Martian landscape, they see the kind of dry topography that, while attractive, shows only that at first glance Mars resembles many of the desert areas of Earth. By analyzing spectroscopic data gathered...

This one-minute excerpt comes from a special colloquium celebrating the 25th anniversary of the SETI Institute.

Watch a video of Dana Backman giving a one-minute summary of his work.

Dana Backman joined the...