South Koreans Join Hunt for ET

It seems that there are more different types of searches for extraterrestrial life than ever before. We have sent different types of probes into the universe with information about our little planet, just in case an alien race finds one of them. Of course, there is the ongoing SETI search which began here in America using radio waves. Radio waves have been called the most likely way of making contact, but as of late, there is a movement to use light waves also. With light traveling much faster than sound, the reasoning seems sound to me. I often think of some of the old Sci-Fi shows of the late 1950s and 1960s which depicted one man sitting in front of an archaic looking instrument that showed audio frequencies, hoping for a reply from an alien intelligence who just happened to be monitoring his channel. How they determined what frequency to use, or how to direct their signal is anybody's guess. Although science has grown by leaps and bounds the last few decades, at least at this point and time, the results are no better.

Korea to Search for Extraterrestrial Life tells us that South Korea will soon make their own attempt to contact life outside our planet by going back to the basics of listening for a message from space with a radio telescope. The National Science Museum, which will open in the next few months near Seoul, will be in charge of the program. They will follow suit with America, allowing the public to be a part of it, by sharing computer resources with the general public. Relying on the theory that our youth are the future, youngsters are expected to be a major part of the program. "We expect a large number of youths to take part in the SETI program as there is no minimum qualification required to participate," said Lee Kang-hwan, head of the SETI program. Even though years of negative results seem to discourage us, at least we can wish good luck to the eager South Koreans in their search for that elusive point of alien contact. Hey, maybe they will dial in just the right channel.