The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) was put on hold for six months due to lack of funds – but, following donations from the public and the US Airforce, SETI’s Allen Telescope Array in northern California is operational again. So man, we’re going to feel pretty stupid if aliens called at some point during those six months.

The search is reportedly going to be focusing on the exoplanet candidates found via NASA’s Kepler space telescope – like the “alternative earth” the found a couple of days ago – along with previous routes of inquiry. I’m not sure what those are, because I’ve never sat through an entire episode of X-Files, but the SETI press release offers some clues:

“This is a superb opportunity for SETI observations,” said Jill Tarter, the Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute. “For the first time, we can point our telescopes at stars, and know that those stars actually host planetary systems – including at least one that begins to approximate an Earth analog in the habitable zone around its host star. That’s the type of world that might be home to a civilization capable of building radio transmitters…”

“Kepler’s success has created an amazing opportunity to focus SETI research. While discovery of new exoplanets via Kepler is backed with government monies, the search for evidence that some of these worlds might be home to intelligence falls to SETI alone. And our SETI exploration depends entirely on private donations, for which we are deeply grateful to our donors,” notes Tarter.

Given that we’re knee-deep in a recession, the diverting of resources to SETI might be a little disconcerting – but the fact that there’s a public support for scientific research is a good thing, nonetheless.

[Source: SETI]