Britain's Jodrell Bank to Join the Search for ET Life

The newly formed UK Seti Network has announced its intention to join the search for Extraterrestrial life using the newly updated Jodrell Bank radio telescope which has been linked via fibre optics with six other telescopes across England known as eMerlin .
The group is looking for £1 million funding for the project and has appointed Astronomer Royal Prof Sir Martin Rees as patron which I believe will almost guarantee they reach that target , either from Government funding or Philanthropic donations .

Jodrell Bank is also the management HQ for the soon to be built next-generation radio observatory known as the Square Kilometre Array which will be built in South Africa and Australia and will have incredible power , adding to the tools to be used for the search .

UK Seti Research Network (UKSRN) co-ordinator Alan Penny said there was important expertise in Britain keen to play its part. "If we had one part in 200 - half a percent of the money that goes into astronomy at the moment - we could make an amazing difference.
We would become comparable with the American effort," the University of St Andrews researcher told BBC News. "I don't know whether [aliens] are out there, but I'm desperate to find out. It's quite possible that we're alone in the Universe. And think about the implications of that: if we're alone in the Universe then the whole purpose in the Universe is in us. If we're not alone, that's interesting in a very different way."

"You could do serendipitous searches. So if the telescopes were studying quasars, for example, we could piggy-back off that and analyse the data to look for a different type of signal - not the natural astrophysical signal that the quasar astronomer was interested in, but something in the noise that one might imagine could be associated with aliens. This approach would get you Seti research almost for free," the Jodrell associate director explained.
www.bbc.co.uk...

I think this is great news and with the tools at our disposal could make a real contribution to the search and maybe even bring the breakthrough we've all been waiting for
UK SETI Research Network

i hope, i hope i really really hope they are successful in my lifetime.
i want confirmation of extraterrestrials before i kick it

Fantastic news I can just about see the telescope from one of my upstairs windows. Wonderful thing it is too.

Originally posted by macpdm
Fantastic news I can just about see the telescope from one of my upstairs windows. Wonderful thing it is too.

You should have a good light show to look forward to over the weekend then, as The Australian Pink Floyd and New Order are playing gigs there. Set a camera up at your window and let us see how it looks. Maybe you'll catch a few ufo's enjoying the show?

reply to post by SecretKnowledge

i want confirmation of extraterrestrials before i kick it

You and me both mate , I fully expect the announcement of microbes on Mars or one of the other candidates in our Solar System within the next ten years or so but I want the announcement of all singing and dancing Aliens before my time is up

Originally posted by IvanAstikov

Originally posted by macpdm
Fantastic news I can just about see the telescope from one of my upstairs windows. Wonderful thing it is too.

You should have a good light show to look forward to over the weekend then, as The Australian Pink Floyd and New Order are playing gigs there. Set a camera up at your window and let us see how it looks. Maybe you'll catch a few ufo's enjoying the show?

Man missed yet another concert I even drive by regularly but I will see if I can capture anything on camera.