Why Have We Not Found Any Aliens? - with Keith Cooper

After six decades of examining signals from space, why have we yet to discover evidence of extra-terrestrial life?

For the past six decades a small cadre of researchers have been on a quest, as part of SETI, to search for extraterrestrial intelligence. So far, SETI has found no evidence of extraterrestrial life, but with more than a hundred billion stars in our Galaxy alone to search, the odds of quick success are stacked against us.

Keith Cooper explores how far SETI has come since its modest beginnings, where it's going and the assumptions that we make in our search for extraterrestrial life.

This talk was filmed in the Ri on 22 November 2019.

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[vygotsky]

Has anyone ever factored into the equation the difficulties for aliens in getting funding to look for us?

[courierdubois]

My favourite part of his lecture is around minute 32, when he talks about just how far (or how NOT far!) our radio signals have penetrated our galaxy. It's barely -anything-!

I was glued to this lecture for the entire 51 minutes. Thank you, Keith!

[alisonvanschoor]

It is a real gift to make a complex subject so easy to understand - loved it, thank you!

[purplexs]

A speaker who can expound at length, without notes; just a few slides to set the course for himself, and the audience. That alone makes this presentation a pleasure.
But the content of Keith Cooper's talk is well worth our attention.

[paulmurphy]

I love Arthur C. Clarke's take on this subject: Either we are the only intelligent life form in the universe or we're not. Either thought is terrifying.

[helenamcginty]

I am amazed at how so many lecturers know their topic so well they can just speak with no notes.

[mrsportysomil]

That was a wonderful talk and the speaker's passion for SETI was quite evident! Thanks Ri for uploading it. This is why you're my all-time favorite channel on YouTube!

[fredb]

Thank you to our host presenter. Nicely done. Really learned a lot. Here’s hoping.

[MrGeoffHilton]

Thanks, I was riveted to the screen for fifty minutes, I'd forgotten how much I used to love the Christmas Lectures. Worthy of my subscription. A Carl Sagan quote that has always stuck with me "humans may be the best beef animals in the universe" from his Cosmos series.

[jump]

I felt his nervousness but I hope he reads these comments that let him know he did a great job. Next time get some friends to come along and laugh at your great jokes!

[Sun_Flower]

I loved this lecture! It randomly appeared in my feed. Thanks, R.I. This was a subject I never took seriously before. Very interesting.

[blackholeentry]

In the late 60's, I witnessed a classic ''Flying saucer" fly low and slow directly over my house less than 100' directly above made a whisper...and was as big as my house. Although it was about 10 pm and dark, my unshielded front porch light lit it up quite well. On its bottom was a tight triangle of brilliant red lights. It wasn't until the next day, as I was telling coworkers about it, I suddenly realized that although that craft was very low, it never made a whisper. Now, here it is over 50 years later and cannot seem to shake that image from my mind. I had been working in my unheated shop and was intent on getting a hot cup of coffee, but how I wish I had given it the attention it warranted.

Instead of spending time concerning ourselves about finding aliens, we should be concerned about the fact they have long ago already found us.

BHE

[lesleyhahn]

I've had my computer on the Seti @ home project for about 20 years. Happy to be part of it!

[SoulDelSol]

I like the fishing analogy about trying to catch fish by scooping a small bucket into giant ocean. It's interesting because it doesn't only point to problem of volume studied vs entire volume but also issue of technique - any fisherman will be able to tell you that you could be surrounded by fish and still not catch one with a bucket. There are very specific tools say a rod and reel and boat even with those it still takes practice, expertise, putting your time in, knowing the right spots, etc to get a good one

[tommyodonovan]

He's a great orator, his brilliants and his enthusiasm shine through.

[laniakea]

This guy (K. Cooper) is brilliant. What a talk! He connected so well with the audience. What a speaker!

[Narrowgaugefilms]

The problem of finding extraterrestrial civilizations is something like this:
Let's say there was a single human village in Europe and another in Australia, but none other anywhere else. They both have a small fleet of ships and can travel a few days away before they must return to port and resupply. How long would both villages go believing they were alone in the world?
Maybe first contact would come when their respective civilizations and technologies had spread so far that it was inevitable there be an encounter.
Maybe that's how it will ultimately happen in space as well.

[yesvee]

He summarised everything we known so far and what we do about aliens, excellently put together, brilliant lecture! He should have his own youtube channel or podcasts of some sort

[tonybegg]

I saw Carl Sagan at the R.I. The thing I remembered most was his comparison of how expensive an aircraft carrier was compared to how much we spend on this kind of research.

[vladimir]

Best SETI lecture I’ve heard—excellent