500-fold Increase in Data Flow from SETI Telescope 346
coondoggie brings us an article from Networkworld about a flood of new data for the SETI@home project. We discussed something similar a few months ago when a new telescope array went live. The vast amount of processing power required to handle the new data is prompting the SETI@home team to make a plea for more volunteers. Quoting the press release:
"What triggered the new flow of data was the addition of seven new receivers at Arecibo, which now let the telescope record radio signals from seven regions of the sky simultaneously instead of just one. With greater sensitivity and the ability to detect the polarization of the radio signals, plus 40 times more frequency coverage, Arecibo is set to survey the sky for new radio sources."
Arecibo Shutdown? (Score:3, Interesting)
carbon footprint? (Score:5, Interesting)
Arecibo? I thought they were closing it? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Left seti when they went to bonic (Score:5, Interesting)
Me too. Last time I used it the Linux install involved way too many steps. It is packaged as a 'generic' Linux binary, and left up to the individual to tweak it to fit their particular system. I am quite happy to contribute spare cpu cycles to the project, but at the moment I don't have the spare sys-admin cycles required to setup, configure and babysit the software.
If they want more people to install it, they need to do something like create a RPM installer and setup a yum repository. If the installation was as simple as 'yum install bonic' plus a simple Python configure script to set the project URL, then ReadHat could/would probably add it to Fedora. Which would mean that 1000's of people would see it listed in the install options, and some of them would probably give it a go.
The other reason I left was the change in the way that stat were reported. When I started, their website showed a headline figure of number of CPU years in the last 24hrs. To me, seeing that figure increase as the project gained more users was a real incentive to add machines and contribute more to the project. It gave you the warm fuzzy feeling that we were all contributing to what was at the time one of the largest computing projects in the world.
Now everything is listed as teams competing for 'credits', whatever they are. I didn't join to earn 'credits', I joined to participate in one of the largest collaborative computing projects in the world.
Re:oh I dunno (Score:2, Interesting)
I might also argue that protein folding is pointless since all you're doing is saving the life and therefore the DNA of an "inferior" person with a genetic disease. Why save them so they continue to pass on bad DNA? Why not let them die and keep track of their offspring so they don't procreate? As you've said, "It's pointless."
Well, fortunately, not everyone thinks SETI is pointless, nor does everyone think protein folding is pointless. We would have achieved nothing if people didn't continue their "pointless" pursuits. Remember Gallileo? He said the Earth was round. At the time, others else believed it to be flat. His views were rather pointless too. Why pursue the facts when no one else found value. At the risk of his own life, Gallileo continued his "pointless" pursuit of convincing others that the world was round. Before you start to interject that we know the fact that the Earth is indeed round, I say to you that hindsight is 20/20.
What may appear pointless to you now may lead to something more important than you can imagine. I say you need to grow up and accept the diverse views that everyone else has. There's room for all that research out there.
Re:oh I dunno (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:oh I dunno (Score:5, Interesting)
Finding this in the parent's post is left as an exercise for the reader.
Re:No, You're Wrong (Score:1, Interesting)
OTOH, look at basic research. How many lives have been saved by the understanding of germs and need to sanitary living conditions and for medical practitioners to wash hands. Who would have predicted that the search for grand unification theory would lead to new and more precise treatments for cancer. I do not know if any useful information will result from the SETI work. What I do know is that dismissing any science as less important than any other science, solely based on the lack on near term practical application, shows a deep and profound lack of understanding of the nature of science. All systemic research is valid, good, and justified. I would also add that some of the least systematic and most haphazard and biased research is medical research.
Seti Growth explosion yet to come (Score:2, Interesting)
We Live in Interesting times.
Darren Stephens
Adelaide, South Australia
Re:come on, people! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:What seems to be overlooked about SETI (Score:2, Interesting)
If he's right, then the absence of evidence for other intelligent life is, so to speak, a no-brainer.
That's not to say that it isn't worth striving to avert the catastrophe. After all, what do we have to lose! With that in mind, I've made it my life hobby to constantly look for and implement ways to subvert religion. Sadly, I can't report much success so far, but since I have nothing better to do I'll just keep trying anyway.