S5E01 - SETI : A history  episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 1, 2026 · 52 MIN

S5E01 - SETI : A history

from Physics bytes ! · host Shahriar Zayyani

We kick of the 5th season of Physics Bytes ! with a veritable bang : Josephine, Aude, Maya and Lena start off our SETI project with a lesson in history! What is SETI you say? it's the "Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence" which is basically the scientific ( and correct ) way of talking about looking for Aliens! It's the first of a series going over all the aspects of this excitign field of research that bridges Science and Science Fiction! Chapters : 1:20 - What is life 1:55 - different types of life 4:35 - history of human thought on extra-terrestrial life6:20 - the copernican revolution8:42 - the enlightenment period10:42 - SETI in the 20th century12:40 - Who is Philip Morrison?14:04 - 1420 MHz, a special frequency!15:32 - Frank Drake, an important figure in the 20th century16:52 - the Drak equation : how many ET civilisations17:54 - The “golden age* of SETI 20:46 - Project Phoenix27:14 - current state of affairs in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence33:10 - AI and Future projects  in the service of SETI38:20 - Any dangers to the future of SETI research?42:25 - what is the role to be played by non-scientific disciplines?44:00 - Lena’s thoughts on the Project45:40 : Aude’s thoughts … 46:49 - Josephine wants to contact the aliens! 48:22 - Maya : “God No ! “ -- Credits -- Intro Music : "Feelin Good" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Episode Music : "Mirage" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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