Menlo Park Library to host SETI Senior Astronomer Dr. Seth Shostak August 9

SETI Institute Senior Astronomer Dr. Seth Shostak presents a talk and slide show at the Menlo Park Main Library on August 9, covering the continuing efforts to establish Earth’s place in the universe of living things. The free event begins at 7:00 pm

Shostak says that new approaches to detecting life suggest that there is good reason to expect a discovery of microbic organisms on other worlds soon, and that we could uncover evidence of sophisticated civilizations –“the type of aliens we see in the movies and on TV”– within a few decades.

The Mountain View-based SETI Institute was founded in 1984, with a mission “…to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to apply the knowledge gained to inspire and guide present and future generations.”

Shostak has an undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton University, and a doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. For much of his career, he’s conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies and has published approximately 60 papers in professional journals. He has authored over five hundred popular magazine, newspaper and web articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film and television.  His most recent book is Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (National Geographic).

Photo courtesy of SETI