Search for Extraterrestrial Life:
Scientific Questions and Goals
Group 2: Christine Cho, Han Lin Rong, Jessica Williams
Scientific Questions
? Who is out there?
? What are they like and what are their fundamental values
and priorities?
? What do they know about us?
? What sorts of detectable communications might they be
using?
Scientific Questions Continued
? What role will they play in our long-term future?
? How can we benefit from this interaction in terms of solving
some of our present issues such as cancer and global
warming?
? What sort of information would be garnered by SEL
scientists?
Scientific Goals
 Discover the Nature of Life throughout the Universe.
 Help Develop Scientific Theory.
 Provide Solutions to Earth’s Future Problems.
 Get Philosophical Answers.
Discovering the Nature of Life
 Understand the
requirements for life to
exist.
 Distinguish between what
biological components are
inherent to all life vs. what
we have developed due to
the Earth’s environment.
 Study the extraterrestrials
biochemistry, sensory
organs, and physiology.
Help Develop Scientific Theory
 Help determine if universe
expansion is slowing or it will
recycle itself.
 Develop potential technologies
to travel faster than light.
 Synthesize new protein enzymes
with desirable characteristics.
 Better estimate Drake Equation
coefficients.
 Better understand the nature of
climate on terrestrial planets.
Solving Earth’s Future Problems
 Existing life forms may provide cues to longevity.
 Discover alternative places to live.
 Solve ecological and pollution problems.
 Provide insights into unknown possibilities.
Getting Philosophical Answers
 Are we alone?
 Accepting the existence of
extraterrestrial life.
 Finding new art forms that
would enrich life.
References
 Tough, A. "Positive Consequences of SETI before Detection."
Acta Astronautica 42.10-12 (1998): 745-48. Print.
 Shapiro, Robert, and Dirk Schulze-Makuch. "The Search for Alien
Life in Our Solar System: Strategies and Priorities." Astrobiology
9.4 (2009): 335-43. Print.
 Harp, G. R., and G. S. Shostak. "Beings on Earth: Is That All There
Is?" Proceedings of the IEEE 100 (2013): 1000-017. Print.
 Cleland, Carol E. "Life without Definitions." Synthese 185.1 (2012):
125-44. Print.