The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is an ambitious effort to discover evidence of other technologically advanced life in our universe. It utilizes telescopes, radio and optical transmitters to search the skies for signals from alien civilizations. The concept of SETI began in 1959 with the publication of a paper in the British journal Nature by Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison. The paper addressed the potential existence of alien civilizations and the methods for detecting them, concluding that radio waves would serve as the most effective method. At the same time as Cocconi and Morrison's paper was published a young astronomer named Frank Drake was putting together plans for the first search.
Today SETI is primarily searching for radio and optical signals transmitted by distant civilizations. The project has come a long way in terms of technology and theory since its implementation by Frank Drake; nonetheless, as of today still no alien signals have been detected.
Despite ever-present critics of the far-reaching venture, the search can and must go on.
