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Seth Shostak Quotes
The overwhelming bulk of the cosmos is deathly quiet. But here and there - on worlds where matter is thick and conditions are right - noises are commonplace. And in some cases, these noisy worlds may ring with the sounds of life - the bleats and bellows of creatures we have never seen, but may someday discover.
~ Seth Shostak
Bulk
Cases
Commonplace
Conditions
Cosmos
Creatures
Discover
Here
Life
Matter
May
Never
Noises
Noisy
Overwhelming
Quiet
Right
Ring
Seen
Some
Someday
Sounds
Thick
Where
Worlds
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The planets and moons of our solar system are blatantly visible because they reflect sunlight. Without the nearby Sun, these planets would be cryptic and dark on the sky.
~ Seth Shostak
Because
Dark
Nearby
Our
Planets
Reflect
Sky
Solar
Solar System
Sun
Sunlight
System
Visible
Without
Would
Would-Be
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The principal reason for the universe's poker face is that its constituents are far away. Stars careen through space, and galaxies spin at speeds thousands of times faster than a jet plane. But given their distance, you'd need the patience of Job to notice much change in their appearance or position.
~ Seth Shostak
Appearance
Away
Change
Constituents
Distance
Face
Far
Far Away
Faster
Galaxies
Given
Jet
Job
Much
Need
Notice
Patience
Plane
Poker
Position
Principal
Reason
Space
Speeds
Spin
Stars
Than
Thousands
Through
Times
Universe
You
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The space elevator's not just another competitive technology, promoted by people who simply like the idea of diminishing the luster of the thrusters. It would open wide the doors to space.
~ Seth Shostak
Another
Competitive
Diminishing
Doors
Elevator
Idea
Just
Like
Open
People
Promoted
Simply
Space
Technology
The Doors
Who
Wide
Would
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The split between religion and science is relatively new. Isaac Newton, who first worked out the laws by which gravity held the planets and even the stars in their traces, was sufficiently impressed by the scale and regularity of the universe to ascribe it all to God.
~ Seth Shostak
Ascribe
Between
Even
First
God
Gravity
Held
Impressed
Isaac
Laws
New
Newton
Out
Planets
Regularity
Relatively
Religion
Scale
Science
Split
Stars
Sufficiently
Traces
Universe
Which
Who
Worked
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The stars look the same from night to night. Nebulae and galaxies are dully immutable, maintaining the same overall appearance for thousands or millions of years. Indeed, only the sun, moon and planets - together with the occasional comet, asteroid or meteor - seem dynamic.
~ Seth Shostak
Appearance
Asteroid
Comet
Dynamic
Galaxies
Indeed
Look
Maintaining
Meteor
Millions
Millions Of Years
Moon
Night
Occasional
Only
Overall
Planets
Same
Seem
Stars
Sun
Thousands
Together
Years
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The strongest signals leaking off our planet are radar transmissions, not television or radio. The most powerful radars, such as the one mounted on the Arecibo telescope (used to study the ionosphere and map asteroids) could be detected with a similarly sized antenna at a distance of nearly 1,000 light-years.
~ Seth Shostak
Could
Distance
Leaking
Map
Most
Most Powerful
Nearly
Off
Our
Our Planet
Planet
Powerful
Radar
Radio
Signals
Similarly
Sized
Strongest
Study
Telescope
Television
Used
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The thing to keep in mind is that we're still in the very early days when it comes to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Saying there's a silence is a bit like if Columbus, looking to discover a new continent, only sailed 10 miles off the coast of Spain before turning back to say, 'Nothing out there!'
~ Seth Shostak
Back
Before
Bit
Coast
Columbus
Continent
Days
Discover
Early
Early Days
Extraterrestrial
Intelligence
Keep
Like
Looking
Miles
Mind
New
Nothing
Off
Only
Out
Sailed
Say
Saying
Search
Silence
Spain
Still
Thing
Turning
Very
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The total funding of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) in the U.S. is 0.0003 percent of the tax monies spent on health and human services. And it's not even tax money. The SETI Institute's hunt for signals is funded by donations.
~ Seth Shostak
Donations
Even
Extraterrestrial
Funding
Health
Human
Hunt
Institute
Intelligence
Money
Percent
Search
Services
Signals
Spent
Tax
Tax Money
Total
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The total number of people that do a job that has the same description as mine in the entire world is fewer than 10. There's a lot of effort looking for life in space - that's a lot of what NASA does, but they're not necessarily looking for the kind of life that can hold up its side of a conversation.
~ Seth Shostak
Conversation
Description
Does
Effort
Entire
Entire World
Fewer
Hold
Job
Kind
Life
Looking
Lot
Mine
NASA
Necessarily
Number
People
Same
Side
Space
Than
Total
Up
World
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The usual metric for whether a planet is habitable or not is to ascertain whether liquid water could exist on its surface. Most worlds will either be too cold, too hot or of a type (like Jupiter) that may have no solid surface and be swaddled in noxious gases.
~ Seth Shostak
Ascertain
Cold
Could
Either
Exist
Gases
Hot
Jupiter
Like
Liquid
May
Metric
Most
Planet
Solid
Surface
Too
Type
Usual
Water
Whether
Will
Worlds
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There will be an end point to how good TV pictures can get. The boob tube has hugely benefited from the rapid advance of digital electronics. Consequently, the strategy for hardware has changed. In the old days, sets had to be as simple as Elmer Fudd to keep them inexpensive. All the technical 'smarts' were at the transmitter end.
~ Seth Shostak
Advance
Changed
Consequently
Days
Digital
Electronics
End
Get
Good
Had
Hardware
How
Hugely
Inexpensive
Keep
Old
Old Days
Pictures
Point
Rapid
Sets
Simple
Smarts
Strategy
Technical
Them
Tube
TV
Were
Will
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There's no doubt that the Moon is more than a handy night light and a hair restorer for werewolves. It's responsible for the substantial amplitude of earthly ocean tides. These are of obvious influence if you're a geoduck, a type of clam that people dig up at low tide.
~ Seth Shostak
Dig
Doubt
Earthly
Hair
Handy
Influence
Light
Low
Moon
More
Night
No Doubt
Obvious
Ocean
People
Responsible
Substantial
Than
Tide
Tides
Type
Up
Werewolves
You
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This plucky NASA telescope is able to find planets en masse. If you compare planet hunting to prospecting for gold, then Kepler is equivalent to trading in your trusty pan for a diesel-powered sluice box.
~ Seth Shostak
Able
Box
Compare
Equivalent
Find
Gold
Hunting
NASA
Pan
Planet
Planets
Telescope
Then
Trading
You
Your
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Three-fourths of the universe is hydrogen, and oxygen is incredibly abundant, too. So H2O is something you can find nearly everywhere.
~ Seth Shostak
Abundant
Everywhere
Find
Hydrogen
Incredibly
Nearly
Oxygen
Something
Too
Universe
You
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Today's voguish threats, including climate change, population growth, massive war, and resource depletion, are all amenable to a fix if we act prudently. And even if we don't, these problems are incapable of obliterating all of humanity, let alone destroying the Earth. No, the real End of Days will happen slowly, as the Sun ages.
~ Seth Shostak
Act
Ages
Alone
Change
Climate
Climate Change
Days
Destroying
Earth
End
Even
Fix
Growth
Happen
Humanity
Incapable
Including
Massive
Population
Population Growth
Problems
Real
Resource
Slowly
Sun
Threats
Today
War
Will
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Typically, only about 2 percent of the American populace tunes in to PBS's 'Nova' series - the most successful science show on the tube. 'Survivor' and 'X Factor' get twice the ratings.
~ Seth Shostak
About
American
Factor
Get
Most
Nova
Only
Percent
Populace
Ratings
Science
Series
Show
Successful
Survivor
Tube
Tunes
Twice
X Factor
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Very few societies on Earth developed science as we know it today. On the other hand, the number is not zero - the Greeks, the Chinese, and the Maya did, among others. Once invented, science proved so useful that it spread like mold on a petri dish.
~ Seth Shostak
Among
Chinese
Developed
Did
Dish
Earth
Few
Greeks
Hand
Invented
Know
Like
Mold
Number
Once
Other
Others
Proved
Science
Societies
Spread
Today
Useful
Very
Zero
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Virtually any pointed edifice is considered a candidate for alien engineering. After all, how could the Egyptians or Mayans have possibly stacked up stone blocks into pyramids?
~ Seth Shostak
After
Alien
Any
Blocks
Candidate
Considered
Could
Edifice
Egyptians
Engineering
How
Pointed
Possibly
Pyramids
Stacked
Stone
Up
Virtually
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We can never prove that we're alone in the universe. But the Allen Telescope Array could prove that we're not.
~ Seth Shostak
Allen
Alone
Array
Could
Never
Prove
Telescope
Universe
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