Technology
Jill Tarter and the Allen Telescope Array continue the search for alien radio signals
July 13, 2026 at 02:24 PM
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The SETI Institute's Jill Tarter uses the Allen Telescope Array in California to scan the cosmos for artificial signals from extraterrestrial intelligence.
- Jill Tarter, director of the SETI Institute, is listening with 42 radio telescopes in Northern California for signals that cannot be produced by natural sources.
- Tarter stated the array surveys tens of thousands of star systems continuously and completes in ten minutes what once took ten days.
- Astronomer Geoffrey Marcy said the galaxy's vast distances make communication with alien life nearly impossible, with a round-trip signal taking 100,000 years.
- Tarter acknowledged no signal has been found but said the search has only begun, comparing it to pulling a few straws from a cosmic haystack.