Abstract:  Last year, Penn State launched new initiatives in the study of life in the universe and planetary science.  The Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, part of the new Consortium for Planetary and Exoplanetary Sciences and Technology, aims to advance the search for technological life elsewhere in the universe via research and curriculum.  

In this talk, I will give a brief history SETI, address many common misconceptions about its assumptions and scope, and describe the role Penn State can play to help it become a real academic discipline. I will describe the new undergraduate and graduate curriculum, including our new graduate course ASTRO 576, which is unique in the world and offers our astrobiology dual-title PhD students across the university an opportunity to have SETI as a formal part of their training.  Finally, I will highlight some research results both from PSETI Center members, and from students from the graduate course. 

Host:

Astro Colloquium and 'coffee & cookies' Department gathering (3:45-4:00pm)
https://psu.zoom.us/j/94153970341