The SETI institute has hibernated its Allen Telescope Array, which scans the sky for clues on extraterrestrial life, due to lack of funding. The telescope array, which consists of 42 20-foot-wide telescopes spread across a field 300 miles north of San Francisco, was originally funded largely by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who donated $25 million to the project. However, state budget cuts have all but halted the project, which will for the time being be unavailable for normal use and run by a significantly reduced staff.
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The shutdown is (hopefully) only temporary, as the institute tries to collect the $5 million it needs to restore operation, which is planned to happen in 2013.
The name SETI has become synonymous with search for extraterrestrial life in geek culture. Thousands of users participate in SETI@home, the part of the project which requires donating the CPU processing power of your computer to help interpret the vast amount of data collected by SETI's telescopes.
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You can donate to the SETI institute here.
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The shutdown is (hopefully) only temporary, as the institute tries to collect the $5 million it needs to restore operation, which is planned to happen in 2013.
The name SETI has become synonymous with search for extraterrestrial life in geek culture. Thousands of users participate in SETI@home, the part of the project which requires donating the CPU processing power of your computer to help interpret the vast amount of data collected by SETI's telescopes.
[More from Mashable: Friend Count Linked to the Size of a Certain Body Part? [STUDY]]
You can donate to the SETI institute here.
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