I flipped a couple days ahead, and saw that on the 14th, the Far Side desk calendar has a cartoon about SETI. It brought a little smile to my face. If you've got one, cheat a little a flip to the 14th. I think I'll keep that one up on my desk for a while.
For those of you who don't have them, here's the idea: It's a single panel filled with the expansive ocean with nothing in sight save for a few tiny ice floes. The view is so vast that the top of the water curves as if it's the end of the planet. You get the feeling that the whole planet is water and the penguins on the nearest floe are the only inhabitants. The caption is the statement of one of the penguins: "On the other hand, what if we aren't alone in the universe?" Each cartoon has a little blurb on it, and this one reads: Dec. 14, 1959 - SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) is founded after two Cornell physicists publish an article pointing out the potential for using microwave radio to communicate between the stars. NASA becomes involved in the early '70s, but Congress suspends funding in '92. (Some scientists are now chasing an even more elusive goal: the discovery of intelligent life in Congress.)
For those of you who don't have them, here's the idea: It's a single panel filled with the expansive ocean with nothing in sight save for a few tiny ice floes. The view is so vast that the top of the water curves as if it's the end of the planet. You get the feeling that the whole planet is water and the penguins on the nearest floe are the only inhabitants. The caption is the statement of one of the penguins: "On the other hand, what if we aren't alone in the universe?" Each cartoon has a little blurb on it, and this one reads: Dec. 14, 1959 - SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) is founded after two Cornell physicists publish an article pointing out the potential for using microwave radio to communicate between the stars. NASA becomes involved in the early '70s, but Congress suspends funding in '92. (Some scientists are now chasing an even more elusive goal: the discovery of intelligent life in Congress.)
