About this episode
Seth Shostak from SETI discusses the search for extraterrestrial intelligence from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, home to the world's largest radio telescope. Built into a canyon and featured in the film Contact, Arecibo listens for signals from intelligent civilizations across the cosmos. Live webcams broadcast from the facility's control room during the interview, offering viewers real-time glimpses of active SETI operations. The program also addresses climate change, as new government research indicates Earth is warming at unprecedented rates, with effects arriving decades earlier than predicted. Steep warming trends suggest more severe and sudden impacts than previously forecast, including continued mild winters, extreme summers, and intensifying storms. The conversation touches on Elizabeth Taylor's near-death experience, Carlos Santana attributing his comeback to an angel named Metatron, and a peculiar leap year occurring only once every 400 years. Shostak explains SETI methodology, the data processing involved, and humanity's attempt to answer the ultimate question of whether we are alone in the universe.