Doyoubelievethattheremightbelifeonotherplanets?Wouldyouliketobethefirst“Earthling”togetintouchwithanalien?Wellyoucanstartyoursearchfromhome.Allyouneedisa computerandtheInternetandyoucanjointheprojectoftheUS-based NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration(NASA).

NASAstartedtheSearchforExtra-TerrestrialIntelligence(SETI)projecteightyearsago.Itsgoalistoexaminetheradiosignals(信号)fromnearbystars.Researchersbelievethatalargenumberofstarsintheuniversecouldhaveplanetsorbiting(circling)aroundthem.Andtheywanttoknowiftheseplanetshaveconditionssuitableforlifeforms.

Howdoestheprojectwork?Thereisahugeradiotelescopewithalargebowl-shapeddishatAreciboPuertoRico.ItcatchesradiosignalswhicharethenfedintoSETIcomputers.Theresearchershavetostudythousandsofradiosignalsdaily.Theyarelookingforsignalswhosepatterns(模式）wouldshowtheexistence（存在）ofhydrogenorwatermoleculesthatarenecessaryforlifeonEarth.Theycouldbeatitforyearsbeforeshowingasinglepositiveresult!

Ofcourseeventheresearchersknowthattheycannotdoafastjobontheirown.Sotheywantasmanyhelpersaspossible.Evenyou!TojoinsearchjustdownloadSETI’sfreesoftware(SETI@home).Whathappensnextisfun.WhileyouareawayfromyourcomputertheSETIprograminyourcomputerdownloadstheinformationonradiosignalsreceivedbytheradiotelescope.Itstudiestheinformationandsendtheresultbacktotheresearchcenter.

ThereareotherbenefitstooofhavingtheSETIprojectsoftwareinyourcomputer.Whenyouleaveyourcomputerunattendedinsteadofseeingtheusualscreensaveryoucanfeastyoureyesonanamazing3-Dchartonthescreen.ThisshowsthatyourcomputerisbusystudyingSETIdataandsearchingforsignsofalienlife!

Morethan1824500peoplearoundtheworldarecurrentlyintheprogramandmorearejoiningineveryday.It’sslimchancebutwouldn’titbefantasticifyourcomputerweretobethefirsttodiscoveranaliensignal!

53.Whydoresearchersexaminetheradiosignalsfromnearbystars?

A.Theyplantohelppeoplewholiveonthestars.

B.Theyneedtomakesurethatthestarshaveplanets.