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The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is based on the idea that a search of the cosmos may reveal artificial signals that are being transmitted intentionally or as electromagnetic noise, like TV and radio signals.

But if we do detect these signals, what will they tell us other than the fact that we are not alone? The signals may contain messages from an alien civilization that we cannot decipher and SETI currently focuses on finding artificial signals, not on decoding them.

SETI researchers believe that the content of messages intentionally beamed toward Earth would rely on the universal language of math and science. But how would ETs transmit knowledge of their culture and history?
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The universe seems determined to maintain radio silence, so SETI astronomers involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are broadening their hunt and looking for light signals directed at Earth. This method has been tried before but previous experiments have been plagued by false alarms.
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In a hearing last week of the House space science subcommittee, lawmakers applauded efforts to find evidence of life elsewhere in the universe and to search for other Earthlike worlds, just seven years after some lawmakers dismissed their efforts as a search for ?little green men.?

?The discovery of life in the universe would be one of the most astounding discoveries in human history,? said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). ?Funding should match public interest and I don’t believe it does.? Smith said that since funds for the search for extra terrestrial intelligence (SETI) were dropped from the federal budget in 1994, ?the SETI credibility has been enhanced.?
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