Unite Our World:
A Call to Action from Frank Drake
Dear friend and fellow explorer, Are we alone? If you're like me, you want to know. If you're like me, you believe that with knowledge comes new perspective, and in the ability to see and understand the big picture, the power in determining our own fate.
At the SETI Institute we work every day to expand our knowledge of the nature of life itself, always seeking to provide a bigger picture, one in which all of humanity is united, one intelligent species among perhaps many others in the universe. We must never forget that we are living in the first generation of humans who are able to use technology to reach out into the vast universe in search of cosmic company. We are the first generation of humans capable of discovering our place among the stars. Such an endeavor, of course, is no small feat.
The generous contributions of SETI Institute supporters has allowed us to make major advances in the search for life beyond Earth over the past 25 years. But we cannot continue to advance on this journey without you. This is why I am asking you to consider a year-end contribution to take humanity’s search to new heights. On behalf of everyone at the SETI Institute, our sincerest thanks to those who have contributed this year to strengthen the SETI Institute’s future. Your committed support has allowed us to be a global leader in not only SETI science, but also astrobiology, which incorporates many other scientific disciplines in pursuit of expanded perspectives on the nature of life in the universe. You share our belief that advancement in science shouldn’t just be a government or academic program but by the people, for all the people. You may not know this, but our Center for SETI Research is funded by people like you, who share a vision of a globally supported scientific study to understand our place in the universe.
But we are only just beginning this multi-generational endeavor!
We need your support to build upon the momentum we've achieved so far.
Join us in taking the search for life beyond Earth to the next level!
 Where We’re Headed As the SETI Institute enters into our 25th year of scientific exploration, supported by generous visionaries like you, we call upon your passion and foresight to help us take our collective search for answers even further, engaging all of humanity in this exciting and crucial journey of discovery and expanded perspective. With your contributions we are working to: - Tap into the global brain trust,
to expand the reach and technological capabilities of SETI science. - Augment the automated search with human insight,
using the pattern recognition capability of the human eye to find faint, complex signals that our current algorithms miss. Anyone with a computer and the desire would be able to quite literally get in on the search. - Expand our capability to tell our story better and engage young people.
- Inspire and recruit the next generation,
who will continue this unprecedented journey and carry the torch to yet another generation, so that the roads we pave today will lead to untold destinations of scientific discovery tomorrow.
We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby Because of you, the Allen Telescope Array peppers the landscape of Northern California, listening, seeking answers, able to expand at any time with continued support, to reach out farther into space. Because of you, we will be able to explore new optical technologies, broadening our search for evidence of intelligent life with our Lick Observatory Optical SETI Project. It’s a big universe out there, and one thing we know for sure is that if we don’t search, we’ll never know. Because of you, the SETI Institute has over 90 scientists working on 100+ projects all over the world, making groundbreaking scientific discoveries about the nature of life. And what we discover every day is that life is a lot tougher and more prevalent than we had ever imagined until now, a good sign in the search for life beyond Earth, indeed. With past support we have built the foundation for this multi-generational endeavor of scientific discovery and exploration. But we have a long road ahead of us if we are to push the boundaries of knowledge during our lifetime and inspire the next generation to carry the torch, positioning them to make scientific advancements perhaps beyond even our own imagining. Ponder these questions for a moment: Would the discovery of an older cultural civilization out there
inspire us to find new ways to survive our increasingly uncertain
technological adolescence? Might it be the discovery of a distant
civilization and our common cosmic origins that finally drives home the
message of the bond among all humans? Might the revelation that we are not alone, but one species in a universe of possibilities, alter the course of human history forever? The answers to these questions may be within reach for the first time if we just keep moving forward in our quest for knowledge. We must continue to push the boundaries.
“It’s impossible to overstate the magnitude of the search that remains. All of the concerted SETI efforts, over the last 40-some years, are equivalent to scooping a single glass of water from the oceans. And no one would decide that the ocean was without fish on the basis of one glass of water. The 21st century now allows us to build bigger glasses, much bigger glasses.” - Jill Tarter, Director of the Center for SETI Research
Quite simply, we need your continued support to build bigger glasses, to invest in technology, research, and resources to take humanity’s collective journey for answers to the next level. Please consider a year-end contribution that will help us take humanity’s most profound search to new heights. Every dollar gets us closer to the answers we seek. Join in the adventure as we unite humanity in unlocking the mysteries of the universe!
Wishing you and all of humanity peace, Frank Drake
Please consider a gift of as much as you are able.
We can’t search without you!
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