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Are we Alone?
SETI Institute scientists are working to find out.

The number of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy is close to one hundred billion.

Most are far away, but other worlds that could have life are even closer. Mars and several of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons have environments that could support biology. Beyond our solar system, there are so many planets it’s reasonable to imagine that at least some are populated by intelligent beings.

SETI Institute researchers look for both microscopic and macroscopic life using a variety of instruments and strategies: rovers, orbiters, field expeditions, and radio telescopes are just a few. Understanding where biology may gain a foothold and detecting its presence is the goal of these scientists, and they hope to establish whether life is commonplace or rare.

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A Nonprofit Research Organization

From microbes to alien intelligence, the SETI Institute is America’s only organization wholly dedicated to searching for life in the universe.

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Featured Activities

Frontier Development Lab

AI accelerator for space science

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What is the probability of extraterrestrial life?

Girl Scouts Reach for the Stars

SETI Institute partners with Scouts for next gen badges.

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Real-time search for exterrestrial intelligence

Exoplanets

Are there Earth-like planets elsewhere in our galaxy?

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100+ Scientists

The SETI Institute has more than 100 research scientists investigating the nature of the universe and the prevalence of life beyond Earth. To find out more about their work and interests, browse by name or discipline using the search boxes below.

Meet our scientists

500,000+ Students and Counting

Our Center for Education develops STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) programs, as well as resources that teach, excite and inspire children, young adults and educators. From space science badges for Girl Scouts to professional development workshops and courses, summer internships, curriculum development, planetarium programs and exhibit development, our education programs foster future leaders in STEAM fields.

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A Global Community

We make our work accessible to the public, students and life-long learners with a wide variety of outreach activities. These take place online, in print, in real life, and on the air. Programs include SETI Talks (our monthly lecture series), Big Picture Science (our weekly podcast and radio program), SETI Live talks (online interviews), our Journey e-newsletter, and the annual Explorer magazine.

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