2026-09-20T02:39:59Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1289802025-10-27T18:00:45Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Alan Lightman.
Petersen, Kate S.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Comparative Media Studies.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
2021-01-05T23:11:06Z
2021-01-05T23:11:06Z
2020
2020
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128980
1227040843
Thesis: S.M. in Science Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, 2020
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 14-15).
The discovery of extraterrestrial (ET) life would be a revelation of scientific and cultural magnitude that rivals Darwin's theory of evolution and Copernicus's hypothesis that the Earth revolves around the Sun. But while conjecture about the existence of ET life predates industrialism, it is only within the past century or so that technology has developed to the point where humans can add empirical observations to centuries of wondering. With rapid advancements in biological, chemical, and technological science, discovering ET life could be within reach. However, investigations of other planetary environments are still on the edge of technological capability and researchers may need to rely on indirect signs of life to make a detection. These signs may be difficult to interpret. This thesis surveys some of the main techniques and technologies that researchers currently use or are developing to search for alien life. It also teases out some limitations and ambiguity inherent in contemporary data interpretation.
by Kate S. Petersen.
S.M. in Science Writing
S.M.inScienceWriting Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing
15 pages ;
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Comparative Media Studies.
Graduate Program in Science Writing.
Aliens inferred
Thesis
application/pdf
2021-01-05T23:11:05Z
Publication
Master
CMS
unknown
unknown
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<Abstract>The discovery of extraterrestrial (ET) life would be a revelation of scientific and cultural magnitude that rivals Darwin's theory of evolution and Copernicus's hypothesis that the Earth revolves around the Sun. But while conjecture about the existence of ET life predates industrialism, it is only within the past century or so that technology has developed to the point where humans can add empirical observations to centuries of wondering. With rapid advancements in biological, chemical, and technological science, discovering ET life could be within reach. However, investigations of other planetary environments are still on the edge of technological capability and researchers may need to rely on indirect signs of life to make a detection. These signs may be difficult to interpret. This thesis surveys some of the main techniques and technologies that researchers currently use or are developing to search for alien life. It also teases out some limitations and ambiguity inherent in contemporary data interpretation.</Abstract>
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