Technosignatures vs. Biosignatures: Which Will Succeed First?

Thirty-five years ago, a group of entrepreneurs and scientists founded the SETI Institute â€" the first scientific institute dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life in the universe. We’re excited to commemorate this anniversary. We invited SETI Institute co-founder Jill Tarter and 2018 Drake Award Recipient Vikki Meadows to discuss the challenges and possible future strategies for the detection of life.

Initiated by Jill Tarter in 1990s, Project Phoenix marked the first systematic search for technosignatures. Today, the Allen Telescope Array and Laser SETI are driving our technosignature search.

The discovery that exoplanets are common has radically changed our view of the universe. The likelihood that there are habitable worlds elsewhere in the universe seems more plausible than ever before. Astronomers, including Vikki Meadows, are developing new instruments to help search for life on other planets. By analyzing data from exoplanets and identifying biosignatures, we will be able to search for habitable planets and the presence of life.

Which approach will discover the first evidence of extraterrestrial life? Will technosignatures or biosignatures confirm our hypothesis that life exists outside our watery, shimmering planet and that, indeed, we are not alone?