The human civilization as a whole has been interested in the possibility of alien life forms since the beginning of modern history. At present, the scientists from the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Institute or SETI are conducting several pioneering studies in order to discover whether or not human beings are alone in the universe.
The SETI Institute is currently involved with several ongoing projects. This includes the Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations or SERNDIP, which aims to use large radio telescopes in order to observe suspicious signals across the Earth's neighboring areas, and Breakthrough Listen, a ten-year initiative which is dubbed to be the most advanced form of alien communication at present.
Recently, SETI launched yet another program that searches through an interesting component of the universe for Alien life forms.
According to the official press release published on SETI's official website, the institute would be studying the areas surrounding 20,000 red dwarf for alien life. The initiative would be conducted over two years.
Scientists from the institute have since explained the importance of the newly launched initiative. According to Jon Richards, an engineer working at SETI, red dwarf have been overlooked by researchers trying to find alien life in other planets. Earlier scientists assumed that life can only be sustained around planet similar to the sun.
"Red dwarfs - the dim bulbs of the cosmos - have received scant attention by SETI scientists in the past. That's because researchers made the seemingly reasonable assumption that other intelligent species would be on planets orbiting stars similar to the Sun" quipped Richards.
Consequently, Seth Shostak, SETI astronomer, explains as reported by Space.com that the newly inaugurated search would be focusing on older solar systems. He claims that older solar systems are the perfect test subject for alien life since their long life span allows for more time to produce intelligent species.
The scientific effort would be making use the SETI;s Allen Telescope Array or ATA in order to scan 20,00 red dwarfs. Researchers are also expected to utilize data gathered from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS which would be launched next year