Should SETI Shut Down?

First off…

Now for the question…

Should they close down and do something else?

My first thought when I read this question was along the lines of “they’re a private organisation so they can do what they like with the money they raise,” but I realise that’s not exactly helpful. So I won’t say that.

I think the issue is that, with an institute that calls itself the Search for Extra- Terrestrial Intelligence, the fact that they haven’t found any evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence means that they’ve wasted twenty-six years of funding and expertise. I disagree with this standpoint, mainly from the point of view that SETI’s research and developments, whilst not actually finding evidence of life in the universe beyond Earth, have played a greater role in making advances in related fields of astronomy. I’ll offer a handful of examples:

• Between 1997 and 2007, SETI was instrumental in forming ideas, raising funds and commissioning the Allen Telescope Array (so named for the funding source for technology development and the first phase of construction, Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft)), which is being used for SETI purposes and also radio astronomy observations in conjunction with the Radio Astronomy Lab of the University of California Berkeley.
• SETI’s interest and research into the factors involved in the Drake Equation have implications for our wider understanding of the universe around is. Such factors include the rate of star formation in the galaxy (hence a greater understanding of the factors and conditions that affect star formation).
• The SETI@home project, which is designed to exploit thousands of hours of unused processor time on home computers and put them to good use analysing data from SETI’s radio telescopes, has pushed forward research into the field of grid-computing, and now your home computer can be utilised as a processing tool for various scientific projects in fields as diverse as astronomy, cryptography, climate science and artificial intelligence.
• Various astrobiology projects and experiments have contributed to developing our understanding of life processes and how they may implement themselves on other worlds, as well as a deeper understanding of areas of astronomy such as planet formation and various aspects of the evolution of stars and galaxies.