FYP 101 Focal Point: SETI

About me:

Instructor:	Dr. Joseph Phillips (please just Prof. Joe)
Office:	Computing and Digital Media Building 1st floor computing lab
Telephone:	(Sorry, not available)
Email:	jphillips@cdm.depaul.edu
Office hours:	Monday: 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm Monday: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Homepage:	http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/jphillips/isp101

About the class

• Q: Why is there a Focal Point Program?
  A: To teach seminar behavior and research from original sources.

• What this course is:
  Application of multiple sciences to consider the chances of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

• What this course is not:
  Non-science (e.g. not reproducible) (Space Aliens abducted my grandma's dog!)

• The course in two parts
  1. Is there life elsewhere in our own galaxy?
  2. Is there intelligent life elsewhere in our own galaxy?

• What we'll do in class
  
  • Discuss the reading as a class to answer any questions you might have about it.
  • Split into groups to discuss two or three deeper questions about the reading.
  • Get together as a class to discuss these in-depth questions more thoroughly.
  • Please write these questions and the discussion points down! You may find them useful for your papers.

Weekly Assignments:

1. Do the assigned reading
2. The class may opt for either a daily quiz or a brief report on the reading
3. If the class opts for a quiz then I will write a question on the board and you will have about 15 minutes to answer it.
4. If the class opts for the report then write a 1.5 to 2 page paper that:
1. Summarizes the reading (about 1 page)
2. Gives your thoughts on the reading (about 1/2 page)
3. Answers any question I might ask about the reading (about 1/2 page)

Papers:

• Midterm Paper

Topic	What do you think is the probability of life elsewhere in the galaxy? Please consider any life, not just intelligent life. Please limit yourself just to our galaxy (H.sapiens is probably stuck here for the rest of its life)
Length	4-5 pages with at least one separate page of references
Dates	Assigned beginning of 2nd week. First draft due beginning of 4th week. Final draft due end of 5th week.

• Final Paper / Presentation

Topic	What do you think is the probability of intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy AND should we look for intelligent life? Please limit yourself to intelligent life, not just any life. These are two independent questions. You may answer: The chances of intelligent life is high and we should look for it. The chances of intelligent life is high and we should not look for it. The chances of intelligent life is low and we should look for it. The chances of intelligent life is low and we should not look for it. Your paper should (of course) spell out your reasoning for whatever you choose. Please (again) limit yourself just to our galaxy
Length	6-8 pages with at least one separate page of references
Dates	Assigned beginning of 7th week. First draft due beginning of 9th week. Final draft due end of 10th week.
You must present your paper in class individually or in groups of size 2. All papers must be done individually!
Please reuse some of the text and ideas of your first paper!

Grading:

Instructor decided:

ALL GRADING IS CURVED!

Class participation	15%
Quizzes/Small Papers	25%
Presentations and Big Papers	60%

Quizzes to be graded on check+, check, check- scale.

Student decided:

• <= 24 hours late:

  check+ -> check

  check -> check-

• <= 48 hours late: -20%

  check+ -> check-

• > 48 hours late: (don't bother)
• Quizzes can not be made up!
• The lowest homework grade will be dropped!

Topics (timing is approximate):

1. Week 1: Introduction and The Search
   • Morton, Oliver "A mirror in the sky: the Drake equation", in Farmelo, Graham (ed.) It Must be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science, Granta Books, NY, 2002. Pages 46-67.

2. Week 2: The Search, cont'd
   • SETI and Astrobiology, first readings:
     • Midterm-paper formally introduced
     • Morison, Ian. "SETI in the new Millennium" Astronomy and Geophysics Aug 2006, Vol 47 Issue 4, p 4.12-4.16.
       (Get the PDF Full-text version)
     • Tarter, Jill; Chyba, Christopher F. "Is there life elsewhere in the Universe?" Scientific American, December 1999, pg 118-123.

   • Search for planets, second reading:
     Appenzeller, Tim "Search for other Earths" National Geographic December 2004, pg 72-95.
     • About Kepler's Laws
     • About the Sun's planets

3. Week 3: Astrobiology
   • First reading:
     Sagan, Carl "Chapter II: One voice in the cosmic fugue" Cosmos Random House, NY, 1980. Pages 22-43. (Hand-out that you copied)

   • Second reading:
     Grady, Monica "Life on Earth" Astrobiology Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, 2001. Pages 26-46.

4. Week 4: Astrobiology, cont'd
   • First reading:
     Grady, Monica "Life Elsewhere in the Solar System" and "Life Beyond the Solar System" Astrobiology Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, 2001. Pages 47-80
   • Second reading:
     • Pappalardo, Robert T.; Head, James W.; Greeley, Ronald; "The Hidden Ocean of Europa" Scientific American, October 1999, pg 54-63.
     • Sushil K. Atreya "The mystery of methane on Mars and Titan" pg 42-51. Scientific American, May 2007.
     • Midterm papers due!

5. Week 5: Astrobiology, cont'd
   • First session:
     • In-class review of your midterm papers

   • Astrobiology (cont'd), second session:
     • Nancy Kiang; "The color of plants on other worlds" Scientific American, April 2008, pg 48-55.
     • Revised midterm papers due!
     • Final-paper formally introduced

6. Week 6: SETI, and now the Biologists Speak:
   • SETI, first reading:
     • Crawford, Ian "Where are they" pg 38-43.
     • LePage, Andrew J. Where They Could Hide. Scientific American, July 2000.
     • Swenson, George W. Jr. "Intragalactically Speaking" pg 44-47. Scientific American, July 2000.

   • Now the Biologists Speak, second reading:
     • Mayer, Ernst "Eassy four: The probability of extraterrestrial intelligence" in Mayer, Ernst Towards a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass, 1988. Pages 67-74. (Hand-out that you copied)
     • Gould, Stephen Jay "Evolution and SETI" Science and Society v.56 (Summer 1992). Pages 403-413. (Hand-out that you copied)

7. Week 7: The Skeptics
   • First reading:
     • Chapter 5: How to Build Animals in Ward, Peter D.; Brownlee, Donald; Rare Earth: Why Complex Live is Uncommon in the Universe Cupernicus Books, NY, 2000. Pages 83-112.
   • Second reading:
     • Chapter 6: Snowball Earth in Ward, Peter D.; Brownlee, Donald; Rare Earth: Why Complex Live is Uncommon in the Universe Cupernicus Books, NY, 2000. Pages 113-124.

8. Week 8: The Skeptics, cont'd
   • First reading:
     • Chapter 7: The Enigma of the Cambrian Explosion in Ward, Peter D.; Brownlee, Donald; Rare Earth: Why Complex Live is Uncommon in the Universe Cupernicus Books, NY, 2000. Pages 125-156.
   • Second reading:
     • Chapter 8: Mass Extinctions and the Rare Earth Hypothesis in Ward, Peter D.; Brownlee, Donald; Rare Earth: Why Complex Live is Uncommon in the Universe Cupernicus Books, NY, 2000. Pages 157-190.

9. Week 9: Human evolution and Ramifications for Society
   • Human evolution, first readings:
     • Tattersall, Ian "Once We Were Not Alone" Scientific American, January 2000, pg 57-62.

   • Ramifications for Society, second readings:
     • Coyne, Pat "SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)" New Statesman and Society Dec. 18, 1992 - Jan 1, 1993. Pages 51-54.

     • Shuch, Paul H. "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" Futurist May/June 2003. Pages 52-55.

10. Week 10: Presentations
    • First session:
      • In-class presentation of your conclusion!
      • Final-papers due!

Resources:

• The SETI Institute