SETI's search for aliens gets 2nd life

When we last tuned in, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute's prospects looked grim. A budget crunch had forced the project to mothball its extensive array of linked radio-telescope dishes, leaving its administrators with their fingers crossed that financial help would arrive.

It did.

An online fundraiser raised more than $207,000 - and there are still three days remaining - which will allow the lights to go back on at the Allen Telescope Array. Tom Pierson, the co-founder of the SETI Institute told the Los Angeles Times that he believes the project will be back online next month.

"In the wake of the shutdown, the outpouring of support from all corners of the globe was staggering," SETI said in a post on its website. (Among the people lending their voice was actress Jody Foster,) who played SETI astronomer Ellie Arroway in the movie "Contact."

But it's still unclear whether the institute will be able to operate its equipment without further grants. The 42 radio telescopes it oversees relied on funding from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as the financial largesse of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and others. Berkeley, like other California state institutions is financially strapped, and has not indicated plans to resume its funding. However, SETI is reported to be talking to the U.S. Air Force as well as to other potential funders.