Explore SETI’s history and modern methods—from radio and laser searches to Dyson spheres and technosignatures—and how we might detect alien civilizations across the galaxy.

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Credits:

SETI Explained - How We Search for Alien Civilizations

Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur

Graphics from Ken York, Sergio Botero

Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images

Chapters

0:00 Intro

0:50 Why SETI Is Harder Than It Sounds

2:50 The Birth of SETI

6:15 Why Radio SETI Made Sense—and Why It Didn’t Work

9:34 The Shift in Perspective

10:55 Laser SETI

13:52 Dysonian SETI

16:59 Signals, Artifacts, and Echoes

19:09 Recognition Is Harder Than Detection

21:30 Gods & Monsters

22:30 What SETI Looks Like Today

25:18 SETI as a Mirror, Not a Phone Call

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