IN The shadows of Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak volcanoes in northern California, dozens of radio telescopes are gearing up to search for extraterrestrials. Thousands of kilometres away in Boston, Massachusetts, Stephen Wolfram has the same goal in mind. But unlike the astronomers working at Hat Creek observatory, Wolfram's approach has no need for telescopes.
Instead of scanning the heavens for alien radio broadcasts, he thinks we should be looking much closer to home. Much, much closer: ET could be living or working with you. But the truly amazing thing about Wolfram's claim is that he believes all the knowledge we stand to gain from an extraterrestrial intelligence - surely the best reason for getting to know the alien in the first place - is already ours for the taking. We don't have to find ET; we can start the search for this ultimate knowledge right now. Advanced civilisation could ...
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