Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can join a worldwide search for intelligent life in space from Monday. When your computer is idle the program searches the data for any indication of intelligence.
Scientists believe that the best way to find life in space is to look for radio signals.
Since 1960 there have been about 70 unsuccessful searches. The project has a list of nearly 400,000 people from 96 countries waiting for the final version of the software. As the computer works on the data, the screen displays a three-dimensional graph charting the signal analysis. The data downloaded to each desktop computer takes up only about 250k of computer memory, though the computer must have 32mb of RAM to run the software. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.