Search for alien life reaches milestone

The alien-searching peer-to-peer program Seti (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) is about to conduct its 500 millionth analysis this week.

The hugely successful US project has been running since May 1999 and analyses data gathered by a telescope in Puerto Rico.

The central computer then sends the data to computer users who have downloaded a peer-to-peer based screensaver which analyses the signals gathered from outer space.

The Seti scientists have now said the project is about to concuct its 500 millionth data analysis sometime this week. The project gathers over 50 gigabytes of data every day, but is yet to find any forms of alien life. However, scientists remain hopeful that one day they'll find evidence that we are not alone.

The project has 3,695 182 users in total.