PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Jill Tarter to receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the search for life beyond earth

The Tarter Award honors contributions across science, technology, education, art, philosophy, law and ethics that support SETI’s mission to search for life and intelligence beyond Earth.

Jill Tarter to receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the search for life beyond earth
2024-11-04
(Press-News.org) Jill Tarter to Receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth

November 4, 2024, Mountain View, CA – Renowned astronomer, Dr. Jill Tarter, SETI Institute co-founder and pioneering SETI researcher, will be honored with the inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth at the SETI Institute’s 40th Anniversary celebration on November 20, 2024, in Menlo Park, CA. This new award recognizes individuals whose projects or ideas significantly advance humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence. The Tarter Award honors contributions across science, technology, education, art, philosophy, law and ethics that support SETI’s mission to search for life and intelligence beyond Earth.

“Anyone who has had the privilege of knowing Jill, knows one thing about her—she never, never gives up the fight for what she believes in,” said Jim Bildner who serves on the Tarter Award Selection Committee.  “And the quest to search for life beyond our planet exists in no small part due to her tireless efforts over decades. And yes, as the inspiration to Carl Sagan for his character Ellie Arroway played by Jody Foster in Contact, she has inspired thousands of women to pursue their dreams in science and astronomy. In a world full of challenges, Jill shows us the power of one human life to make a difference in the lives of others. Thank you, Jill, for all you have done and all you do.”

A trailblazer in the field, Tarter was the only woman in her engineering program at Cornell University and went on to lead transformative SETI research at UC Berkeley and NASA. In 1984, she co-founded the SETI Institute and directed numerous groundbreaking projects, including Project Phoenix, and oversaw the design and development of the SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array. Tarter’s work inspired countless scientists, especially women, and even inspired Carl Sagan’s character Ellie Arroway in the book and movie, ‘Contact.’ She continues to drive new initiatives and technologies in the search for life and intelligence beyond Earth.

“Few individuals have been as important and impactful in astronomy and astrophysics as Jill Tarter,” said Bill Diamond, SETI Institute CEO. “She inspired a whole new generation of scientists and paved the way for women to pursue careers in astronomy and space exploration. Perhaps most importantly, she pursued a science question that was considered fringe in the 1980’s but is now regarded as the central question in space science – Are we alone in the Universe?”

The Tarter Award will be presented no more than once annually, with the next nomination period opening on February 1, 2025.

Members of the Tarter Award selection committee include:

Jim Bildner – CEO, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, adjunct lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School Andrew Fraknoi – SETI Institute Board Member, former Executive Director, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Frank Levinson – General Partner, Small World Group; co-founder of Finisar Corporation Gregory Papadopoulos – Partner, New Enterprise Associates, and former Chair of the SETI Institute Board Anyone interested in attending the SETI Institute’s 40th Anniversary celebration on November 20 can find more information and purchase tickets here. Activities will include:

Special recognition of Jill Tarter Lightning Talks featuring bold predictions from our scientists Interactive “Show and Tell” booths Custom-crafted 40th-anniversary space-themed cocktail AI alien photo booth – choose your avatar! Live music from "Wasabi The Band" Space Funk Future Tarter is a member of the SETI Institute's Board of Directors and Science Advisory Board.

About the SETI Institute

Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the Universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.

Contact information
Rebecca McDonald
Director of Communications
SETI Institute
rmcdonald@seti.org

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Jill Tarter to receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the search for life beyond earth

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Survey finds continued declines in HIV clinician workforce

2024-11-04
November 4, 2024 — The supply of healthcare professionals available to provide HIV care continues to decline, even as the need for HIV care and prevention is expected to increase, reports a survey study in the November/December issue of The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC). The official journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, JANAC is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "Our study provides new insights into the numbers and characteristics of clinicians who will be available to provide HIV care in the coming years. This information ...

Researchers home in on tumor vulnerabilities to improve odds of treating glioblastoma

Researchers home in on tumor vulnerabilities to improve odds of treating glioblastoma
2024-11-04
A team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has uncovered new targets that could be the key to effectively treating glioblastoma, a lethal type of brain cancer. These targets were identified through a screen for genetic vulnerabilities in patient-derived cancer stem cells that represent the variability found in tumours. Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer in adults. It is also the most challenging to treat due to the resistance of glioblastoma cancer stem cells, from which tumours grow, to therapy. Cancer stem cells that survive after a tumour is treated go on to form new tumours that do not respond to further treatment. “Glioblastoma tumors have ...

Awareness of lung cancer screening remains low

2024-11-04
There is a lung cancer screening test that is saving lives – and yet most people who could be getting the test have never heard of it or never talked about it with a doctor. “We’ve got a screening test that works. It works as well, if not better, than breast and colorectal cancer screening in terms of mortality reduction. It's one of the most life-saving things we have for a cancer that kills more people than either of those two combined,” said lung cancer pulmonologist Gerard Silvestri, M.D. And yet, he said, “Eighty percent of those eligible for this screening, regardless of race, education, ethnicity, health or income, hadn’t heard of or ...

Hospital COVID-19 burden and adverse event rates

2024-11-04
About The Study: In this cohort study of hospital admissions among Medicare patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, greater hospital COVID-19 burden was associated with an increased risk of in-hospital adverse effects among both patients with and without COVID-19. These results illustrate the need for greater hospital resilience and surge capacity to prevent declines in patient safety during surges in demand.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Mark L. Metersky, MD, email metersky@uchc.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.42936) Editor’s ...

NSF NOIRLab astronomers discover the fastest-feeding black hole in the early universe

NSF NOIRLab astronomers discover the fastest-feeding black hole in the early universe
2024-11-04
Supermassive black holes exist at the center of most galaxies, and modern telescopes continue to observe them at surprisingly early times in the Universe’s evolution. It’s difficult to understand how these black holes were able to grow so big so rapidly. But with the discovery of a low-mass supermassive black hole feasting on material at an extreme rate, seen just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, astronomers now have valuable new insights into the mechanisms of rapidly growing black holes in the early Universe. LID-568 was discovered ...

Translational science reviews—a new JAMA review

2024-11-04
About The Article: To help clinicians keep up with ongoing basic and translational science discoveries that affect the diagnosis and treatment of human disease, JAMA has launched a new series, “Translational Science Reviews.” These new article types are succinct and informative summaries of important basic science advances that are transforming diagnosis and treatment of human disease.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Mary M. McDermott, MD, email mdm608@northwestern.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.21146) Editor’s Note: Please ...

How the keto diet could one day treat autoimmune disorders

2024-11-04
Scientists have long suspected the keto diet might be able to calm an overactive immune system and help some people with diseases like multiple sclerosis. Now, they have reason to believe it could be true. Scientists at UC San Francisco have discovered that the diet makes the gut and its microbes produce two factors that attenuated symptoms of MS in mice. If the study translates to humans, it points toward a new way of treating MS and other autoimmune disorders with supplements. The keto diet severely restricts carbohydrate-rich ...

Influence of tool corner radius on chip geometrical characteristics of machining Zr-based bulk metallic glass

Influence of tool corner radius on chip geometrical characteristics of machining Zr-based bulk metallic glass
2024-11-04
Different from traditional alloys, BMGs exhibit a unique atomic arrangement characterized by short-range order and long-range disorder at the atomic level. Such atomic structure leads to the absence of defects such as grain boundaries and dislocations, resulting in exceptional mechanical properties. The promising properties of BMGs have rapidly positioned them as a new class of structural and functional materials, showing great application potential in various fields including structural, energy and chemical engineering. In order to facilitate their engineering applications, research has reported their cutting characteristics from various aspects, ...

Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD, MPH, of the University of Chicago recognized with AFAR’s Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research

Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD, MPH, of the University of Chicago recognized with AFAR’s Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research
2024-11-04
New York, NY – The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), is proud to recognize the outstanding contributions of Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD, MPH, with the 2024 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and AgingResearch. This award honors a health services researcher in an early or middle phase of his/her career who has already made importantcontributions with work that respects the value of multidisciplinary health services science and that ...

Steven N. Austad, PhD, to receive inaugural George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award

Steven N. Austad, PhD, to receive inaugural George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award
2024-11-04
New York, NY­–The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the recipient of the inaugural George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award: Steven N. Austad, PhD, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research and a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The Award is named in honor of George M. Martin, MD (1927-2022), a pioneer in the field of aging research and AFAR’s Scientific Director for more than a decade. A Professor of Pathology at the University of Washington, Dr. Martin devoted his long, distinguished career to growing the field of aging ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The Lancet: Deeply entrenched racial and geographic health disparities in the USA have increased over the last two decades—as life expectancy gap widens to 20 years

2 MILLION mph galaxy smash-up seen in unprecedented detail

Scientists find a region of the mouse gut tightly regulated by the immune system

How school eligibility influences the spread of infectious diseases: Insights for future outbreaks

UM School of Medicine researchers link snoring to behavioral problems in adolescents without declines in cognition

The Parasaurolophus’ pipes: Modeling the dinosaur’s crest to study its sound #ASA187

St. Jude appoints leading scientist to create groundbreaking Center of Excellence for Structural Cell Biology

Hear this! Transforming health care with speech-to-text technology #ASA187

Exploring the impact of offshore wind on whale deaths #ASA187

Mass General Brigham and BIDMC researchers unveil an AI protein engineer capable of making proteins ‘better, faster, stronger’

Metabolic and bariatric surgery safe and effective for patients with severe obesity

Smarter city planning: MSU researchers use brain activity to predict visits to urban areas

Using the world’s fastest exascale computer, ACM Gordon Bell Prize-winning team presents record-breaking algorithm to advance understanding of chemistry and biology

Jeffrey Hubbell joins NYU Tandon to lead new university-wide health engineering initiative & expand the school’s bioengineering focus

Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place

Oldies but goodies: Study shows why elderly animals offer crucial scientific insights

Math-selective US universities reduce gender gap in STEM fields

Researchers identify previously unknown compound in drinking water

Chloronitramide anion – a newly characterized contaminant prevalent in chloramine treated tap water

Population connectivity shapes cultural complexity in chimpanzees

Direct hearing tests show that minke whales can hear high-frequency sounds

Whale-ship collision risk mapped across Earth’s oceans

Bye-bye microplastics: new plastic is recyclable and fully ocean-degradable

Unveiling nature of metal-support interaction: AI-driven breakthrough in catalysis

New imaging method enables detailed RNA analysis of the whole brain

Stability of perovskite solar cells doubled with protective coating

Chemists create world’s thinnest spaghetti

Empowering neuroscience: Large open brain models released

From traditional to technological: Advancements in fresco conservation

Design and imagination as essential tools during the climate crisis

[Press-News.org] Jill Tarter to receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the search for life beyond earth
The Tarter Award honors contributions across science, technology, education, art, philosophy, law and ethics that support SETI’s mission to search for life and intelligence beyond Earth.