UCLA welcomes new course on the search for extraterrestrial life

Students will be able to search for intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms with space signals, telescopes and radio waves in a new class this spring.

Jean-Luc Margot, a space physics professor, will teach Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences C179: “Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Theory and Applications,” a course open to undergraduate and graduate students who have taken Mathematics 31B: “Integration and Infinite Series” and Physics 1B: “Oscillations, Waves, Electric and Magnetic Fields,” according to the registrar.

Margot said he hopes the course will help students build skills in computer programming, telecommunications and signal processing, so they can analyze data for the course’s projects. It will also fulfill a lab requirement for physics and geology students, according to the registrar.

The class will include weekly two-hour lectures and two-hour labs, according to the course’s syllabus. Students will also work on problem sets about algorithm development and write a final report based on data collected in the class.

Margot said the course is related to his research in radio astronomy, a field that uses radio signal data to define space and planetary bodies across the universe. He added classes related to extraterrestrial intelligence are rare at U.S. universities because there is not a lot of research dedicated to searching for extraterrestrial life, which some scientists argue does not exist.

Margot said the search for extraterrestrials has increased after researchers used the Kepler Space Observatory to find earth-like bodies outside the solar system. The Kepler Space Observatory is a spacecraft designed to search for habitable earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy, according to NASA.

Margot added some scientific institutions have hesitated to pursue extraterrestrial exploration, but he thinks researchers’ recent discoveries will lead to more search missions.

“Kepler’s results have changed the prospects and confidence levels of finding extraterrestrial life,” Margot said. “I suspect that interest and course offerings on this topic will rise.“

He added his course will focus on achieving contact with extraterrestrials during his students’ lifetimes.

Margot said Janet Marott, a UCLA alumna interested in finding extraterrestrial life, helped fund access to telescopes and computer hardware that will be used to obtain data for the course.

Steve Tomlinson, a graduate student in geophysics and space physics, said he would consider taking the course because he’s interested in the methods researchers are developing to search for extraterrestrial life.

“We are capable of discovering life beyond earth, and we can reach that discovery soon,” Tomlinson said. “Technology is rising at an increasing rate.“

Brittany Miles, a fifth-year physics student, said she would take the course because she thinks research conducted through space exploration is important to perform, even if it takes several years, because it could help researchers distinguish space bodies.

Margot said he is excited to share his research with students and inspire them to pursue extraterrestrial research. Students can enroll in Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences C179/279 during their enrollment appointments in the coming weeks.