SETI researcher proposes we look for signs of past alien life on
Earth or in our solar system. Any intelligent extraterrestrial
life that exists probably won't announce itself by blowing up
the White House, or win over the hearts of children as a lovable
alien with a glowing finger. Many scientists simply hope to find
evidence of them by scanning the skies for a radio signal from a
distant star's alien civilization. But such efforts may also
risk overlooking clues of past alien activity right here on
Earth. If aliens did leave their mark on Earth by some wild
chance, we could search for the possible "footprints" of alien
technology or even analyze the DNA of terrestrial organisms for
signs of intelligent messages or tinkering. Such a CSI-style
forensics search could complement, rather than replace, the
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) astronomers who
continue to look skyward, said Paul Davies, a physicist and
cosmologist at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz. "My
proposals aim to spread t