Project Ozma...

commences 50 years ago, in early April 1960, led by Frank Drake, in a pioneering experiment searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. This led to the now famous Drake equation:


that estimates the number (N) of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. (Follow the link to understand the other terms in the equation.)

Here's an earlier post about SETI's 50th anniversary.

RELATED: A similar equation has been formulated that explains why geeks lack girlfriends.