Features

	THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS	Features Monday, July 14, 1997

Science rules the fiction in `Contact'

by Jeffrey Chuang

Dallas Morning News
An astronomer lounges in a field, her headphones tuned to the signals of the massive radio telescope behind her. When she hears the whispers of an alien radio message, her life will never be the same.
That's the plot of the movie ``Contact,'' which opened Friday with Jodie Foster in the starring role of Ellie Arroway. But is it realistic, or just another Hollywood space fantasy?
The answer, according to scientists, is that ``Contact'' is as realistic as it gets.
```Contact' is better than 99.9 percent of the science-fiction movies out there,'' said Seth Shostak, a scientist at the SETI Institute, a privately funded, nonprofit organization dedicated to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
Do people really peer out into space with giant telescopes? Yes. Do scientists sit in computer control rooms hoping to hear a signal from another planet? Yes. Does extraterrestrial life exist? A solid maybe.
The search for signs of extraterrestrial life is depicted fairly accurately in ``Contact,'' said Jill Tarter, the real-life radio astronomer on whom Foster's character is based.
As in most sci-fi movies, a few liberties have been taken. For dramatic effect, Ellie first detects the alien signal while dreaming with her headphones on. In reality, ``it's all done with mathematics and algorithms,'' Tarter said.
But most of the film's details are right, scientists say -- from the computer workstations to the office lingo. When Ellie hears the pulse of the message she thinks is coming from deep space, for example, she yells out, ``What about the FUDD?'' -- a reference to the Follow Up Detection Device that tests the veracity of a signal. A few moments later, she kisses the computer, offering a grateful ``Thank you, Elmer.''
In another scientific reference, Ellie remarks that the frequency of the signal is ``hydrogen times pi,'' -- the product of the frequency of light that can shine from the abundant element hydrogen, and the mathematical ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.
Because these two quantities are so prevalent in physics and mathematics, SETI researchers believe an alien civilization might transmit a message at this frequency to show that it's intelligent.
Even the more speculative science introduced in the space-travel section of the movie has some basis in fact. When Ellie's transporter, known as the pod, whisks her away to make contact with the extraterrestrials, it's based on a notion from Einstein's theory of general relativity that ``pieces of space can be connected by a tunnel,'' Shostak said.
It's not surprising that the film is so grounded in science, considering its credentials. The 1985 book on which the movie is based was written by the late astronomer Carl Sagan and his wife, Ann Druyan, who were involved in efforts to find alien life. Before his death on Dec. 20, 1996, Sagan oversaw production of the film, and both he and Tarter met with Foster to offer insight into her character.
Researchers began scanning the heavens for an alien beacon in 1960. Over the next three decades, Sagan, Tarter and many others analyzed static from hundreds of stars, hoping to catch a discernible message.
While nothing has been found yet, scientists have not been dissuaded. There could be as many as 10,000 alien civilizations in our galaxy alone, says Frank Drake, a professor of astronomy at the University of California in Santa Cruz and president of the SETI Institute. As is suggested in the movie, political conflicts caused NASA to cut funds for SETI in 1993. Still, private donations continue to support research at some of the largest radio telescopes in the world, including the 1,000-foot-wide Arecibo telescope, which appears in the movie. The telescope that actually detects the alien signal in the movie is not used for SETI. That 27-dish telescope, called the Very Large Array, is more popular among movie directors than it is among SETI scientists. It also appeared in ``2010'' and ``Independence Day.''
Though scientists have already waited many years for such a signal, but they remain hopeful they will hear something.
``It's like Christopher Columbus,'' said Shostak. ``So far it's no new continent. Just water today.''

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Copyright Monday, July 14, 1997