Astrobiologists testify before Congress that alien life will be encountered by 2034

Astrobiologists testify before Congress that alien life will be encountered by 2034
This past week, a few scientists took the bench and gave the U.S. Congress a relative date by which they expect we’ll have discovered signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. According to their estimates, by 2034 we should make first contact or 30 years ahead of Star Trek’s first contact. Whether this was just a stunt, a ploy meant to convince Congress to up SETI’s budget, or a genuine estimate is difficult to tell.