Seti At Home is a really neat little program that I downloaded a while ago that I have been meaning to tell everyone about. It is a program that lets you be a part of the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence or SETI right from your computer. Or as the people who made the program say:

SETI@home is a scientific experiment that harnesses the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. There’s a small but captivating possibility that your computer will detect the faint murmur of a civilization beyond Earth.

They have the program available for download for Windows, Mac, or even a text based version for UNIX, WinNT, OS/2, BeOS, Mac OS X Server.

The Windows program is Version 1.05 and is a 725K download. The Windows version requires at least 32MB RAM and the ability to display 8-bit color in 640×480 resolution (though 800×600 or higher is recommended in order to fit all the graphics on the screen). The software will not work if your PC does not meet these requirements.

The Mac program is Version 1.0 (with a promise for a Version 1.05 very soon) and is a 304K download.The SETI@home software for Mac requires at least the following to run: 32MB RAM (it could run with as little as 24MB RAM, but would be quite sluggish). The ability to display 8-bit color in 640×480 resolution (though 800×600 or higher is recommended in order to fit all the graphics on the screen). PowerPC processor System with Mac OS 7.5.5 or later.