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Dear Friends of Science and Exploration,
We invite you to join us in our quest to unlock the mysteries of the universe by supporting the Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL). Your generous donation will empower our dedicated team of researchers and educators to explore new frontiers in astrophysics and planetary science and inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers.
By contributing to the PHL, you are investing in a future where we can better understand the conditions that make planets habitable and ultimately find new worlds beyond our own. Together, we can push the boundaries of human knowledge.
Your support is vital to our mission, and we deeply appreciate any contribution you can make. Thank you for helping us map the habitable universe.
Our most urgent priority is the preservation of the Big Ear telescope archive.
Between 1963 and 1998, Big Ear recorded decades of radio observations, astrophysical and SETI data that were never fully studied or published. Today, this irreplaceable scientific record exists only on paper: tens of thousands of printouts and strip charts stored in a private barn in Ohio. Without action, this history of astronomical discovery is at risk of being lost forever.
Saving this archive requires an extraordinary effort. Each page must be carefully scanned, transcribed, digitized, analyzed, and ultimately published so that the data can be accessed by scientists, educators, and the public worldwide. No other archive contains this information.
The impact is already real. By recovering and reanalyzing these original records, we were able to significantly revise the properties of the famous Wow! Signal, bringing us closer than ever to understanding one of astronomy’s most enduring mysteries, nearly 50 years later. In the process, we have also identified additional unexplained signals within the archive, which we plan to publish in our next peer-reviewed paper in August 2026.
Your donation directly supports the rescue of this unique scientific legacy, from fragile paper in a barn to a permanent digital archive that can drive new discoveries for decades to come. This is not just about preserving history; it is about unlocking science that was never given the chance to be seen.
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