The SETI Institute is running its own game jam next month

The SETI Institute, a not-for-profit organization that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence, has today announced that it is looking to get game developers involved via a game jam. SETI-JAM will grant participants access to SETI research findings, data, and input from key scientists at the institute. The theme of the jam will be the Drake Equation, a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy. Topics that developers will be able to tackle as part of the jam include research on asteroids, extrasolar planet detection, earthquake prediction, climate change, the birth of stars, and of course, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Karen Randall, director of Special Projects at the SETI Institute, notes that video games are a great way to engage with the public on real scientific research -- thus, by giving game developers access to SETI research, the organization hopes to bring its research to the masses through the art of games. Registration for the jam will open on September 29, and the jam itself will take place at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, Gjovik University in Norway, and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles from October 17-19. Numerous notable game developers are already onboard, including: Ryan Williams, Director of Engineering, SpryFox Games Rob Jagnow, Founder & CEO, Lazy 8 Studios Brendan Mauro, Lead Artist, Lazy 8 Studios Brandon Sheffield, Director, Necrosoft Games Pete Angstadt, Co-Founder, Turtle Sandbox Keith Nemitz, Principal Developer, Mousechief Co.