Astrobiology uses multiple scientific disciplines and space technologies to address fundamental questions like: How does life begin and develop? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? Determination of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life requires the capture of a sample of the species, or reliable, repeatable communication with the species. Capture of a species light years away is problematic, making reliable communication the most likely route of confirmation.
Laser transmissions, particularly in the near-IR (which penetrates galactic dust better than visible light) are among the most likely signals for which to search. Their monochromatic power, when compared to existing human light emissions or even stellar emission, makes them promising. The intelligent origin of laser signals is definitively established, and manifest in the sharply defined bandwidth in which signals will likely occur, the fact that they will very likely be highly polarized, and the fact that they will likely exhibit a well-defined and "unnatural" modulation.
To detect such transmissions a near-infrared optical telescope has been constructed. Data are being processed using interferometry, discriminant analysis of signals, bootstrap subcluster detection The results of these spectrometric studies will be presented. It appears that the search for intelligent laser signals (a manifestation of extraterrestrial technology) is a promising, relatively inexpensive, means to search for biology in space. If successful, it obviously will provide much more interesting data than will just the discovery that life exists on another planet.