Bummer. 

SETI may be looked at as "science fiction" by some but the principle is true.  If we no longer dream and if we don't look beyond the present and immediate and pressing needs then we have no hope of a different future and perhaps even of any other future at all.

I guess Steven Hawking and Lord Rees can breath a sigh of relief now

1.5 million dollars. That's pocket change to what some 'so-called' sports stars make in a year. Pennies compared to what Uncle Sam spends on freakin' nonsense. Since the shuttles are down to their last flight with Endeavor and it takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 million to launch one why can't they take part of that and fund SETI? Damn fools!!

This is an outrage.

Ok, a bit strong, but still.... if I didn;t know better I'd say we were watching a systematic effort to curtail further research and development efforts at the government level.

At some point in time the money supply does get tight and evens dries up.

America! The USSR of the future!

Lol, them relying on the UC system was their biggest mistake. Granted all states are cutting higher education budgets right now, but California is in by far the worst mess.

Forget it. This country is headed for the shit can and nobody gives a damn.. All those idiot politicians couldn't get a headache together if they tried. Cut back on higher education, lower education, tax the poor, enable the rich, take away this that and the other thing so that the working poor has less and less. And they wonder why the people don't trust them to do the right thing. How much more do you think the people of this country are going to take before they rise up and start really kicking ass. Give it time. They want change...they'll get change only it may not be what they are expecting. Okay...I'm done. Rant over.

2.5 million per year? The minister of transport in my country (which has no roads), embezzles that much in a week. It's a bit hard to believe that a country that still has some resemblance of an economy can't scrape that together.

This is just sad. What could be more important than the search for life on other worlds? The quest to prove that we aren't alone, that somewhere out there, there's someone else reaching out across the stars, searching for the answer to the same question. And why? Because of some pieces of meaningless paper that some one decided was worth more than your dreams? 

This is why I still think money is one of the worst things mankind ever made, that and banks.

SETI was a waste of time and money.

So this means we are no longer pumping out noise to try and make contact with aliens? Good. And Yes I agree SETI is a waste of money. Lets actually have a few new planets colonized before we try contacting possible non human life.

Yeah, what lots of people don't realize is that meaningful communication with another civilization just isn't possible. Say you hear something meaningful from a system that's at a moderate distance away, say 50,000 light years (or half the way across our galaxy). That means that the signal was sent 50,000 years ago, and any return signal won't arrive until 50,000 years after that. Needless to say, that would make for a pretty boring conversation. Much further away than that (say, to another galaxy altogether), and there's a good chance that whoever sent the signal in the first place just isn't around anymore.

Now, sure, it would be cool to know for sure that there was life out there somewhere, but honestly, I'd be more surprised if we ended up discovering that the rest of the universe was completely sterile.

Edit: Not to mention the fact that, barring any new and exotic discoveries of physics, we ain't gonna be meeting them face to face, either. The distances are vast to the degree that defies intuitive understanding.

highly unlikely we are but tiny particles within this universe... so SMALL in comparison, anyone who says we are the only planet/intelligent lifeforms within the universe really needs to keep their mouth shut because our universe is big, billions upon billions of galaxies... I expect the people who said we're the only intelligent lifeforms/life at all in the universe to eat their socks and dirty underwear the moment we discover we aren't alone. I'll also be laughing my ass off and holding my sides

they must have found something.

SETIs true value would be to warn us of the approach of some other species' generation ships....

At least now ET can relax... use his inter-ship communications again.

He reckoned it was a bugger having to space walk between ships just to let his neighbours know there was a party going on at his.

Now that SETI's gone he can hop on the phone again... tho I reckon Google is probably still listening, so's it can cash in up there as well.