<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
volunteer	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
project	O
to	O
search	O
for	O
primordial	O
black	B-Application
holes	I-Application
,	O
pulsars	B-Application
,	O
and	O
extraterrestrial	O
intelligence	O
(	O
ETI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Volunteer	O
resources	O
are	O
harnessed	O
through	O
Berkeley	B-Operating_System
Open	I-Operating_System
Infrastructure	I-Operating_System
for	I-Operating_System
Network	I-Operating_System
Computing	I-Operating_System
(	O
BOINC	B-Operating_System
)	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
the	O
Space	O
Sciences	O
Laboratory	O
launched	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
,	O
which	O
would	O
rely	O
on	O
massively	O
parallel	O
computation	O
on	O
desktop	O
computers	O
scattered	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
utilizes	O
recorded	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
Arecibo	O
radio	O
telescope	O
and	O
searches	O
for	O
narrow-bandwidth	O
radio	O
signals	O
from	O
space	O
,	O
signifying	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
extraterrestrial	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
about	O
6	O
years	O
,	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
existed	O
in	O
an	O
experimental	O
beta	O
testing	O
phase	O
not	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
general	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2008	O
,	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
was	O
integrated	O
into	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
,	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
massive	O
network	O
of	O
SETI	O
participants	O
could	O
also	O
contribute	O
to	O
the	O
search	O
for	O
other	O
astronomical	O
signals	O
of	O
value	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
also	O
makes	O
contributions	O
to	O
the	O
search	O
for	O
ET	O
:	O
first	O
,	O
project	O
proponents	O
believe	O
it	O
may	O
identify	O
a	O
different	O
type	O
of	O
ET	O
signal	O
not	O
identified	O
by	O
the	O
original	O
SETI	B-Application
@Home	I-Application
algorithm	O
;	O
second	O
,	O
proponents	O
believe	O
it	O
may	O
create	O
additional	O
support	O
for	O
SETI	O
by	O
providing	O
a	O
second	O
possible	O
concrete	O
result	O
from	O
the	O
overall	O
search	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Final	O
development	O
of	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
has	O
been	O
a	O
two-part	O
endeavor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
step	O
was	O
to	O
complete	O
the	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
C++	B-Language
core	O
that	O
can	O
successfully	O
identify	O
a	O
target	O
pulse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
completion	O
of	O
that	O
program	O
,	O
the	O
team	O
created	O
a	O
trial	O
dataset	O
that	O
contained	O
a	O
hidden	O
pulse	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
completed	O
program	O
successfully	O
found	O
,	O
thus	O
confirming	O
the	O
ability	O
of	O
the	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
core	O
to	O
successfully	O
identify	O
target	O
pulses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
April	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
is	O
testing	O
beta	O
version	O
5.05	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
future	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
depends	O
on	O
extended	O
funding	O
to	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BOINC	B-Operating_System
idea	O
is	O
to	O
divide	O
(	O
split	O
)	O
large	O
blocks	O
of	O
data	O
into	O
smaller	O
units	O
,	O
each	O
of	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
distributed	O
to	O
individual	O
participating	O
work	O
stations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
this	O
end	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
then	O
began	O
to	O
embed	O
the	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
core	O
into	O
the	O
SETI	O
beta	O
client	O
and	O
began	O
to	O
distribute	O
real	O
data	O
,	O
split	O
into	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
work	O
units	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
beta	O
testers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
challenge	O
has	O
been	O
to	O
assure	O
that	O
the	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
core	O
will	O
work	O
seamlessly	O
on	O
a	O
broad	O
array	O
of	O
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
searches	O
for	O
both	O
single	O
pulses	O
and	O
regularly	O
repeating	O
pulses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
may	O
also	O
discover	O
pulsars	B-Application
and	O
exploding	O
primordial	O
black	B-Application
holes	I-Application
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
would	O
emit	O
brief	O
wideband	O
pulses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
core	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
algorithm	O
is	O
of	O
the	O
microsecond	O
radio	O
pulses	O
for	O
which	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
is	O
searching	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
utilizes	O
the	O
distributed	O
computing	O
power	O
of	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
,	O
delegating	O
computational	O
sub-tasks	O
to	O
hundreds	O
of	O
thousands	O
of	O
volunteers	O
 '	O
computers	O
,	O
to	O
gain	O
advantages	O
in	O
sensitivity	O
and	O
time	O
resolution	O
over	O
previous	O
surveys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
searches	O
for	O
pulses	O
with	O
dispersion	O
measures	O
ranging	O
from	O
to	O
(	O
chirp	B-Application
rates	O
of	O
to	O
per	O
microsecond	O
)	O
,	O
allowing	O
detection	O
of	O
sources	O
almost	O
anywhere	O
within	O
the	O
Milky	O
Way	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	O
proponents	O
believe	O
that	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
will	O
either	O
detect	O
exploding	O
black	B-Application
holes	I-Application
,	O
or	O
establish	O
a	O
maximum	O
rate	O
of	O
,	O
a	O
factor	O
of	O
104	O
better	O
than	O
any	O
previous	O
survey	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
started	O
computing	O
in	O
mid-July	O
2008	O
.	O
,	O
the	O
results	O
have	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
ways	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
goal	O
of	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
is	O
to	O
detect	O
postulated	O
mini	O
black	B-Application
holes	I-Application
that	O
might	O
be	O
evaporating	O
due	O
to	O
"	O
Hawking	O
radiation	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
mini	O
black	B-Application
holes	I-Application
are	O
postulated	O
to	O
have	O
been	O
created	O
during	O
the	O
Big	O
Bang	O
,	O
unlike	O
currently	O
known	O
black	B-Application
holes	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
project	O
hopes	O
that	O
this	O
evaporation	O
would	O
produce	O
radio	O
waves	O
that	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
can	O
detect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Distributing	O
computing	O
and	O
the	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
algorithm	O
may	O
thus	O
lend	O
itself	O
to	O
further	O
detection	O
of	O
RRATs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Radio	O
pulsar	B-Application
surveys	O
such	O
as	O
Astropulse-SETI	O
@home	O
offer	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
opportunities	O
to	O
monitor	O
the	O
radio	O
sky	O
for	O
impulsive	O
burst-like	O
events	O
with	O
millisecond	O
durations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previous	O
searches	O
by	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
have	O
looked	O
for	O
extraterrestrial	O
communications	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
narrow-band	O
signals	O
,	O
analogous	O
to	O
our	O
own	O
radio	O
stations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
project	O
argues	O
that	O
since	O
we	O
know	O
nothing	O
about	O
how	O
ET	O
might	O
communicate	O
,	O
this	O
might	O
be	O
a	O
bit	O
closed-minded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
the	O
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
survey	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
supplementing	O
the	O
narrow-band	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
survey	O
as	O
a	O
by-product	O
of	O
the	O
search	O
for	O
physical	O
phenomena	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pulsars	B-Application
(	O
rotating	O
neutron	O
stars	O
)	O
and	O
quasars	B-Application
(	O
dense	O
central	O
cores	O
of	O
extremely	O
distant	O
galaxies	O
)	O
were	O
both	O
discovered	O
by	O
radio	O
astronomers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
astronomers	O
using	O
the	O
Parkes	O
radio	O
telescope	O
discovered	O
two	O
pulsars	B-Application
orbiting	O
each	O
other	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
such	O
system	O
known	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Astropulse	B-Operating_System
and	O
its	O
older	O
partner	O
,	O
SETI	B-Application
@home	I-Application
,	O
offer	O
a	O
concrete	O
way	O
for	O
secondary	O
school	O
science	O
teachers	O
to	O
involve	O
their	O
students	O
with	O
astronomy	O
and	O
computing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
schools	O
maintain	O
volunteer	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
class	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
