At 08:29 PM 03/30/2000 +1200, you wrote:

>Is it that the search for prime numbers is perceived to be the domain of
>geeks while everybody is supposed to be excited about extra-terrestrial
>life?

1.  To the average person, aliens are a lot "sexier" than prime numbers.
Anyone can picture little green men from Mars, but it takes a special
person to apprecite what a prime number is, and especially prime numbers of
the magnitude we deal with.

2.  SETI has had some high profile press.  I can't remember when and where
I first heard of the SETI screen saver project, but it was on a prominent
web news site about two years ago.

take care,


--buck

------------------
Bryon Buck
6829-D Ramblewood Drive
Fort Wayne, IN  46835
219-492-4231
ICQ:  4890668
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