'We're all Earthlings': the scientists using art to explore the cosmos

Can art advance science? Researchers on the hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence are using videos, music and more to go beyond the final frontier

Since 1984, the scientific research institute SETI has worked with some of the brightest minds on our planet: astronomers, solar system dynamics experts, exoplanet detection specialists, astrochemists. All of them are on a mission to decode the universe's mysteries - but has one area of expertise been overlooked?

Jill Tarter thinks so. She's the chair emeritus of SETI - whose name stands for "search for extraterrestrial intelligence" - and the inspiration for Jodie Foster's character in the movie Contact. Tarter believes scientists should look to the art world to help solve some of their biggest problems. "Art gives people an opportunity to think about bigger-picture ideas or think about them in a new way," she says. "It can make people think differently about who they are, where they are, or questions such as: where do we come from? Where are we going? Is there anybody else out there?"