Cost of search for alien life deemed too expensive

The search for intelligent life beyond Earth has been dealt a major blow by US government spending cutbacks.

The world's only radio telescope array specially designed to detect potential signals from distant worlds was shut down this month after money ran out, said senior astronomer Seth Shostak.

The setback comes at a crucial time for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, headquartered in Mountainview, California.Astronomers anticipated a slew of new research targets from the dozens of potentially life-supporting planets detected by NASA's Kepler space telescope.

"It's a frustrating to know there are worlds that may have intelligent life and not be able to look for them," Shostak said.

The project has been hit by recent state budget cuts for University of California, Berkeley.

Money from the US National Science Foundation also has been scaled back.