Your SETI screen saver has helped crunch data in the search for signs of extra-terrestrial life. Now meet SETI's director, Dr Jill Tarter, who will be giving a free public lecture Friday July 7 at the Auckland University of Techonology. Head for the AUT Conference Hall, WA220 at 4.00pm. There will only be about 200 seats, so arrive early and muscle out the students. Tarter is based at Ceter for SETI Research in California, and her work inspired Carl Sagan's book Contact, which in turn inspired the film of the same name (Jodie Foster's character is based on Tarter). The PC World crew will be goofing off early to check out the Doc, so we might see you there.

Read Andrea Malcolm's interview with Jill Tarter here.