Morrison and Cocconi's short article became the blueprint for most of the SETI projects conducted in the past 40 years. The suggestion that electromagnetic signals were the most promising means for interstellar communications became the underlying assumption of all the searches, including the optical ones. The assumption that any alien signal would exhibit a Doppler drift has also been incorporated into all subsequent SETI projects, which invariably check for signals at drifting frequencies. But most important of all was their suggestion of a "universal" frequency that the aliens would most likely use for their transmissions. 1420 MHz has remained the most popular frequency used by SETI projects to this day.
In later years another SETI pioneer, Hewlett Packard Vice President Bernard Oliver, added another magic frequency, 1662 KHz, the emission frequency of another very common molecule - OH, or hydroxyl. Hydrogen and hydroxyl combine to form H2O - water - the basic component of life, as we know it. Since 1662 KHz shares the advantages of 1420 MHz in being in a relatively "quiet" region of the spectrum, Oliver came to believe that the band between them held some unique promise for detecting an alien signal: "Surely the band lying between the resonances of the disassociation products of water is ideally situated and an uncannily poetic place for water-based life to seek its kind," Oliver wrote in 1971. "Where shall we meet? At the water-hole, of course!" Since then, the term "water hole" has been used to refer to searches at or around the hydrogen emission frequency.
在随后的几年中，另外一位SETI先驱 - 惠普公司副总裁 Bernard Oliver - 提出了另外一个神奇的频率：1662Mhz，这放射频率来自一种非常常见的分子 -OH，级氢氧根。氢与氢氧根结合成 H<sub>2</sub>O - 水 - 这是我们所知的生命最基本的构成。1662Mhz 与 1420Mhz 同样有着在频谱中一个相对“宁静”的区域的优点。Oliver 相信这个频带范围发现外星文明信号会是最有希望：“对于水基生物，寻觅它的同类在位于水的分离物的共振态之间频带肯定是最理想的。而我们将在哪里相遇，毫无疑问在水洞！”自那时起，“水洞”及氢元素放射频率周围被用于相关的搜寻。
在随后的几年中，另外一位SETI先驱 - 惠普公司副总裁 Bernard Oliver - 提出了另外一个神奇的频率：1662Mhz，这放射频率来自一种非常常见的分子 -OH，级氢氧根。氢与氢氧根结合成 H<sub>2</sub>O - 水 - 这是我们所知的生命最基本的构成。1662Mhz 与 1420Mhz 同样有着在频谱中一个相对“宁静”的区域的优点。Oliver 相信这个频带范围发现外星文明信号会是最有希望：“对于水基生物，寻觅它的同类在位于水的分离物的共振态之间频带肯定是最理想的。而我们将在哪里相遇，毫无疑问在水洞！”自那时起，“水洞”及氢元素放射频率周围被用于相关的搜寻。
Morrison 和 Cocconi 的文章是一个呼吁行动，他们希望检验这些理论。Cocconi 联系了当时世界上单碟最大的 Jodrell Bank 射电天文台的 Bernard Lovell 先生，希望能让望远镜拨出时间对外星文明的信号进行搜寻。然而 Bernard 先生对此持怀疑态度，并未能提供合作。启动第一次外星文明信号的搜寻只好留给他人。
Morrison and Cocconi's article was a call for action, and they hoped to put their theory to the test. Cocconi contacted Sir Bernard Lovell at the Jodrell Bank radio observatory, the largest dish in the world at the time, and suggested devoting telescope time to search for an extraterrestrial signal. Sir Bernard was, however, skeptical, and nothing came of the venture. The launch of the first radio search for an alien signal was left to others.
在随后的几年中，另外一位SETI先驱 - 惠普公司副总裁 Bernard Oliver - 提出了另外一个神奇的频率：1662Mhz，这放射频率来自一种非常常见的分子 -OH，级氢氧根。氢与氢氧根结合成 H2O - 水 - 这是我们所知的生命最基本的构成。1662Mhz 与 1420Mhz 同样有着在频谱中一个相对“宁静”的区域的优点。Oliver 相信这个频带范围发现外星文明信号会是最有希望：“对于水基生物，寻觅它的同类在位于水的分离物的共振态之间频带肯定是最理想的。而我们将在哪里相遇，毫无疑问在水洞！”自那时起，“水洞”及氢元素放射频率周围被用于相关的搜寻。
Morrison 和 Cocconi 的文章是一个呼吁行动，他们希望检验这些理论。Cocconi 联系了当时世界上单碟最大的 Jodrell Bank 射电天文台的 Bernard Lovell 先生，希望能让望远镜拨出时间对外星文明的信号进行搜寻。然而 Bernard 先生对此持怀疑态度，并未能提供合作。启动第一次外星文明信号的搜寻只好留给他人。
