If you would be given $135 million, what would you do?
Answers may definitely vary depending on the need or want of a person- but for the world-renowned British cosmologist and theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, funding the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life would perhaps be the best use of it.
Man has long pondered about life and existence. In the advent of modern period and technological advancement, man learned not only to question his own existence but likewise started to gaze on the stars above and ruminate on the possibility of an existence of life apart from his known world or universe.
In the last 6 years, we have discovered almost nearly 2,000 planets beyond our solar system. And the possibility of an energy being alive, most especially being aware is yet to be discovered and scientifically proven. That is why on the on the 46th anniversary of the first manned Moon landing, an exploration program dubbed as Breakthrough Listen, was launched.
The one funding the program is the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner who shares similar interest in science with Mr. Hawking. This internet entrepreneur had been awarding cash prizes to researching physicist since 2012 through his co-founded Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation. This would somehow explain the enthusiasm and support of Mr. Milner to the cause of Mr. Hawking and the others.
Mr. Hawking explains that "in an infinite universe, there must be other occurrences of life." And searching for that life is the main goal of Breakthrough Listen. The search is considered as the most intensive scientific search ever undertaken for signs of intelligent life apart from man and away from earth. Armed primarily with the latest and most advance telescopes on earth, the program would plunge far deeper into the universe in the hopes of detecting radio spectrum and laser signals coming from a similarly-advance technology from the center of the Milky Way.
Aside from the question of life and existence of other beings outside our planet and the universe, perhaps the most relevant question next to it would be the respond of these extraterrestrial life forms if ever we get to contact them. Are we really ready to have a close encounter with the third kind? Feel free to share your thoughts about the exploration and its possible outcome.
