Searching for Life in Space: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce New Program

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking is backing the project launched by Milner, a tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, to explore outer space for additional life forms.

Hawking posted this:

I was delighted to join Yuri Milner today at the Royal Society in London for the launch of the Breakthrough Initiatives.

This is a massive new astronomical program searching for evidence of intelligent life in our galaxy or beyond.
‘Are we alone in the Universe?’ is one of the most profound questions in science. We have the will, scientific talent and technology to explore it. Now, finally, we have the vision and resources to bring them all together.

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The Breakthrough Initiatives, a $100 million, 10-year multi-disciplinary effort to dramatically accelerate the search for intelligent life in the Universe, were announced July 20, 2015, by Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking. Project leaders include Martin Rees, Frank Drake, Geoff Marcy, Pete Worden, Ann Druyan, Dan Werthimer and Andrew Siemion.

More information can be found at www.breakthroughinitiatives.org.