On Monday, two icons promised prospects of new knowledge of the unknown lives in outside Earth. Physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking and Russian-born billionaire Yuri Milner publicized to join the highly advanced computing capacity with the world’s most powerful telescopes, to pursue the ambitious search for extraterrestrial life. The project will involve $100 million.
Mr. Milner seems to get inspiration from his background in physics. He was born in the Soviet Union in 1961 and named after Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonaut who that year became the first man launched into outer space. This led him to be curious about nuclear bomb at a young age. After graduating from Moscow State University, he spent five years studying for a Ph.D. in physics. Ultimately he decided to pursue a career in business. According to Milner, he was not smart enough to continue with Physics. He said that if someone wants to do fundamental physics, he has to be extremely smart.
Prof. Hawking explains why he feels this project is worth the trouble by saying that we are alive, intelligent and so must know. Hawking speaks with the help of a computer-generated voice due to the effects of motor neuron disease.
Yuri Milner, a lover of the Silicon Valley, made immense fortunes by investing in companies like Facebook and Twitter. He affirms that the power of Silicon Valley technology and innovation would be used for this project where a million nearby stars, the galactic center, the entire plane of the Milky Way and 100 nearby galaxies would give it a an unknown and infinite room for possibilities.
Few other well-known British scientists also have shown their support for this project. Organizers say the “Breakthrough Initiatives” project is the biggest ever scientific search for alien life. It includes a “listening” program — the effort to analyze vast amounts of radio signals in search of signs of life — and a “messaging” program that will include $1 million in prizes for digital messages that best represent the planet Earth.
However, it was decided that messages will not be sent as some scientists, including Hawking, fear that messages sent into space could possibly spur aggressive actions by alien races. It will be supported by the 100-meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia in the United States and the 64-meter Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia. The Lick Observatory in California will conduct a deeper-than-ever search for optical laser transmissions alongside.
Sanam Reza
