Life in the Universe - the Breakthrough Initiatives

On July 20, 2015, the 46th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced in London, UK a new initiative to study life in the universe.  The announcement was made by Silicon Valley billionaire Yuri Milner and physicist Steven Hawking.  The Breakthrough Initiatives currently consist of two primary elements, Breakthrough Listen which is a $100M renewed search for intelligent extraterrestrial signals, and Breakthrough Message, a global competition with a $1M prize to create, but not sent a message representing humanity.  S. Pete Worden, the former Center Director of the NASA Ames Research Center, is the Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.  He will talk about these initiatives in the broader context of our search for life in the universe.

 

Speaker: S. Pete Worden, Breakthrough Initiatives