Breakthrough Listen-Expanding the Search for Life Beyond Earth

For millennia humans have gazed at the stars and asked, "Are we alone in the Universe?". In the past few decades, we have discovered that many of the pinpoints of light scattered across our night sky are suns that host worlds similar to our own. Still, though, the question remains unanswered as to whether minds have arisen elsewhere, or if life as we know it is rare, or indeed unique. Dr. Croft will describe some of the work taking place at UC Berkeley that attempts to answer this question. These efforts include one of the largest computing projects in existence, as well as the recently-launched $100 million Breakthrough Listen project that dramatically expands the search, and applies modern Silicon Valley techniques to the data analysis. Dr. Croft will also describe how the public can participate in this expansion of the search for life beyond Earth.

Speaker: Dr. Steve Croft, UC Berkeley