We like to think we are alone in this universe; that we are the only intelligent life form. Yet, here we are, searching for life beyond our galaxy. Now, private exploration is the way of the future and the way that we will find if we are the only intelligent life form. This new research is happening through private funding like that of Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos.
The Cosmologist Stephen Hawking thinks that we will bring our extinction upon us by the constant upgrading of our scientific knowledge, but also seems to think we will be spreading into the universe, so the end of the Earth will not be the end of the human race. The newest hunt for a planet that can contain life, backed by private donors, and the scientists in Green Bank, West Virginia, has launched a $100 million project searching for the life.
The scientists from UC-Berkley think that this 10-year project could provide the most exhaustive research yet into life beyond our solar system. The SETI Program (SETI standing for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) asks the philosophical question: “are we alone” while listening for the answer. This field of study does not come without a personal price for these scientists. The work in this field of study is associated with the strange phenomenon of flying saucers and the idea that the extra-terrestrials, if they are out there, will want to be taken to our leader.
NASA had a SETI program but due to budget cuts, had to shut the program down. The statistics are what these scientists use to justify the search. There are over 200 billion stars in the Milky Way, with maybe, 100 billion planets in our galaxy alone. If there are 50 billion planets in our galaxy, the question is, how many more galaxies and planets are there? There is a zone that is called the “Goldilocks Zone” and the idea is that these planets are neither too hot nor too cold to support life. In other words, just right for life. Evidence has shown on Mars that there is briny water or salt water.
Astronomers have found an exoplanet so similar to Earth that the two are almost identical. There are estimates suggesting that, as a rough estimate, one in 10 planets can support life. The idea is there are trillions of worlds, so if only one in a million can support life, that is still a large part of the universe. The way to find them is through the research that these scientists do. The project, called Breakthrough Listen, is part of Yuri Milner’s dream. Milner, who has a Ph.D. in physics, included fellow entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, who helped found the Breakthrough Prizes that award scientist and mathematicians’ seven-figure awards for searching for life beyond our galaxy.
There is talk of life on other planets, and there are entrepreneurs that will help us find it. If we find that there is life on other planets, then we have found we are not alone, If we are alone, and life is unsupportable anywhere else, then we must be careful and take care of the planet that we have.