Russian businessman Yuri Milner with confined to a wheelchair British scientist Stephen Hawking launched a large-scale project to search for extraterrestrial life, which is, in fact, is the revived version of the ambitious SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).
Royal Society – Royal Society – this is the British Academy of Sciences. Only the old, respect and, of course, is inviolable. Created in 1660, so that saw Newton, Faraday, Sir Christopher Wren – easier to say who has not seen. Classic English building is a stone’s throw from Trafalgar Square, just behind the Pel-Mel, and just smells British tradition. Inside – oak paneling and oil portraits of scientists. Stucco, peace and civility.
On Monday, July 20, the event is held, which was attended by Russian businessman Yuri Milner, founder of Breakthrough Initiatives – scientific prizes of $ 3 million, designed, according to the creators, to return the prestige of the profession of the scientist, respect and elitism – and the famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.
«My name is Yuri Milner, and many of you know me as an investor in Silicon Valley, but today I have come to tell you about another kind of investment – in science,” – began his speech Milner.
«In 1987, I was fortunate to meet Professor Stephen Hawking for the first time. He inspired me then and continues to inspire today. I would like to give the floor to Professor Hawking. ”
«Can you hear me? – He started his speech computer voice Hawking. – I am here today because sure – Breakthrough Initiatives are critical to understand the universe. You need to know about atoms, the forces that bind them. About stars, galaxies, about the secrets of black holes. But this is not enough. These ideas can not explain everything. They can explain the light of the stars, but not the light that emits Earth. To understand this light, you need to know about life and minds. We believe that life arose on Earth itself is a result of evolution. And so, perhaps, somewhere in space other intelligent life is watching us. Time to focus on the search for life beyond Earth. We have life, we reason, we have to learn. ”
Milner and then Hawking announced that the charity fund of the Russian businessman has invested $ 100 million in the project to search for extraterrestrial intelligence, called Breakthrough Listen.
In fact, we are talking about the revival started in 1960 the project SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), which is not stopped, but “stalled.” American astronomer Frank Drake, who participated in one of the largest experiments in the framework of SETI, will take part in the Breakthrough Initiatives. In addition, participate in the project will be Jeff Marcy, who became in 2012 the head of the Institute SETI.
Thanks to these investments in the US and Australian radio telescopes Green Bank Telescope and the Parkes Telescope, and as American Optical Telescope Lick Observatory and the future Russian “Millimetron” will be leased for space observations. In particular, special attention will be paid to the central part of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies hundred. In addition, investments will be made in the storage and processing of information received, the volume of which is measured in petabytes (1000 terabytes). Sam Milner promised to use for this Research Center, Berkeley, and data processing – about 9 million computers, networked SETI @ home.
«Breakthrough Listen to collect in one day more data than we are now going for a year”, – said Yuri Milner, at a press conference in London.
He said that the data will be available to all, and will be used only free software and free platform for outside developers.
Results of the project is expected in the next ten, maybe more years.
Elizabeth Dalziel-File / AP
Moreover, Milner offers and prepare for the moment when we found a signal of extraterrestrial life, and will need to interact with it. Initsativa Breakthrough Message – a global competition for the formulation of digital messages that could describe our earth in a language understandable to an extraterrestrial civilization.
«best authors will receive a prize, the total prize money will be $ 1 million, but the most important thing for us – to understand what should be the language, but also to discuss the ethical issues we transmit information about extraterrestrial intelligence,” – said Yuri Milner.
«If the search of this complexity and magnitude, we do not find anything, it will be very interesting and important scientific result”, – said Stiveng Hawking, responding to a question about whether he is confident in the success of the mission.
«Intelligent life may suschestvoat, but maybe not. But recent experiments have changed the rules of the game. We now know of so many worlds in which organic molecules are so common that the existence of life in some of them it would be natural. But knowing how long it took the evolution of the world, we can say that a planet with intelligent life – a rarity. And we know that it is very fragile and prone to self-destruction, “- said Hawking.
«Professor Hawking, you once said that contact with aliens – is a bad idea. Why do you think so? “- Asked Hawking Milner.
«We do not know the aliens, but we know the people,” – said Hawking, and the hall laughed knowingly.
In 2012, Yuri Milner established «Prize for fundamental physics “$ 3 million, more than 2.5 times greater than the Nobel Prize. In 2013, he, along with the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Google Sergey Brin and his ex-wife Anna Vozhiytski established «prize for a breakthrough in the field of medicine.” Also in 2013, Milner, Brin, Zuckerberg and founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma established «award for breakthrough in mathematics” by providing “Gazeta.ru» exclusive information about the winners. These awards also make $ 3 million.
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