Tycoon Joins Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

With a $100 million investment, physicist Stephen Hawking, SETI pioneer Frank Drake, and billionaire investor Yuri Milner are committing to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Called the "Breakthrough" initiatives, the funding will help to expand SETI's listening power by acquiring more valuable telescope time: specifically, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia. Breakthrough Listen will also use the Automated Planet Finder Telescope at the Lick Observatory to search for optical laser transmissions, which some experts theorize could be a possible communication method for an advanced civilization. A second initiative, Breakthrough Message, seeks the public's insights on how we might use digital messages to introduce humanity to an alien race.

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