NEWS BRIEFING: Are we alone? The $100m question

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2015-08-11 10:12

Australia; International; VIC; ACT

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

Full recording now available - NEWS BRIEFING – Wed Aug 12 at 11:15 AEST. At the National Library of Australia in Canberra (also available online) Is there anybody out there, or are we alone in the Universe? It's a question that's fascinated humankind for centuries, and we may be about to find the answer. Celebrated cosmologist Stephen Hawking recently launched the biggest global hunt for alien life ever undertaken, a project funded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to the tune of $135 million. And Australia has a starring role in this unprecedented search for extra-terrestrial life - CSIRO's hugely powerful Parkes radio telescope is one of only two that will scan 100 star systems for signs of life. Join us for this national news briefing, when a star-studded line-up of speakers will discuss the project ahead of a public event.

Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

*Full recording now available - see link below*

The briefing will discuss the following issues:
Where and how do we start the hunt?
Australia's role in the project
Is intelligent alien life inevitable?
How likely is it that we will find it in an infinite universe?
What do we do if we find intelligent life?
What does all this mean for Australian science?

SPEAKERS:

Professor Matthew Bailes is an Australian Laureate Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology
Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths is from the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Australian National UniversityANU
Dr Alan Duffy is a Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS AFTER 14:00 AEST

Professor Paul Davies is Director of The Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University

DATE: Wed 12 Aug
START TIME: 11:15am AEST
DURATION: 47 mins
VENUE: The Ferguson Room, National Library of Australia, Canberra (also available online)

For further information, please contact the AusSMC on 08 7120 8666 or email info@smc.org.au.

NB: The AusSMC generally runs two different types of media briefings:
NEWS BRIEFINGS – Where new research or data will be released as part of the briefing
BACKGROUND BRIEFINGS – Where experts discuss an issue which is in the news or an issue we consider newsworthy, but no new research or data is being released

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Other Australian Science Media Centre, Web page Link to full briefing recording

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Organisation/s: Australian Science Media Centre

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