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

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

Embargoed until: Publicly released:

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.

Organisation/s: Australian Science Media Centre

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

Attachments:

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public

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

News for:

Australia
International
VIC
ACT

Media contact details for this story are only visible to registered journalists.