DETROIT – Are we alone in the universe? This was the fundamental question that spurred Yuri Milner on his search and led to the creation of Listen. Breakthrough Initiatives are a suite of space science programs funded by the foundation established by Julia and Yuri Milner.
Often, when people hear about research into intelligent extraterrestrial life, they cast a wary eye. They confuse science fiction with science, and the conspiracy theorists of the world have led to some disinformation on the subject. But the field of science covered in Yuri Milner’s research is different. His co-founder at Breakthrough Listen was Stephen Hawking, and U.C. Berkeley is involved with the project.
The Breakthrough Initiative investigates the fundamental questions of the cosmos. Is there intelligent life in the universe outside of what we know on planet Earth? Are we alone? Are there worlds that are habitable in the galaxy? Can we make the leap to the stars? And can we think and act together, as one world, in the cosmos?
What Is the Breakthrough Initiative?
Breakthrough Listen is a scientific research project that is massive in scope. Its mission is to find evidence that civilizations exist outside of the Earth. Listen combines the most sophisticated instruments and software to help decipher data points. The instruments are more sensitive and powerful than the telescopes used prior, and they are developed specifically to search for intelligent life.
Where did the Breakthrough Initiative originate? Largely in the mind of Yuri Milner. Of course, other leading scientists have been enthralled by the ramifications, but Milner’s privately funded Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has brought talent and movement to a traditionally underfunded field.
Yuri Milner began his career as a physicist. Before launching SETI, the research in this field was woefully underfunded. Breakthrough Listen and the funding available has helped transform the field into one that’s fertile, groundbreaking, and full of respected and brilliant scientific minds.
Listen was launched by Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking at the Royal Society in London in 2015. Since its original announcement and launch, Listen has increased the search for SETI and added much-needed funding to allow scientists to work. The experiments, advanced tools, and machine learning instrumentation have helped make the detection of signals much more practical.
About the Eureka Manifesto and Philanthropy
As the founder of one of the leading investment companies focused on Internet Technologies (DST Global), Yuri Milner has pledged his funds to worthy causes that extend the reach for science and support future scientific researchers.
His Eureka Manifesto argues that any organization that hopes to do something significant of impact, must have a mission. His mission looks beyond Earth for a common goal. “In the universal story we are part of—and whose next chapters we can choose to write.”
He and his wife, Julia, committed to supporting scientific discovery and scientists further by joining the Giving Pledge in 2012. They also partnered with entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, and Sergey Brin in founding the Breakthrough Prize. This is the world’s largest scientific award, giving $3 million annually to researchers with advances in physics, mathematics, and the life sciences.
In his philanthropy, Milner also wished to support budding researchers and brilliant minds of the future, founding the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. This challenge is open to high school students on a global scale. Participants are judged by their peers and experts in their fields of study. The prizes in this competition include a $250,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 prize for the teacher who inspired their work.
This article was provided by Hannah Madison
