Stephen Hawking launches $100m search for alien life beyond solar system
by Ian Sample Science editor from on (#EVTZ)
Breakthrough Listen, funded by Yuri Milner, will allow telescopes to eavesdrop on planets that orbit the million stars closest to Earth and 100 nearest galaxies
Astronomers are to embark on the most intensive search for alien life yet by listening out for potential radio signals coming from advanced civilisations far beyond the solar system.
Leading researchers have secured time on two of the world's most powerful telescopes in the US and Australia to scan the Milky Way and neighbouring galaxies for radio emissions that betray the existence of life elsewhere. The search will be 50 times more sensitive, and cover 10 times more sky, than previous hunts for alien life.
