"We are life, we are intelligent, we must know" - Stephen Hawking on the new hunt for Alien life

Three Thinking - Edition 015 - Wednesday 22 July 2015

A Google Images search for 'aliens' provides all sorts of weird and wonderful results, from a deliriously happy one-eyed blue blob and a three eyed, childish looking green creature to more sinister pale zombie-like beings that wouldn't look out of place in an episode of Doctor Who. 

One of the many images a search for
'aliens' online provides.
Image: pbs.org

Yet aliens are no longer simply resigned to sci-fi films and children's imaginations; a new $100 million project to hunt for 'intelligent aliens' has just been launched.

Someone looks rather friendly! A
google search result for 'aliens'
Image - mydeathspace.com

Many of us are now fascinated with the prospect that there may be other life "out there" - although I should think we hope that that life is not as sinister, malicious and evil as some films and nightmares may make out!

It was earlier this week that Professor Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned scientist, declared: "Somewhere in the universe intelligent life may be watching the lights of ours aware of what they mean". He added: "We believe that life arose spontaneously on Earth. So in an infinite universe there must be other occurrences of life". 

It was Issac Newton who remarked:
"What we know is a drop,
what we don't know is an
ocean" 

With that thought in mind, I believe we should optimistically look forward to any findings the new hundred-million-dollar project to hunt for intelligent alien live may provide. The chairman of the project, known as Breakthrough listen, said on Monday that it is a "huge gamble...but the pay off would be colossal" continuing: "We don't know what we will see, it may be organic life or machines created by a long dead civilisation, but it would transform our view of the universe".

As a species, we have an incredible desire for understanding and information. We now know a great deal about our own planet, yet still feel overwhelmed and amazed when we think of how tiny we are compared to the ever-expanding universe in which we find ourselves. The new project will, hopefully, usher in a new era of understanding of the universe...and may even save us from a deadly alien invasion!

THINK & REFLECT - Think about how incredible the ever-expanding universe is, and think about how tiny our planet is in comparison. Allow this thought, and the realization we don't know incredibly little about the universe, to make you more open minded and passionate about pursuing new understanding and knowledge.