Should We Look For Aliens?

Even if all we learn is that we’re alone, the search is worth the risk, argues LORD MARTIN REES. Besides which, anyone we do end up finding probably knows about us already

- Lord Martin Rees

Are we alone?” is probably the question astronomers get asked most often by the general public. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is surely worthwhile, despite the heavy odds against success, because the stakes are so high. That’s why we should welcome Breakthrough Listen – a 10-year commitment by Russian-Israeli investor Yuri Milner to buy time on some of the world’s best radio telescopes and develop instruments to scan the sky in a more comprehensive and sustained fashion.