UK: Stephen Hawking searches for ET "we are intelligent, we must know"

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking, along with scientists Yuri Milner, Frank Drake, Geoff Marcy, Pete Worden and Ann Druyan, announced a unprecedented $100 million (€92.1 million) 'Breakthrough Initiatives' research programme, to accelerate the search for other intelligent lifeforms beyond earth within ten years, in London, Monday. Speaking at the Royal Society, Hawking said "there is no bigger question," than whether we are alone in the universe or not. "It's time to commit to find the answer to search for life beyond earth. The Breakthrough Initiatives are making that commitment. We are life, we are intelligent, we must know," Hawking concluded. 'Breakthrough Initiatives' divides into multiple programmes, two of which were announced on Monday. 'Breakthrough Listen' is the biggest scientific search programme for extraterrestrial intelligent lifeforms. Researchers will have access to the 'Green Bank Telescope' and the 'Parkes Telescope,' which are 50 times more sensitive than the previous initiatives, covering a broader radio spectrum and ten times more of the sky. The second programme, called 'Breakthrough Message', is a competition aiming to produce messages that represent humanity on Earth and to stimulate a discussion about the nature of interstellar communication.