For decades, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has sought an answer to that age-old question: Is there life on other planets? Yuri Milner’s multi-million-dollar space science programmes, the Breakthrough Initiatives, strive to unravel this enduring mystery.
Milner is a renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist whose passion for science has fuelled his commitment to advancing knowledge and innovation. In 2021, he wrote Eureka Manifesto: The Mission for Our Civilisation. The short book explores the possible existence of alien intelligence and its implications for our understanding of the cosmos.
Yuri Milner’s Eureka Manifesto: An Overview
Eureka Manifesto is about “humanity’s place in the Universe and our role in its future.” The short book is a rallying cry to take up a shared mission to ensure humanity survives and thrives for generations to come. The manifesto touches on various profound topics, including the possibility of alien civilisations and the threat of human extinction.
There are five key components of Milner’s Eureka Manifesto:
- We need a mission. The manifesto’s first chapter explains why humanity, like every successful organisation, needs a shared mission.
- Our mission. This chapter articulates the core mission of Milner’s manifesto: to explore and understand our Universe.
- Why we must embrace the mission. In this chapter, Milner explains why embracing the mission is imperative. He emphasises humanity’s survival and our chance of building a galactic civilisation.
- The significance of our moment. Milner highlights the role that artificial intelligence can play in driving our mission.
- How to advance the mission. In the manifesto’s final chapter, Milner proposes an action plan for advancing our mission. The plan focuses on the acceleration of the Scientific Revolution and the start of a new Enlightenment.
The Inspiration Behind Eureka Manifesto
SETI is a recurring theme in Eureka Manifesto. In his note to the reader, Milner explains that he became fascinated with the subject when he read Iosif Shklovsky and Carl Sagan’s Intelligent Life in the Universe during his childhood.
In 2014, Milner and his wife Julia accompanied the astronomer Frank Drake to the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. 40 years earlier, Drake, with the help of Sagan and other astronomers, sent an interstellar message into the Universe using the giant Arecibo radio telescope.
We’ve never received an extraterrestrial reply to this message. However, the trip with Drake helped Milner realise he could send his own message to humanity, which inspired him to write Eureka Manifesto.
Alien Civilisations: Friend or Foe?
Milner highlights various reasons why we should embrace our shared mission. For instance: Hostile extraterrestrial civilisations could pose a threat to humanity. As such, we should advance our technologies as fast as possible before we meet any.
The consensus amongst astrobiologists is that, at the very least, primitive cellular life is probably everywhere in the cosmos. NASA confirms that the possibility of extraterrestrial biology has grown increasingly credible.
What if, like humanity, life on another planet has evolved into an intelligent civilisation? What if they’re more advanced than us? Milner notes that encounters between more and less technologically advanced civilisations tend not to go so well for the latter.
On the other hand, if we do encounter extraterrestrials and they’re friendly, we could learn much from them. Milner suggests that one of the rewards of pursuing our mission could be to collaborate with alien beings, forming a grand galactic civilisation.
Advancing Humanity’s Cosmic Quest Through Fundamental Research
Milner proposes several steps that we can take to pursue our mission. One step involves investing resources into fundamental science and space exploration.
The McDonald Institute, Canada’s network for astroparticle physics research, defines fundamental science as “the human pursuit of knowledge in its purest form.” Fundamental science is “the first step in unearthing the mysteries of the universe.”
Milner writes that we must prioritise fundamental research as it’s “the most fertile ground for transformative discoveries and technologies.” Meanwhile, research into space exploration can “accelerate our progress toward becoming a truly spacefaring civilisation.”
In particular, we can dramatically accelerate our exploration of the Solar System. Milner notes that our farthest footprint beyond Earth is on the Moon, “where we left it over half a century ago.”
However, our idling progress in space exploration is rapidly picking up steam. Government space programmes like NASA and initiatives from entrepreneurs like Elon Musk are spearheading this trend. Public and private space projects have progressed technologies and “captured the public imagination in ways not seen since the 1960s.”
Milner emphasises that this “new energy must be sustained and encouraged.” A new dedication to exploration, possibly led by robotic missions, would let humanity “renew the promise of [Yuri] Gagarin’s flight: that our destiny is to be a galactic civilisation.” Milner is also driving progress in this arena through the Breakthrough Initiatives.
The Breakthrough Initiatives
Breakthrough Listen
Breakthrough Listen is a $100 million programme searching for evidence of technological alien civilisations. Listen is the most comprehensive search of its kind ever undertaken. The programme works with some of the world’s largest, most advanced telescopes.
Listen uses these high-tech instruments to survey celestial targets for signals that could be extraterrestrial in origin. The programme is scanning one million nearby stars, the entire galactic plane, and 100 nearby galaxies across a range of radio and optical frequency bands.
Breakthrough Watch
Breakthrough Watch detects and analyses planets to ascertain whether they could host primitive life. Most of the targets of the project are Earth-sized, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri and other stars within 20 light years of Earth.
Watch is currently funding phase two of the TOLIMAN programme. This programme is an ongoing partnership with the University of Sydney and other partners to create and launch a space telescope that will advance Watch’s investigations.
Breakthrough Discuss
Breakthrough Discuss is an annual academic forum that centres on SETI and space exploration ideas. The conference brings together leaders in fields like astronomy, space science, and engineering to debate a range of fascinating topics.
Breakthrough Discuss 2023 took place on 28-29 June at the University of California in Santa Cruz and online. Co-hosts of the event included NASA’s Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and Oxford University’s Department of Physics.
Under the theme “Welcome to the Neighbourhood,” the event explored how near-Earth locations can advance SETI. The conference also focused on new exo-planet detection methods and how human technology could reach nearby stars.
Breakthrough Starshot
Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million programme that hopes to demonstrate proof of concept for a new interstellar technology. This tech could facilitate ultra-light uncrewed space travel at 20% of the speed of light.
One day, Breakthrough Starshot could use this technology for a flyby mission to Alpha Centauri. The mission would beam images of Proxima b and other astronomical data back to Earth. Along the way, Starshot could provide valuable benefits to astronomy, such as Solar System exploration and the detection of Earth-threatening asteroids.
Discover Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Initiatives.
About Yuri Milner
Yuri Milner initially pursued theoretical physics before embarking on a successful career in technology investment. In 2012, he and his wife joined the Giving Pledge. The couple launched the Breakthrough Foundation to realise their philanthropic commitment, which supports projects like The Breakthrough Prize, The Breakthrough Junior Challenge, and Tech For Refugees.
The Breakthrough Prize
The Milners are co-founders of the Breakthrough Prize, along with Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Priscilla Chan, and Mark Zuckerberg. The world’s largest scientific award, the Breakthrough Prize recognises the researchers behind great breakthroughs in the life sciences, maths, and fundamental physics.
The Breakthrough Prize ceremony, known as the “Oscars of Science,” puts scientists in the spotlight with stars from the entertainment, sports, and music worlds. James Corden hosted the 10th annual ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on 13 April 2024. Michelle Yeoh, Kim Kardashian, and Rob Lowe were amongst the celebrity presenters.
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge
Aside from celebrating scientific excellence, the Breakthrough Prize inspires young people to engage with important concepts in maths and science. To bolster this aim, Milner launched the Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
The global competition invites students to make short, creative videos that transform complex scientific theories and principles into easy-to-understand ideas. The 2024 Breakthrough Junior Challenge is now open. The application submission deadline is 6:59 a.m. GMT on 26 June.
Tech For Refugees
Founded in 2022, Tech For Refugees gives grants to tech organisations so they can expand their humanitarian programmes. The non-profit’s partners include Airbnb.org, Uber, UNICEF USA, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
Tech For Refugees has made a multi-year financial commitment to support the expansion of the IRC’s Signpost programme. Signpost delivers reliable, vital, and often life-saving information to refugees and other people who are facing crises. The programme has won the European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation and the United Nations Connect Award.
