The Search For Alien Life Begins With Just 3 People And $100 Million

Suffice it to say, when you are a billionaire you can take on any sort of pet project you would like. Case in point,
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CEO Mark Zuckerberg is joining forces with fellow billionaire Yuri Milner and famed scientist Stephen Hawking to search for alien life on a nearby planet that has Earth-like characteristics.

According to Dailymail, Proxima b is a rocky planet that shares similar characteristics with our own planet and could harbor life. The only problem is the planet is a mere four light years away, or approximately 23 trillion miles.

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The three men will spend $100 million in a project known as "Breakthrough Listen," which will make use of the world's largest telescopes to listen for messages from outer space. A tiny spacecraft could be developed and travel to the distant planet within the next few decades.

Thankfully though, scientists believe Proxima b is technically within our reach and technology could exist in a next-generation spacecraft that makes the voyage to the planet a theoretical reality.

Until then, the "Breakthrough Listen" project will look for radio emissions that differ from the natural background noise using a facility in Australia. Over the next 10 years, data will be collected, which may or may not support the theory of life on another planet.

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Posted In: NewsEducationFinancingTopicsTravelEventsTechMediaGeneralAlien LifeBreakthrough ListenDailyMailMark ZuckerbergProxima bStephen HawkingYuri Milner
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