World-Renowned Scientists and Scholars Gather to Discuss the Migration of Life in the Universe and Recent Space Discoveries
Watch Fourth Annual ‘Breakthrough Discuss’ Conference Live on YouTube
Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12
Sessions Begin at 9 AM PT
Was life on Earth “seeded” from space? If so, was it accidental or deliberate? And should humans actively spread life beyond Earth?
The fourth annual Breakthrough Discuss scientific conference, which will bring together leading astronomers, biologists, chemists and engineers to advance discussion around the fascinating and controversial subject of life spreading through the universe, will be held on Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12, and full sessions will be available for live viewing on YouTube, beginning at 9 AM PT on both days.
The two days of discussions will focus on “the Migration of Life in the Universe” with three separate sessions:
• Migration of Life in the Universe (Session One)
• Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes (Session Two)
• Emigration of Life from Earth (Session Three)
The conference will be live streamed on the Breakthrough’s YouTube page and Facebook Live.
Natalie Batalha, Faculty of Astronomy & Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz and former Project Scientist for NASA’s Kepler Mission, and Marileen Dogterom, Chair of the Department of Bionanoscience at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, will serve as keynote speakers, on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Sessions will be chaired by Penelope Boston (NASA), Lindy Elkins-Tanton (ASU), Drew Endy (Stanford), Gary Ruvkun (Mass General, Harvard), Kate Adamala (UMN), and Sara Walker (ASU).
WHAT: Breakthrough Discuss is an annual academic conference focused on life in the
Universe and novel ideas for space exploration.
Watch the fourth annual Breakthrough Discuss scientific conference, which will bring together leading astronomers, biologists, chemists and engineers, to discuss the migration of life in the universe.
The Breakthrough Initiatives are a suite of scientific and technological programs investigating life in the Universe. Along with Breakthrough Watch, they include Breakthrough Listen, the largest ever astronomical search for signs of intelligent life beyond Earth; and Breakthrough Starshot, the first serious attempt to design and develop a space probe capable of reaching another star within a generation. https://breakthroughinitiatives.org
WHEN: Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12 – 9 AM PACIFIC TIME
Schedule available here: https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/events/discussconference2019
WHERE: Watch Live on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/breakthroughprize
For more information on the program, including a detailed schedule, please visit: https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/5.
