In a world obsessed with “maximizing shareholder value,” it’s nice to know that money can mix with imagination and do great things.
Enter Yuri Milner, tech billionaire who wants us to get a probe to Alpha Centauri, stat. Okay, it’s more of a generational thing, but let’s face it: we have to figure out how to become more than a one-planet civilization sooner rather than later. Interstellar scouting missions don’t accomplish that, but they do keep us thinking outward.
And when we’re talking about space exploration and habitable planets, you have to start delving into whether there are other sentient species out there. That raises a question discussed in another Atlantic article earlier today: should we shroud ourselves or announce our presence?