Philanthropist and tech investor Yuri Milner is widely known as the author behind the thought-provoking Eureka Manifesto: The Mission for Our Civilization. Short but inspiring, this book emphasises the importance of humanity adopting a mission to explore the Universe. If we don’t, the implications could be severe.
Failed Enlightenments and Extinction Events
In Eureka Manifesto, Milner explains that if we don’t embrace our mission to explore the Universe, we must accept the costs. Two of the biggest costs could be the risk of a failed enlightenment and an extinction event.
Milner reflects on the moment when complex life first formed on Earth. The moment when two cells joined together. This moment probably took shape around a billion years after cells first emerged.
It’s likely that complex life almost formed at many moments before this. And if the moment when the first two cells unionised hadn’t been successful, another billion years could have passed before the first complex cell formed.
Possible Extinction Events
Milner explains that each great leap of evolution is just as rare as the formation of complex life. Despite this, entire eras of gradual growth can disappear in a flash when an extinction event occurs.
All it takes is for one large asteroid or comet to collide with Earth. The chances are small, but this is possible. Milner gives the example of the Permian-Triassic extinction, which removed 90% of Earth’s species, including dinosaurs and most other land animals.
Alternatively, a supernova could shower the solar system with energetic gamma and cosmic rays. A black hole could destroy our planet, along with many others, in one swoop. A “death bubble” could travel at the speed of light and wipe Earth out, along with anything else in its path.
Earth’s Human-Friendly Conditions Will Expire
Even if none of the above takes shape, we know that Earth will become increasingly hostile to life over the next one to two billion years. Unless we find a way to stop it, the temperature of the sun will turn our water into hydrogen and oxygen, and we will lose most of the hydrogen to space. The sun will then burn its fuel and expand towards the orbits of Earth and Mars.
As a result, humanity cannot stay around indefinitely unless we expand beyond this planet. Fortunately, scientific development could allow us to prepare for and prevent future extinction events.
Many experiments have already taken place to combat these events, and we are yet to uncover the findings we need. However, as physicist David Deutsch notes in his book The Beginning of Infinity, “If any of those earlier experiments… had succeeded, our species would be exploring the stars by now, and you and I would be immortal.”
In short, we may not need lots of experiments to succeed. We may only need one. While our ancestors have not been able to provide this for us, we may be able to provide such developments for our descendants.
Yuri Milner’s Gifts to Descendants
Milner has already started laying the groundwork for future generations in a collection of projects that continue our search of the Universe. Having signed the Giving Pledge in 2012 — committing much of his wealth to philanthropic, scientific causes — he has co-launched:
- The Breakthrough Initiatives: Five programmes seeking signs of extraterrestrial life, identifying planets, developing nanocrafts, attempting interstellar communication, and discussing space exploration ideas.
- The Breakthrough Prize: A set of $3 million cash prizes, plus other monetary awards, for pioneering researchers who uncover new scientific developments. These scientists celebrate alongside film and pop stars at the glitzy Oscars of Science.
- The Breakthrough Junior Challenge: A global competition for young people to educate each other on mind-blowing scientific niches. An extensive judging process involving the public sees one teenager win a college scholarship, a science lab for their school, and $50,000 for a teacher.
Read Yuri Milner’s Eureka Manifesto to learn more about how we can achieve our mission of exploring the Universe.
