Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society

Our speaker: Professor Matt Griffin is a member of the Cardiff Hub for Astrophysics
Research and Technology.

As it stands today, life on Earth is the only example we know. Our speaker will outline
the history of life on Earth and comment on whether or not it's reasonable to expect
from what we know of Earthly life that similar simple (single-celled) or complex
(multi-cellular) life is likely exist elsewhere.

Until recently the existence or absence of extraterrestrial life was a matter of
speculation, but seeking evidence of it is now one of the most active and obsessive
pursuits in contemporary astronomy. Within a few decades we will have explored
potential sites for past or present life in the solar system and characterised Earth-like
planets around other stars in the solar neighborhood, and we will be able to assess
whether or not simple microbial life is common or unusual in the galaxy.

Searches are also underway for signals broadcast by possible advanced civilisations
elsewhere in our galaxy. I will summarise the motivations, the techniques used, and
the prospects for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

The future discovery of life, especially intelligent life, elsewhere in the Universe is
often presented as something that would have profound cultural implications and
that it would change utterly our conception of the Universe and our place in it.
We will also comment on whether or not such predictions are justified.