An internationally known group of speakers will gather at the University of Colorado at Boulder Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. in the Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry Building, room 140, to debate the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth.
Panelists at the free public symposium, "Is There Intelligent Life Elsewhere?" will talk about the ongoing search for life away from Earth and will dissect some of the major questions surrounding the idea, before opening the floor for debate.
"This question of whether we are unique or one of many is one that has been of widespread interest for, literally, millennia," said Bruce Jakosky, a CU-Boulder geology professor and director of the CU Center for Astrobiology, who will moderate the symposium.
"In exploring our own solar system, we have the potential within a very short time to determine whether life exists beyond our own planet," Jakosky said. "We are making strides that will help us to understand whether intelligence is likely to be widespread or rare."
Panelists include William Calvin, Donald Brownlee, Seth Shostak and Joel Achenbach.
Calvin, who is a neurobiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and the author of 10 books, will set the stage by talking about the nature and origin of intelligence on Earth. He has written several books about the brain and evolution.
Brownlee, a University of Washington, Seattle, astronomy professor and co-author of the book "Rare Earth," will focus on the potential for intelligent life on other planets and how rare it may be. He is the principal investigator on the NASA Stardust mission that will collect samples from comets and bring them to Earth.
Shostak, who works with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, will talk about the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence using radio techniques. He has done research work using radio telescopes on galaxies from observatories and universities in Europe and America.
Achenbach, a columnist and feature writer from the Washington Post, will delve into the broader societal implications of the search and exploration of the universe. In his most recent book, "Captured by Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe," Achenbach argues that many people make the fundamental mistake of underestimating their own biological complexity.
The Oct. 10 symposium was organized by CU-Boulder's Center for Astrobiology, and co-sponsored by CU's Fiske Planetarium, the University Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the NASA Astrobiology Institute, The Planetary Society and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).
This is the second annual public symposium sponsored by the Center for Astrobiology meant to bring the excitement of the search for life away from Earth to the university community and the public.
The field of astrobiology draws from many disciplines to understand what factors determine if there is life away from Earth. The CU-Boulder Center for Astrobiology brings together faculty and students from the geological sciences, astrophysics and planetary sciences, atmospheric sciences, molecular biology, evolutionary biology and biochemistry.
CU-Boulder is one of 11 institutions around the country that make up the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
Parking will be available in the Euclid Avenue Autopark adjacent to the University Memorial Center on the CU-Boulder campus.
For more information about the symposium call (303) 735-3800 or check the Web site at .