Are We Alone?

Geniusby StephenHawking was on the tube last night. It’s a PBS broadcast, a television show which poses a scientific problem and teaches average people to “think like geniuses” in order to solve it. Last night’s episode explored the universe, asked the question that niggles at the back of all our minds–are we alone.

Hawking and the participants began with an examination of the immensity of our galaxy, the 100 billion stars that comprise it. Comparing our sun to a grain of sand (can you imagi...