A recap of Yuri Milner’s 2022 breakthrough Discuss conference

Breakthrough Discuss is a yearly academic conference that focuses on life in the universe and novel ideas for exploring space.

The 2022 Breakthrough Discuss conference was held in Santa Cruz, California, at UC Santa Cruz, on June 22 and 23. The theme for this year was Watch This Space! Innovations for a Low-Cost Future.

The Discuss conference was co-hosted by the NASA Ames Research Center, Caltech, the ASU Interplanetary Initiative, and others focusing on space exploration.

The conference, created by Yuri Milner, the founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives, was attended by many of the brightest minds to discuss looking for technological and biological signatures throughout the universe.

In essence, the Discuss program is focused on finding ways to explore the areas of space we already know about. Along with others that are ripe for exploration in the future.

By finding innovations and looking to reduce costs, space exploration can be more plausible. That will allow for additional advances in the area.

A conference in three parts

The Breakthrough Discuss conference was held in person and virtually, allowing for a larger attendance and ensuring the safety of those concerned about COVID. Additionally, they include other health aspects of being in large groups.

Yuri Milner has put together a team at the Breakthrough Initiatives who designed the conference in three parts over the two-day schedule. Additionally, along with a reception in person only at the end of the event’s second day.

There were three parts to this conference, which were:

1. A Bigger Bang for Your Buck: Affordable and innovative concepts for cosmological measurement
2. Low-Mass Transit: Light, fast, and cheap ways to explore the solar system and beyond
3. New Outlooks on Life: New approaches to detecting life and intelligence beyond Earth.

A virtual conference booklet allowed anyone attending virtually to participate in everything the conference offered.

While there were many in-person attendees, interested individuals worldwide could gain valuable information through the virtual option.

Guest speakers for the 2022 program

One of the most important aspects of the Breakthrough Discuss conference was that Yuri Milner saw the importance of bringing in valuable guest speakers.

These speakers provided valuable insight and information to the in-person and virtual attendees of the conference, answering questions and addressing their concerns.

Among the notable guest speakers at the event were:

• Suzanne Staggs, Princeton University
• Phil Mauskopf, Arizona State University
• Shirley Ho, Flatiron Institute
• Maura McLaughlin, West Virginia University
• Ritoban Basu Thakur, Caltech
• Andrea Gallo Rosso, Stockholm University
• Sean Bryan, Arizona State University
• Slava Tureshev, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Amanda Hendriz, Planetary Science Institute

The Discuss conference also included several other worldwide speakers from universities and space-based institutions.

Including culminating in information and lively discussion with some of the brightest minds in the field today.

About Breakthrough Initiatives and creator Yuri Milner

Yuri Milner, the creator of the Breakthrough Initiatives and its Breakthrough Discuss conference, has been focused on space exploration and discovery for many years.

He is a science philanthropist and technology investor. As well as the Breakthrough Initiatives, he is a founder of the Breakthrough Prize and Breakthrough Junior Challenge and author of the Eureka Manifesto.

The Eureka Manifesto is a book that addresses humanity’s place in the overall universe. Moreover, how the future may be affected by science and space exploration as time goes on.

The Breakthrough Prize celebrates the achievements of great scientists, and the Breakthrough Junior Challenge encourages young people to consider space technology and exploration to improve the planet’s future.

Milner and his wife are also part of the Giving Pledge, where they have committed to donating at least half of their wealth to scientific causes throughout their lifetime.

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