UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Eberly College of Science is hosting a free screening of the award-winning film “Contact” on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the State Theatre as part of the college’s Science Matters: Spotlight Sessions and the Friedman Lectures in Astronomy and Astrophysics. A Q&A featuring experts in and related to the field of extraterrestrial intelligence — sponsored by the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center — will immediately follow the film’s screening.
The panel of experts will include:
- Adam Frank, Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester, who is the author of “The Little Book of Aliens” and “Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth,” and is a regular contributor to NPR.
- Nadia Drake, science journalist and longtime contributor at National Geographic. She holds a doctoral degree in genetics and developmental biology and is the daughter of Frank Drake, who was a pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
- Jason Wright, director of the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center (PSETI) and winner of the 2019 Drake Award by the SETI Institute for his work in exoplanets and SETI.
The Q&A will be moderated by Jennifer Macalady, geomicrobiologist at Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and director of the Penn State Ecology Institute. Panelists will discuss the scientific accuracy of the film, the recent renaissance of SETI, the role of the PSETI Center in the search for intelligent life in the cosmos and answer questions from the audience.
Register for the free screening on Eberly's calendar.
The PSETI Center is one of only two institutions with graduate SETI curriculum and the only curriculum integrated as part of an astrobiology degree. Since it was founded five years ago, the center has produced half of the doctoral degrees in the field.
About the Friedman Lectures
This presentation is hosted by the Penn State Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is funded largely by the Ronald M. and Susan J. Friedman Outreach Fund in Astronomy. Mr. Friedman is a member of the department's board of visitors. The free, public lecture series was founded in 1998. Past talks are listed on the department’s website.
About Science Matters: Spotlight Sessions
Science Matters: Spotlight Sessions — to provide a unique opportunity for the community to engage directly with the brilliant minds working on the front lines of discovery to create positive, real-world impact.
Alumni as well as members of the local community and Eberly College community are invited to join the college’s top scientists in candid, down-to-earth conversations that answer today’s most pressing questions — how science is shaping our lives, our society, and our future.
Science matters. As part of Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant university, the Eberly College of Science is committed to furthering outreach programs that advance the public’s general knowledge of the everyday impact of science and the importance of funding for both basic and translational research. To view a list of community outreach events, see the Eberly College’s public events calendar.