"Are we alone?" While conversation tends to concern E.T., new science instruments, and visionaries with big ideas, we are getting closer to discovering whether life exists beyond Earth. Renowned astrophysicists Patrick McCarthy, Taft Armandroff, Jayne Birkby and Katie Morzinski will discuss the challenges facing us when we search the universe for life, what technology we need to be successful, and what it could mean for humanity if we ultimately discover we are not alone. Join this session for a discussion on how recent astronomy findings, such as the Earth-like Proxima b orbiting our nearest star, will be explored with the coming generation of extremely large telescopes.