Is There Anybody Out There?

I'm excited that today I start (well, technically, pick-up) work on a new show, 600 People. It's a short piece, premiering at Is There Anybody Out There?, a new spoken-word event at The Orangery in Wakefield, on 23 March at 8pm - featuring some great spoken word artists.

Here's the blurb about 600 People itself:

“We step out of our solar system, into the universe, seeking only peace and friendship...” 

So says the message from the human race on the Voyager spacecraft. But is there, y'know, anyone out there? Alex really wanted to know so he went to speak to an astrobiologist to find out. This is what he learned: Stellar Wobble. Light Clocks. The Mirror Test. The Distance Ladder. And murderous dolphins.

The conversation with Dr Simon Goodwin that inspired 600 People is touched upon in both 9 Billion Miles From Home and Technology, but this is the first time we've really got to explore what Simon told me and how it affected the way I think about the universe.

I'll be talking to Simon some more, and attending a couple of his lectures about astrophysics. No doubt I'll be tweeting about how much of that I understand, hash-tagged #600people.

But if you're in Yorkshire, come along and see us in Wakefield.