Coinciding with the 40th anniversary commemoration, the 4th webinar was held on 17th November 2021 at the Prof. Cyril Ponnamperuma Auditorium, as a hybrid event.
Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe, world renowned astronomer, astrophysicist, & pioneer astrobiologist as well as the founding Director of National Institute of Fundamental Studies delivered his lecture on “Our Place in the Cosmos: the role of culture and colonization”
Prof. Wickramasinghe discussed whether the life is unique to Earth and found nowhere else in our galaxy, or is a cosmic phenomenon ubiquitous throughout the galaxy as well as among the many billions of galaxies in the observable universe? Furthermore, he emphasized that the evidence from astronomy, geology and biology is presented in favour of the latter; life being a truly cosmic phenomenon. He also mentioned that this theory is not yet been widely accepted because of the cultural issues more than science.