At a news conference on Monday, Stephen Hawking said he is supporting a project to search for extraterrestrial life. The initiative worth $100 million is funded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner.

Hawking said this project is different, as it involves wide range of resources and they will also be having access to world's most powerful telescopes. With the help of them questions might get answers.

Hawking affirmed, "Mankind has a deep need to explore, to learn to know. We also happen to be sociable creatures. It is important to us to know if we are alone in the dark".

Breakthrough Initiatives is handling the project and has done bookings of two of the world's best telescopes. One of the two is in West Virginia and the other one is in Australia. The telescopes will be used to observe Milky Way and nearby galaxies for radio waves and light sources, which may give hint about life present beyond earth.

Breakthrough Initiatives said the telescopes are 50 times more sensitive. They will cover 10 times more territory when compared with earlier researches. Therefore, it is considered that there are good chances of finding life outside earth.

The project is expected to continue for 10 years. Milner said he will make available the scientific data collected for the public. Hawking said it is the right time to find an answer to search for life beyond earth.