Discovery Communications Inc. : SCIENCE, TED and SETI Ask the Question ARE WE ALONE? with an Initiative to Bring Citizen Scientists into the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

-- ARE WE ALONE? Explores Extraterrestrial Encounters with Premiere Programming Including a Special Episode of THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN on Tuesday, March 6 at 10 PM (ET/PT) --

-- Citizen Scientists Can Also Interface Via the Ground-Breaking SETI Live Online Platform --

January 13, 2012

(Pasadena, Ca.), to enlist like-minded individuals everywhere to tackle this defining question with ARE WE ALONE?, a breakthrough multimedia initiative. ARE WE ALONE? is timed to support a major new resource called SETI Live which will empowermobilize "citizen scientists" from all walks of life to join the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

SCIENCE's month of programming begins on-air on Tuesday, March 6 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) with the world premiere of Morgan Freeman's THROUGH THE WORMHOLE: WILL WE SURVIVE FIRST CONTACT? forecasting man's first encounter with an extraterrestrial life form. Next, renowned experts including Nick SaganSETI Institute's Dr. Jill Tarter come together to explore how alien life might communicate with Earth in the debut of ALIEN ENCOUNTERS. The two-part event airs Tuesday, March 13,Tuesday, March 20 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT). Finally, SCIENCE concludes this month of all-new programming by presenting firsthand accounts from NASA astronauts who witnessed the mysterious with NASA FILES: THE UNEXPLAINED on Tuesday, March 27 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT).

In addition to the programming, ARE WE ALONE? brings viewers into the search for extraterrestrial life - deepermore profoundly than ever before - by supporting the introduction of the SETI Live platform, developed by Zooniverse. SETI Live will enable members of the public to analyze data coming from the Allen Telescope Array (ATA). This March, SETI will work with live datacall upon citizen scientists to identify potential signals from extraterrestrials. By the end of the month, the real-time analysis of community members will actually decide what the ATA observes next. Both Science's programminglinks on sciencechannel.com will drive traffic to SETI Live.

ARE WE ALONE? started with a wish that Center for SETI Research director, Dr. Jill Tarter, made at the TED Conference in response to winning the annual TED Prize. Dr. Tarter sought help in her mission to trigger the most meaningful search for extraterrestrial intelligence to-date by uniting all individuals who have ever looked to the skythought, "are we alone in the universe?" Answering SETI's call was the thought-leading TED group that then enlisted SCIENCE, entertainment's home for deep science content. Together, the three organizations have combined for a multimedia, call-to-action campaign that will mobilize those curious about life beyond Earth to turn their passion into action.

"With ARE WE ALONE? we want to draw viewers in with smart, lean-forward programming,empower them to uncover evidence of extraterrestrial life," says Debbie Adler Myers, General ManagerExecutive Vice President of SCIENCE. "At SCIENCE, we question everything -no topic inspires more questions than the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence."

THROUGH THE WORMHOLE: WILL WE SURVIVE FIRST CONTACT? is produced by Revelations EntertainmentThe Incubator. James YoungerLori McCreary are executive producers for Revelations Entertainment. ALIEN ENCOUNTERS was produced for SCIENCE by Karga 7. Rocky Collins is executive producer for SCIENCE. NASA FILES: THE UNEXPLAINED is produced for SCIENCE by WAGtv. Wyatt Channell is executive producer for SCIENCE. Bernadette McDaid is the vice president of production for SCIENCEoversees all production for the network.

ARE WE ALONE? EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS:

THROUGH THE WORMHOLE: WILL WE SURVIVE FIRST CONTACT?
World Premiere Tuesday, March 6 at 10 PM (ET/PT)
Mankind longs for proof that we are not alone in the universe, but the moment of first contact will irrevocably change the world as we know it. Whether that is a bad thing for humanity or the beginning of a great future is the subject of much debate. In this episode we'll meet scientists probing the big questions: Will the aliens we encounter be warlike? How will we talk to creatures with whom we share no common ground? Could they have come here already? And can we visit aliens on their own turf?

ALIEN ENCOUNTERS
Part 1 -- THE MESSAGE World Premiere on Tuesday, March 13 at 10 PM (ET/PT)
Part 2 -- THE ARRIVAL World Premiere on Tuesday, March 20 at 10 PM (ET/PT)
In two dramatic hours, ALIEN ENCOUNTERS lays out a plausible hypothetical scenario for a first contact event. What would really happen if we got a message from space? How will humans react when we learn that a message from a distant technology or a spacecraft is on its way to Earth? Will humans learn from aliens, or become colonial subjects? Some of the world's leading astrophysicists, astrobiologists,sci-fi writers help unravel the scientific, culturalpsychological impact of this world-changing global event. This show is made in cooperation with The SETI Institute which was founded in 1984had renowned astrophysicist Carl Sagan as one of its Board of Trustee Members. Carl's son Nick is now following in his father's footsteps wondering, "How will we meet our galactic neighbors?"

NASA FILES: THE UNEXPLAINED
World Premiere Tuesday, March 27 at 10 PM (ET/PT)
Countless mysterious objects have been caught by NASA's cameras. In this special, we'll reveal NASA's top ten unexplained encounters using original footagegroundbreaking interviews with astronautsscientists. Can these phenomena be explained away through sciencedetective work? Or have NASA's cameras potentially captured the first traces of extraterrestrial life?

About the SETI Institute
The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understandexplain the origin, natureprevalence of life in the universe. The SETI Institute is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, educationpublic outreach. Founded in November 1984, the SETI Institute began operations on February 1, 1985. Today it employs nearly 150 scientists, educatorssupport staff. Research at the Institute is anchored by three centers: the Center for SETI Research, the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universethe Center for EducationPublic Outreach. Dr. Jill Tarter leads the Center for SETI Research as Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETIwas a TED prize winner in 2009. Dr. David Morrison is the Director for the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. Edna DeVore leads our Center for EducationPublic Outreach. SETI Institute website: .

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkersdoers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at . TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel AllendeUK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Edinburgh, UK.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, awarded to an exceptional individual who is granted "one wish to change the world". The global TED community seeks to make that wish come true. The TED Prize was awarded to SETI's Jill Tarter in 2010.

. For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration.

About SCIENCE
SCIENCE, a division of Discovery Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), is home for the thought provocateur, the individual who is unafraid to ask the killer questions of "how""why not." The network is a playground for those with audacious intellectsfeatures programming willing to go beyond imagination to explore the unknown. Guided by curiosity, SCIENCE looks for innovation in mysterious new worlds as well as in its own backyard. SCIENCEthe SCIENCE HD simulcast reach more than 68 million U.S. households. The network also features high-traffic onlinesocial media destinations, including , .

About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in 210 countriesterritories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through 142 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, SCIENCEInvestigation Discovery, as well as U.S. joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational productsservices to schoolsownsoperates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including .