Even the Rare Earthers
Think the Universe is teeming with planets with simple life forms
like bacteria and algae. It's the most complex stuff they question.
But if we want to be good scientists, we better keep our telescopes
tuned and start building some real interstellar probes to get to the
bottom of this major question.
Having Hawking support such research is always a boon, even if
he isn't a biologist. He's a real smart scientist who has guest
starred on The Simpsons and that is all the public (and politicians)
needs to know.