Kibbe Science Lecture presents Dr. Aomawa Shields: "The Search for Life (and A Life) on Planets, Including This One"

In 1995 we knew of one planet orbiting another star like the sun. Today we know of nearly 5,000 planets orbiting other stars. We call these planets extrasolar planets, or “exoplanets.” These planets orbit a range of different types of stars, including stars very different from our own. And the planets themselves present a wide range of potential environments in which life could thrive or not. How do we know what it takes for life to thrive on a planet? What would it take for you to thrive on this planet? As we’ll see, when it comes to the search for life elsewhere in the universe, just as in our own lives, answering that question is a process as dynamic as the discovery of new worlds orbiting trillions of miles away.