From the Editor's Desk

Alien Earths: How to find habitable worlds in our galaxy

This week, I have the pleasure of sharing with you my Q&A with Lisa Kaltenegger about her new book, Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos. Lisa is a world-renowned astrobiologist and the Director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University. Earlier this year, we published a joint paper with Sara Vannah proposing a new strategy for identifying planets that share similar characteristics with Earth at different times across its evolution. Life writes its presence on the atmospheres of planets, and the search for living worlds is in reality a search for the “biosignatures” that we associate with life, at least life as we know it. Apart from being an outstanding scientist, Lisa is one of the most engaging lecturers I know, and her infectious enthusiasm is ever present in her book, a must-read. 

We live in an incredible epoch of exploration. We are discovering not merely new continents, like the explorers of old, but whole new worlds circling other stars. Since the first extrasolar planet was discovered in 1995, astronomers have found more than five thousand others in our cosmic neighborhood. Astonishingly, that means about one new world discovered for every other day since we built the first instrument sensitive enough to detect them. And we have only spotted the ones that are easy to find—the tip of the iceberg.

Continued here

TradeBriefs: Newsletters for Decision-Makers!

Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails.

Want the newsletters, without the promotional mailers?
Get an (ad-free) subscription to TradeBriefs Premium for just $1 per month.