ASTROBIOLOGY

Once a month, SAGANet (www.saganet.org) and the NASA Astrobiology Program host a program called "Ask an Astrobiologist", where the public is invited to interact with a high-profile astrobiologist, who replies to Twitter, Facebook, and chat questions live on video. Each session lasts about an hour. Hosted by Dr. Graham Lau (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science) Featured Guest: Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science) Directed by Mike Toillion (NASA Astrobiology Program) Illustrations by Aaron Gronstal (NASA Astrobiology Program) Music & Animation by Mike Toillion (NASA Astrobiology Program)

The NASA Goddard Center for Astrobiology presents the 2020 Undergraduate Research Associated in Astrobiology final presentations: James Mang, University of California Berkeley “Modeling M-Earth Atmospheres in Transit” Mentor - Avi Mandell, GSFC Ashley Walker, Chicago State University, post-baccalaureate “Investigating the Role of Cyanogen Ice in Titan's Stratosphere” Mentor - Carrie Anderson, GSFC Riley Havel, University of Central Florida “Database of Meteoritic Organics”Mentor - José Aponte, GSFC/CUA Avery Fulford, Duke University “Null Life Detection Survey: Defining the Boundaries of Habitability”Mentor - Heather Graham, GSFC/CUA Declan McKenna, Maryland Institute College of Art “The Interwoven Glimmers of Life-Animation as a Method of and Response to Inquiry in Astrobiology"Mentor - Andrea Jones, GSFC

The possibility of life on Mars has fascinated scientists like Galileo, William Herschel and Carl Sagan. And even now, new missions are seeking to prove that we are not alone in our universe. Sarah's book "The Sirens of Mars" is now available on Amazon: https://geni.us/LGlAe Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/5dtBHPYcipk Sarah Stewart Johnson’s scientific research focuses on the evolution of planetary environments, particularly with regard to the search for life on Mars. She has created models of the early Martian atmosphere, completed field seasons in Antarctica, Australia and Madagascar, conducted research at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and worked on the NASA Science Teams for the Opportunity, Spirit, and Curiosity Mars Rovers. This talk was streamed live by the Ri on 7 July 2020. --- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: Justin, Scott Edwardsen, Atin Kothari, Paul Philippov, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Gou Ranon, Christina Baum, Martin Steed, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Adam Leos, Andrew Weir, Jan Všetíček, Michelle J. Zamarron, Andrew Downing, Fairleigh McGill, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, Anonymous, Kellas Lowery, Andrew McGhee, Roger Shaw, Robert Reinecke, Paul Brown, Lasse T. Stendan, David Schick, Joe Godenzi, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Greg Nagel, and Rebecca Pan. --- Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Melissa Rice discusses the ins and outs of MASTCAM-Z, Perseverance's vision system and her excitement of the unexpected. Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Alexis Templeton from the University of Colorado, Boulder, discusses the importance of Perserverance's landing site, Jezero Crater, and how it relates to her fieldwork here on Earth! Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Ruben Michael Ceballos from the University of Arkansas discusses NASA's long history of space exploration and the search for extremophiles: organisms that can live under extremely harsh conditions. Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, the Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, who discusses how this mission to Mars is the culmination of years of field work and study on Earth. Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

This lecture is part of the free and open to the public lecture series for the Royal Astronomical Society's bicentenary celebrations in 2020. Have you ever wondered how life might be able to survive in the extreme conditions that we find on planets and moons beyond the Earth? Join Rosie Cane from the UK Centre for Astrobiology at The University of Edinburgh, as she introduces the subject of astrobiology and how her PhD research looking at micro-organisms in multiple-extreme environments is not only helping in the search for life on other planetary bodies, but also helping us to understand life on our own planet. From ‘What is Life’ to ‘Are We Alone in the Universe’, Rosie will address some of the biggest questions out there, covering why we think bacteria are the best bet for potential life on another planet, how they survive extreme environments too hostile for humans to handle and where in the Solar System current research shows potential for finding extant/extinct life. She will also cover science goals from exciting upcoming European Space Agency missions to advance the search for life beyond the Earth, such as ExoMars, the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JuIcE) and Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan. If you’re interested in bacteria, extreme environments and the search for life beyond Earth then please do come along!

This lecture is part of the free and open to the public lecture series for the Royal Astronomical Society's bicentenary celebrations in 2020. Have you ever wondered how life might be able to survive in the extreme conditions that we find on planets and moons beyond the Earth? Join Rosie Cane from the UK Centre for Astrobiology at The University of Edinburgh, as she introduces the subject of astrobiology and how her PhD research looking at micro-organisms in multiple-extreme environments is not only helping in the search for life on other planetary bodies, but also helping us to understand life on our own planet. From ‘What is Life’ to ‘Are We Alone in the Universe’, Rosie will address some of the biggest questions out there, covering why we think bacteria are the best bet for potential life on another planet, how they survive extreme environments too hostile for humans to handle and where in the Solar System current research shows potential for finding extant/extinct life. She will also cover science goals from exciting upcoming European Space Agency missions to advance the search for life beyond the Earth, such as ExoMars, the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JuIcE) and Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan. If you’re interested in bacteria, extreme environments and the search for life beyond Earth then please do come along!

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Paula Welander discusses the importance of returning samples from Mars and the symbol of hope that this mission provides in difficult times. Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Kennda Lynch discusses the importance of the Perseverance landing site, Jezero crater, and if paleolake basins like it could harbor signs of ancient life. Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Sarah Stewart Johnson discusses the importance of getting samples back from Mars and the search for what she calls "agnostic biosignatures"! Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

Find out why astrobiologists are excited for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover! In this episode, Dr. Mackenzie Day from UCLA discusses Martian wind and the rare opportunity presented to study its effects without the usual weather conditions on Earth. Join us at NASA Astrobiology as we countdown to Mars 2020: the launch of the Perseverance rover! Each weekday from July 1st, 2020 until launch day, we'll be showcasing some of our favorite astrobiologists who study the red planet and share why they are so excited for this upcoming mission. Created by Mike Toillion Music by Mike Toillion & Sam Doshier #CountdownToMars

The biology of aliens: How much do we know? Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Learn skills from the world's top minds at Big Think Edge: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ask someone what they think aliens look like and you'll probably get a description heavily informed by films and pop culture. The existence of life beyond our planet has yet to be confirmed, but there are clues as to the biology of extraterrestrials in science. "Don't give them claws," says biologist E.O. Wilson. "Claws are for carnivores and you've got to be an omnivore to be an E.T. There just isn't enough energy available in the next trophic level down to maintain big populations and stable populations that can evolve civilization." In this compilation, Wilson, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, Bill Nye, and evolutionary biologist Jonathan B. Losos explain why aliens don't look like us and why Hollywood depictions are mostly inaccurate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT: MICHIO KAKU: I love to watch science fiction movies but I cringe, I cringe whenever I see a depiction of the aliens. First of all, the aliens speak perfect English. ALIENS: Did you ever see such jerky looking creatures? And one head yet. Typical Earth men. MICHIO KAKU: I mean, we have Hollywood special effects so why can't we get better aliens? E.O. WILSON: I would admonish scriptwriters for Hollywood films that have space and alien monsters invading Earth. Don't give them claws. Claws are for carnivores and you've got to be an omnivore to be an ET. There just isn't enough energy available in the next trophic level down to maintain big populations and stable populations that can evolve civilization. JONATHAN B. LOSOS: Some people have gone so far as to say that, in fact, human type organisms, humanoids will occur on other planets. So there will be intelligent beings that if we saw them they would be recognizable which, of course, is what Hollywood tells us. If you watch almost any science fiction TV show or movie the intelligent life form is bipedal, a couple of arms, a mouth. Maybe they only have three fingers and pointy ears and they're green but they're pretty humanoid. And so some people say yes, that's actually very likely that humans are a very successful life form here on Earth that we are extremely well adapted to our environment which ancestrally was occurring on the plains of Africa, but we adapted so exquisitely that we now dominate the world. So if this is such a good adaptation here on Earth it would similarly be a good adaptation on another planet and evolution would be likely to take the similar course. That is the argument that is being made in some corners. KAKU: But when we look at aliens in the movies we're basically projecting our own consciousness in aliens. Our fears, our desires are projected and they are a mirror of who we are, not a mirror of who they really are. For example, if you take a look at a bat or a dog, the dog's brain is mainly interested in smells. It's swirling in a universe of smells while a bat's brain mainly is concentrated on sonar, on detecting clicks and echoes. The same thing with the dolphin brain. Their consciousness is totally different from our consciousness because they see things differently than us because of their evolutionary history. For example, when we see a cat and the cat comes up to us and starts to purr next to us we say to ourselves oh, nice cat. Cat is being affectionate. No, the cat is not being affectionate. It's simply rubbing its hormones on you and saying I own this human. This human is mine. I'm marking my territory. This human feeds me twice a day. I've trained him. So a cat sees the universe totally different than we do and yet we impose our thinking on an alien. WILSON: ET is out there. There just has to be in that hundred million star system. Here's what I did. I looked over the many examples of the origin of whole new lines of animals that have occurred on the land since the early Paleozoic. Here is what they all have in common. First, it has to be on the land. It can't develop advanced societies and anything like civilization. Well, why not? Why no marine fresh water creatures? Because they don't have fire. In order to build tools beyond chipping some rock or stone away you don't have any way to create more advanced technology without concentrated power source that you can transport from one place to another. ET. I'm now drawing this again from the record of multiple origins of animal lines on Earth. ET has got a head and the head is up front and the head contains central organizing centers for all of the senses that are spread out through the body... Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/what-do-aliens-look-like

New research reveals that massive amounts of radioactive material might actually be essential for life outside our solar system. » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Elements! http://bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com Huge amounts of radioactive material might not be so bad for life, after all. In fact, new research suggests that it might be exactly what some planets need to host life. Here on Earth, water facilitates all of the chemical reactions of life. When searching for other life out in the universe, it’s long been thought that the absolute most important thing a planet needs is, well, something like water. That means that we’ve also been looking for a planet that’s located within the ‘habitable zone’ of its star — meaning that it's not too close to fry in the heat of that star and have all its water sizzle off, and not so far that it’s left out in the cold with only frozen water. But new research turns this entire idea on its head. A team used modeling to find that at a certain size and with a high enough level of radioactive decay, a planet might not need a star to make it habitable, after all. Maybe all a planet needs is an abundant supply of radionuclides to keep itself warm. Radionuclides are isotopes, or different types of familiar-sounding elements like uranium, that are radioactive. Find out more about the role radiation might play in life outside our solar system in this Elements. #radiation #spaceexploration #solarsystem #space #star Read More: Life Beyond the Habitable Zone https://aasnova.org/2020/03/02/life-beyond-the-habitable-zone/ [W]e already know that habitable zones don’t tell the whole story. Plenty of planets that lie within their stars’ habitable zones aren’t livable — perhaps because they’re inhospitable gas giants, or because they have the wrong type of atmosphere, or because they’re routinely blasted by energetic stellar flares from their host. Could the opposite be true as well, however? Could planets outside of a star’s habitable zone be capable of supporting life? No star, no problem: Radioactivity could make otherwise frozen planets habitable https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/no-star-no-problem-radioactivity-could-make-otherwise-frozen-planets-habitable [R]esearchers have now proposed that some planets, particularly ones that form near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, might possess enough of these radioactive isotopes to generate sufficient heat to keep their surfaces from freezing entirely solid. “That gives you the freedom to be anywhere,” says Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist at Harvard University and a co-author of the new study. “You don’t need to be close to a star.” On the Habitable Lifetime of Terrestrial Worlds with High Radionuclide Abundances https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.02862 One of the most widely used criteria for habitability is the existence of a suitable liquid solvent, based on which the concept of the habitable zone (HZ) was introduced. The HZ is defined as the region around the host star where liquid water can theoretically exist on the planet’s surface. It is, however, crucial to recognize that habitability is a broader concept than the HZ, implying that worlds outside the HZ may be habitable.

A study suggests quick-moving streams of space dust can transport microscopic creatures like tardigrades from planet to planet. SUBSCRIBE ► https://goo.gl/PLLFPz ---- Website ► https://cosmoknowledge.com/ TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@cosmoknowledge Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/itscosmoknowledge Facebook ► https://facebook.com/cosmoknowledgee Narrated by: Russell Archey https://www.ravonmedia.com/ Graphics & Credits: Andrei Savitsky (CC BY 4.0) - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en NASA Music: Somnolence - Ambientalism - Cosmoknowledge brings news from space. We love you, explorers!

Once a month, SAGANet (www.saganet.org) and the NASA Astrobiology Program host a program called "Ask an Astrobiologist", where the public is invited to interact with a high-profile astrobiologist, who replies to Twitter, Facebook, and chat questions live on video. Each session lasts about an hour. Hosted by Dr. Graham Lau (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science) Featured Guest: Dr. Eddie Schwieterman (University of California, Riverside) Directed by Mike Toillion (NASA Astrobiology Program) Illustrations by Aaron Gronstal (NASA Astrobiology Program) Music & Animation by Mike Toillion (NASA Astrobiology Program)

Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://pbsspacetime.com/ Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime With the global pandemic of Covid 19 still encompassing the world, we are generally not big fans of viruses right now. But we sure are thinking about them a lot. That’s right, even astrophysicists are pondering these bizarre little critters. In fact, astrovirology, although very new, is actually an emerging subfield of astrobiology. And that’s because it turns out viruses don’t just influence organisms - they’re incredibly important on a planetary scale. Perhaps an interplanetary scale. Virology Links: Dr. Vincent Racaniello's Columbia University virology course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGhmZX2NKiNldpyRUBBEzNoWL0Cso1jip PBS Eons Where do Viruses Come From? https://youtu.be/X31g5TB-MRo Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Katie McCormick & Matt O'Dowd Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, & Pedro Osinski Directed by: Andrew Kornhaber Camera Operator: Bahaar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber #space #astrophysics #astrovirology Special Thanks to our Patreon Supporters Big Bang Supporters Alexander Tamas David Nicklas Fabrice Eap Juan Benet Morgan Hough Radu Negulescu Quasar Supporters Christina Oegren Mark Heising Vinnie Falco Hypernova william bryan chuck zegar Danton Spivey Donal Botkin Edmund Fokschaner Hank S John Hofmann John Pollock John R. Slavik Jordan Young Joseph Salomone Julian Tyacke Mathew Matthew O'Connor Syed Ansar Timothy McCulloch Gamma Ray Burst A G Adrian Hatch AlecZero Andreas Nautsch Andrew Richmond Bradley Jenkins Brandon labonte Brandon Lattin Brian Blanchard Cass Costello Craig Stonaha Dan Warren Daniel Lyons David Bethala David Hughes DFaulk Eric Kiebler Frederic Simon Geoffrey Short Graydon Goss Greg Smith Jennifer Crosley John Funai John Griffith John Robinson Josh Thomas Justin Waters Kevin Lee Kevin Warne Kyle Hofer Malte Ubl Mark Daniel Cohen Michael Conroy Mirik Gogri Nick Virtue Nick Wright Nickolas Andrew Freeman Patrick Sutton Paul Rose Protius Protius Robert Ilardi Scott Gossett Sean Warniaha Shane Calimlim Simon Oliphant Steve Bradshaw Tatiana Vorovchenko Tim Stephani Tonyface Tybie Fitzhugh Yannick Weyns Yurii Konovaliuk

Sophie explains how astrobiology aims to answer some of the really big questions in the universe. What is life? How did life evolve on Earth? Is there life on other planets? If we did find life on other planets, what would it look like? Where should we look for life in our Solar System? #AstronomyWeek #Astrobiology #Space

Lassen Astrobiology Intern Recognition Night & Lecture Wednesday, May 20, 2020 Program: 0:00: Welcome, Dave Michael, Science Instructor/Lassen Mentor 0:05: “The Lassen Astrobiology Student Intern Program,” Tammy Boyd, LVNP Education Specialist 0:10: “Mars Exploration, Lassen and Life,” Dr. David Des Marais, Space Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center 0:15: Presentation by Lassen Astrobiology Student Interns 0:45: Questions and answers fielded by Interns, Dr. David Des Marais, Dr. Niki Parenteau 1:00: Student recognition and certificate presentation, Mike Kubo, NASA Ames Research Center The NASA Astrobiology Institute Ames Team, Lassen Volcanic National Park and Red Bluff High School have formed a mutually beneficial partnership that engages high school students in the collection of scientific data for NASA astrobiologists, the National Park Service and university researchers. For more information on this program, go to https://www.nasa.gov/content/astrobiology-student-intern-high-school-program-completes-tenth-year