Rik's Mind Podcast Ep. 70- Dr. Sara Seager: MIT scientist searching for life in the clouds of Venus

Today we are joined by Dr. Sara Seager. Dr. Seager is the Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science, Professor of Physics, and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her past research is credited with laying the foundation for the field of exoplanet atmospheres, while her current research focuses on exoplanet atmospheres and the future search for signs of life by way of atmospheric biosignature gases. Professor Seager is involved with a number of space-based exoplanet searches including as the Deputy Science Director for the MIT-led NASA mission TESS, as the PI for the on-orbit JPL/MIT CubeSat ASTERIA, and as a lead for Starshade Rendezvous Mission (a space-based mission concept under technology development for direct imaging discovery and characterization of Earth analogs).

Before joining MIT in 2007, Professor Seager spent four years on the senior research staff at the Carnegie Institution of Washington preceded by three years at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Her PhD is from Harvard University, and her BSc from the University of Toronto. Among other accolades, Professor Seager is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. You can learn more about Dr. Seager and her work on her Twitter and her official website.

Show Notes:

Dr. Sara Seager | Official Website https://www.saraseager.com

Dr. Sara Seager | Twitter https://twitter.com/profsaraseager

Physics | Massachusetts Institute of Technology https://physics.mit.edu

The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir | Penguin Random House https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/580139/the-smallest-lights-in-the-universe-by-sara-seager/

Venus | NASA Solar System Exploration https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/

Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds? | MIT News https://news.mit.edu/2021/habitable-venus-clouds-acid-neutralizing-1220

List of missions to Venus | Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Venus

Venus phosphine find: Unexplained gas hints at potential for alien life | Cnet https://www.cnet.com/news/venus-phosphine-find-unexplained-gas-hints-at-potential-for-alien-life/

Analysis of the characteristics of phosphine production by anaerobic digestion based on microbial community dynamics, metabolic pathways, and isolation of the phosphate-reducing strain by Fan, Niu, Zhang, Et al. | Science Direct https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653520324085

Phosphine | Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/science/phosphine

Life on Venus claim faces strongest challenge yet | Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00249-y

Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus by Greaves, J.S., Richards, A.M.S., Bains, W. et al. | Nature Astronomy https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1174-4

Re-analysis of the 267 GHz ALMA observations of Venus by Snellen, Guzman-Ramirez, Et al. | Astronomy and Astrophysics https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/12/aa39717-20/aa39717-20.html

James Webb Space Telescope | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center https://www.jwst.nasa.gov

After Million-Mile Journey, James Webb Telescope Reaches Destination | The New York Times https://web.archive.org/web/20220127135748/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/science/james-webb-telescope-arrival.html

‘Oumuamua | NASA https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/oumuamua/in-depth/

Gamma-ray Bursts | NASA Imagine The Universe! https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/bursts1.html

Dogon People | Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogon_people

Ancient Aliens (TV Series 2009–) | IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1643266/

Life on Venus? This rocket company is already planning a mission to have a closer look | the_byte https://futurism.com/the-byte/life-venus-rocket-lab-mission

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