Episode 70- Dr. Sara Seager: MIT scientist searching for life in the clouds of Venus

Summary: 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: Physics | Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir | Penguin Random House Venus | NASA Solar System Exploration Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds? | MIT News List of missions to Venus | Wikipedia Venus phosphine find: Unexplained gas hints at potential for alien life | Cnet 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 Phosphine | Encyclopedia Britannica Life on Venus claim faces strongest challenge yet | Nature Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus by Greaves, J.S., Richards, A.M.S., Bains, W. et al. | Nature Astronomy Re-analysis of the 267 GHz ALMA observations of Venus by Snellen, Guzman-Ramirez, Et al. | Astronomy and Astrophysics James Webb Space Telescope | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center After Million-Mile Journey, James Webb Telescope Reaches Destination | The New York Times ‘Oumuamua | NASA Gamma-ray Bursts | NASA Imagine The Universe! Dogon People | Wikipedia Ancient Aliens (TV Series 2009–) | IMDb Life on Venus? This rocket company is already planning a mission to have a closer look | the_byte