logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
6m 22s

What the discovery of exoplanets reveals...

TED
About this episode

What are the planets outside our solar system like? Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Jessie Christiansen has helped find thousands of them (and counting), and the variety is more wonderful and wild than you might imagine. She shares details on the trends emerging from the data -- including the intriguing possibility of "super-Earths" -- and what the discovery of exoplanets means for existential questions like: Where do we come from, and how did we get here?



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
How AI is unearthing hidden scientific knowledge | Sara Beery
<p>Scientists estimate that 80 percent of life on Earth is still unknown to humanity. But as global temperatures rise, habitats shrink and food and water sources dry up, we're losing these species faster than we can discover them. AI naturalist Sara Beery reveals how the knowledg ... Show More
14m 21s
Nov 24
How the fridge changed food | Nicola Twilley
<p>What if your kitchen fridge is just the tip of an iceberg that's reshaping the world? Food storyteller Nicola Twilley reveals how the massive “artificial Arctic” we built to keep our food fresh is simultaneously melting the real one. She shows why we're at a critical moment to ... Show More
13m 27s
Nov 23
Sunday Pick: How to love your hometown (w/ Hanif Abdurraqib & Sarah Kay) | How to Be a Better Human
<p>Loving where you live means caring for the people who make that place home, says cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib. He invites poet Sarah Kay and Chris Duffy, host of the podcast “How to Be a Better Human,” to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, to show off what makes it so special ... Show More
15m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
What the discovery of exoplanets reveals about the universe | Jessie Christiansen
<p>What are the planets outside our solar system like? Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Jessie Christiansen has helped find thousands of them (and counting), and the variety is more wonderful and wild than you might imagine. She shares details on the trends emerging from the data -- ... Show More
7m 51s
Jul 2021
Let’s Go Planet-Hunting!
What do we know about the planets outside our solar system? NASA planet hunters Jessie Christiansen and Knicole Colon take us beyond...into the exciting world of exoplanets.   
19m 8s
Aug 2021
Lucy in the Sky With Asteroids
How did the planets form? How did life happen? Where did Earth’s water come from? To answer questions like these, scientists used to go big—looking at planets, dwarf planets, and moons—but now small is the new big. Technology is zooming in on the pint-size stuff—asteroids, comets ... Show More
30m 51s
Nov 2021
The hitchhiker’s guide to exoplanets and alien life
<p>If television shows and movies are any indication, we humans spend a lot of our time subconsciously preparing for UFOs carrying maleficent aliens to descend on Earth. But should we rush to create an intergalactic battle plan? In actuality, finding otherworldly life won’t be so ... Show More
30m 44s
Feb 2024
Where Could We Find Life in the Solar System?
We now know that the universe is vast and filled with billions of stars. But where could we find life? It's such a big place to search, so why not start with our own solar system. What are we doing to search for life here? Natasha Carr, a PhD candidate studying physics and space ... Show More
33m 6s
May 2019
Will we ever find alien life?
3/6 In this instalment of The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry, Hannah and Adam boldly go in search of scientists who are hunting for ET, spurred on by questions sent in by listeners across the globe, from Australia to Columbia. They start by asking how we define life and why we ... Show More
27m 29s
Aug 2015
How Earth-Like Planets Work
<p>Since the Kepler telescope went online, astronomers have found there may be an estimate 40 billion planets like Earth in the Milky Way galaxy alone. What does it take for a planet to be considered Earth-like?</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www ... Show More
31m 37s
Nov 2023
How many planets are in space?
When you look up at the night sky, what do you see?  A few stars, or a satellite, maybe even one of the seven other planets in our solar system?  But how many planets are there in all of outer space? We asked astronomer Mark Popinchalk to help us find the answer! Got a question t ... Show More
4m 52s
Nov 2007
Lecture 46: Are We Alone? Life in the Universe
Are we alone in the Universe? This lecture explores the question of how we might go about finding life on planets around other stars. Rather than talking about speculative ideas, like the Drake Equation or SETI, I am instead taking the approach of posing it as a problem of what t ... Show More
41m 23s