An Astrophysicist Explains the "Strongest Evidence Yet" of Alien Life

An Astrophysicist Explains the "Strongest Evidence Yet" of Alien Life

Last week, a team of astrophysicists from the University of Cambridge announced that they had discovered the “strongest indication” ever of extraterrestrial life. The source did not come from Mars or Venus or any nearby moon. It came from K2-18b, a massive planet some 120 light-years from Earth. If this finding checks out, it is, without question, one of the most important discoveries in the history of science. But many scientists think that ... well, it might not check out at all. Today’s guest is Sara Seager, a celebrated astrophysicist at MIT. Seager is a pioneer in the study of exoplanets and their atmospheres. She has done as much as practically anybody to develop the science of interpreting light from faraway stars to make inferences about planets. In today’s show, Seager and I slowly worked our way up to last week’s announcement by building a foundation of the basic science at play. What are exoplanets? How do we know that they’re there? How do we have any idea about the chemicals present on that planet if we can’t send probes to test their air? What does the K2-18b finding really tell us? And what larger philosophical questions about life and aliens are raised by this new science of exoplanet atmospheres? If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Sara Seager Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Nate Silver on Why This Midterm Election Could Be the Weirdest in Decades

Nate Silver on Why This Midterm Election Could Be the Weirdest in Decades

Earlier this year, it appeared that Democrats were going to get destroyed in the midterms. Joe Biden's approval rating was in the toilet, inflation was raging, and everything was going wrong. It would...

2 Sep 202255min

The Messy Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness

The Messy Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness

The level of student debt in this country represents a massive policy error. But is forgiving up to $20,000 of student debt really the best way to help low-income Americans, or fix the nation's educat...

30 Aug 202242min

Burning Questions on Media: Streaming’s Summer of Hell, Movie Theater Woes, and CNN’s Risky Pivot

Burning Questions on Media: Streaming’s Summer of Hell, Movie Theater Woes, and CNN’s Risky Pivot

Today’s episode is about the entertainment and media industry’s tumultuous summer, the streaming wars, a come-to-Jesus moment for movie theaters, and a dramatic revamp at CNN—which tells a lot about t...

26 Aug 202250min

What’s the Secret of Success in America? This Economist Has Answers.

What’s the Secret of Success in America? This Economist Has Answers.

The economist Raj Chetty has spent much of the last decade trying to answer a very big question: What happened to the American Dream? In 1940, a child born into the average American household had a 92...

23 Aug 202250min

Why Does It Seem Like Everybody Hates Everything?

Why Does It Seem Like Everybody Hates Everything?

Bestselling author Chuck Klosterman talks to Derek about the death of the monoculture, how the internet creates cults of fans and anti-fans, and how “hating things” became a mainstream personality tra...

19 Aug 202252min

Donald Trump vs. the FBI: Everything We Know About the Investigation So Far

Donald Trump vs. the FBI: Everything We Know About the Investigation So Far

I've never before recorded an episode specifically about Donald Trump. I guess I’ve been holding out for the chaos that typically swirls around him to exceed an extremely high bar of freaky nonsense. ...

16 Aug 202242min

A New Way to Think About Racism in America

A New Way to Think About Racism in America

Several years ago, the writer, researcher, and policy advocate Heather McGhee traveled around the country to report on how racism in America holds us back from policies that would benefit everybody. I...

12 Aug 202244min

Carbon Removal Might Be the World’s Most Important Technology. How Does It Work?

Carbon Removal Might Be the World’s Most Important Technology. How Does It Work?

Last year, somebody explained the problem of climate change to me with a metaphor that I’ve never been able to forget. They said: Imagine a bathtub. The bathtub is the planet’s atmosphere. The faucet ...

9 Aug 202246min

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