Life in the Universe

2:30 pm on Saturday, March 9th, 2019
Past Event

In this roundtable, we will explore the notion of life in the universe and what it might look like elsewhere.

With billions of stars and galaxies in the observable universe, the possibility of life elsewhere has intrigued both scientists and philosophers alike. In this roundtable, we will explore the notion of life in the universe and what it might look like elsewhere.

See recent news from one of our participants:

https://news.yale.edu/2019/02/04/yale-astrophysicists-prediction-comes-pass-20-years-later

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All Helix Center events are free and open to the public, including this one!

Roundtables are streamed live our website and the recording remains available after the event events.

This is a past event that happened on 2:30 pm on Saturday, March 9th, 2019.

Participants

Ken Dill

Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Stony Brook University
Director of the Laufer Center for Physical Biology

Ken Dill is a Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Stony Brook University, and Director of the Laufer Center for Physical Biology. He helped to solve the `protein folding problem’ and is interested in the principles of proteins, cell evolution and the early molecular origins of life. He has written two textbooks on the physical... read more! »

Priyamvada Natarajan

Professor of Astronomy and of Physics, Yale University

Priyamvada Natarajan’s research is focused on exotica in the Universe-dark matter, dark energy and black holes. She is noted for her key contributions to two of the most challenging problems in cosmology: mapping the distribution of dark matter and tracing the growth history of black holes. Her work using gravitational lensing has provided a deeper... read more! »

Dennis Overbye

Correspondent, New York Times

Dennis Overbye is the cosmic affairs correspondent for the New York Times. His reporting can range from the mating habits of black holes and zero-gravity fashion shows to science in the movies, the status of Pluto and the fate of the universe. He is the author of two books: Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos, The... read more! »

Caleb Scharf

Director of Astrobiology, Columbia University

Caleb Scharf’s research career spans cosmology, exoplanetary science, and astrobiology. He currently leads efforts at Columbia University in New York to understand the nature of exoplanets and living environments in the universe. He is also a Global Science Coordinator for the Earth-Life Science Institute’s Origins Network at the Tokyo Institute for Technology and a co-founder... read more! »

Edwin Turner

Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University

Edwin Turner is Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University and an Affiliate Scientist at the University of Tokyo’s Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. After receiving an SB in Physics (MIT ’71) and a PhD in Astronomy (Caltech ’75), he spent brief periods at the Institute for Advanced Study and... read more! »