A Real Search for Alien Life: Sara Seager at TEDxCambridge 2013

MIT Professor of Planetary Science and Physics Sara Seager shows us the techniques and tools she is using in the real-life search for alien life. Learn more about Sara Seager at seagerexoplanets.mit.edu and TEDxCambridge at www.tedxcambridge.com.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[@christopherhollis7488]

I really like listening to this woman talk. Even though she is clearly not all that comfortable about public speaking, her passion for what she does and communicating that with the public is amazing! And she does a damn fine job of it to :)

[@avedic]

She's like Ellie Arroway in Contact. :)

[@hunam3876]

I wonder what an MIT woman taste like between her legs.

[@jamiebobbles5021]

Chubba Bubba Yes I see thus too! She Stands Out ;0).

[@NightRunner417]

Hunam - you'd never get that far. Every attempt would end up in an hour long lecture followed by a 6 month project costing $1.5 billion.

[@bhoopalani7256]

@@avedic exactly. My favorite ever fictional character. She is so close to her.

[@Zoza15]

I like her optimism.. We need more people with that kind mentality.

[@omametlekkerkontje8744]

Lovely to see someone with real passion on the stage. Sara you rock!

[@NightRunner417]

It's a true joy to see someone so passionate about her work, so passionate about hardcore science. You go, Sara!

[@Mike-vu7zo]

One of the few talks I have listened to that don't try to be all about the speaker showing how intelligent they are but explain things in a simple matter-of-fact way. Great job.

[@curtishill6490]

Sara is so interesting and really seems passionate about her work! Good luck with your life's work💯

[@DasyJK]

She is such an amazing woman

[@solarstream4]

Fantastic-lectures as usual,from sara!

[@BeeHash]

Experts on space sure do love their analogies. They're like a friend of yours who calls you at 3am to tell you about a job interview they have lined up for 6 weeks away.

[@davidfirth2932]

Fascinating subject. Fascinating lady.

[@rigelmoon9030]

I love watching Dr. Seager on the Science Channel. She's passionate about science, planetary science, astronomy...and, she's so intelligent which is so attractive, whether she's a male or female...I love scientists...I hold a B.S. in Allied Health and Medical...does that make me a scientist? I used to be in love with the night sky and considered myself an amateur astronomer...40 years worth....ok...nuff said. Prof. Seager you are too cool. Thanx for your work.

[@allybally0021]

Its wrong to assume this independent communicating entity is a 'woman'. This entity only has the the gender as self-assigned and may be any number of genders according to ambient conditions.

[@sanjibroychowdhury2873]

What a brilliant idea! Wish you all the best.

[@craigdougan8484]

was looking for intelligent conversation in the comments section- guess I'll look someplace else

[@mikesmith1502]

Craig Dougan dude whats with all these people on here ? Using all these big words in a sentence ! After watching ted x it makes people feel smarter i guess

[@iancampbell7160]

Very good idea and a worth while cause

[@arkdark5554]

Wonderful.

[@dougraddi908]

Sara Seager and Amy Mainzer are 2 of the most intelligent women out there. They both have such passion and optimism for the work they do. Makes me realize I wasted my life. Keep going Sara a fan from Canada

[@Pendragon981]

It's frustrating that we know there are many other Earth like planets but we can't get to any of them yet. I hope we will at least be able to send a probe to the closest exoplanet in my lifetime. To see an image of another Earth like planet would be truly awe-inspiring.

[@wd5jlr]

Good ideas!

[@davidveilleux944]

Is there anything hotter than a really intelligent, passionate woman?

[@Bertydude]

My neurones are fapping to her speaking.

[@PedroMartinez-nl1gr]

DAVID veilleux Absolutely! Intelligent, well spoken, beautiful, confident and HOT! and "The skillastat" you are not alone - all my neurons synapsed at the same time! :)

[@PedroMartinez-nl1gr]

DAVID veilleux Hit it on the nail again! 100% with you, I was lucky to meet a woman that was not only attractive but intelligent. One of the things that I enjoyed the most when we were dating some 14 years ago, was the "conversations we could have", I would trade brains, for looks at any time. And yes, the older we get (I'll be 49 in a week), the smatter we get, maybe because we now realize that a pretty face and a shallow brain and an absent spirit is not "on demand", the little things like a great topic to talk about, been able to communicate at all levels, and integrety is what drives us to happines.

[@davidveilleux944]

I met a woman who I thought was the total package. She was beautiful, she was literally a genius, loved animals and children. Turns out she was also completely insane. Seems like there's always a catch. People call me picky. I don't feel that way at all. I just know what I want. I would rather be single than settle for less than what I want. I've watched friends do that and they are miserable.

[@MrRainjunky]

+DAVID veilleux. Pedro Martinez. Nothing like a smart and attractive woman. Add a pinch of wit and you have everything. As to the woman you met being insane? So she`s a woman. I`m 60 and been lucky enough to know many decent women including a few that were smart, funny, fun and had sex appeal. Wow! But all of them were crazy as hell in some way. And to them, and women kind in general, we as males are just as crazy. (and lazy and greedy with it). So viv la difference.

[@BIGWOOD3160]

Good stuff

[@Andy-mg9nw]

Incredible lady

[@benrechakiewicz3594]

Wow exciting time to be alive😀👍

[@theflyingotis3797]

that space telescope looks totally awesome!!!

[@adoncapcom5767]

Her passion is mesmerizing!

[@jospinvanraat8730]

I like the 'Star-shade', before the unfoiling of JW telescope

[@Nep3444]

Great love it

[@geoffreyah]

I would like to know what the reasons why transit spectroscopy wont work for and Earth moon type exact Earth twin exoplanet system. I think that if we look at the Earth moon maximum separation from a distance of one hundred light years, it might be too far away for an satellite like TESS to resolve the brightness difference of the star between the exomoon and the exoplanet in from of the star? That would make sense. I am thinking maybe a larger telescope like JWST might be able to do that? A star shade with JWST might be able get a direct image and a planetary spectroscopic binary? If not then maybe a combined spectra would allow us to see the chemistry and potential for an exomoon?

[@MarkWitzel]

Crowd source fund this project please... I'd love to donate! It's the least I can do to participate in this amazing science!

[@marylandyang1933]

Yay!

[@deepaktripathi4417]

I've become a huge fan of her.

[@mohammedsajid2109]

Beautiful gorgeous lady, eternal voice.

[@unclejohn4528]

Why haven’t we attached surveillance equipment to an asteroid, like the interstellar one that will pass through our solar system soon?

[@bhoopalani7256]

wow!! some wildest ever thought. Not sure if it was pun intended but thought sounded like a strange and wild idea at first sight. The difficulty would be in getting the information back from that equipment.

[@PBAmygdala2021]

It wouldn't be hard. We just need more funding for science, and organizations like NASA. They get in a year what the U.S. military gets in a day.

[@CuriosityTheorem]

OMG yes I love the drake equation so much, Carl Sagan! ♥️

[@adelarsen9776]

Good luck.

[@geoffreyah]

The transit method will work for an exact Earth twin, but the exoplanet has to be observed over a period time or once a day for several weeks since a moon could be eclipsed by the Exoplanet and other days the Moon would not be behind the planet, but would be on either side of it which would cause a predictable variation in light. More light during the eclipse and less light after the moon moved out from behind it.

[@lumigg2556]

She got a little bit nervous since the middle of the presentation till the end of it but I think that being nervous even when she deeply know the facts behind everything in this project only means that she has so much passion about her work, & besides she tolds you nothing more but the truth, yesterday they found 3 exoplanets in the habitable zone in an alien solar system 40 light-years from Earth , so that's an amazing discovery!

[@mikesmith1502]

Pablo Perez yea but it would only take us liek 23 billion years to get there

[@rRobertSmith]

what was the ratio of search vs habitable planets 30000 to one? (roughly)

[@DanielFerreira-qk8bh]

75000 to 1

[@markallen3293]

Who said that it takes oxygen and water to sustain life? There is more out there than we could possibly imagine...

[@TheRomeogigli]

Yes, maybe methane breading aliens who fart oxygen

[@wilsontexas]

Very few people think for themselves. Yes.

[@bhoopalani7256]

the concept is, we can identify life that resembles our way of living. chemically speaking. Searching for every other form of life is gonna be a huge task. We should try searching for aliens - one form at a time. And the easiest form we can now try is the one that resembles us

[@wilsontexas]

@@bhoopalani7256 So why do some scientists believe aliens exist but "know" God doesn't exist?

[@bhoopalani7256]

@@wilsontexas as you said, that's "some". A lot of great scientist have always admired almighty. Stephen hawking is one good example. But how is this question relevant to this comment by Mark Allen or by me? There's no argument about god here.

[@steveilicous]

Is there anyway to determine if an exoplanet has a magnetosphere? That plus liqid water would really be a good indicator!

[@steveilicous]

Liquid

[@cmpe43]

What happened to Goldilocks zone?

[@vladimir0700]

The biggest challenge humanity faces is avoiding snuffing ourselves out from a number of problems we've created--from nuclear war to collapsing the biosphere. Myself, I'm rather less concerned at this point with the existence of extraterrestrial life.

[@adolphdrazek9160]

Can you open and close it like an umbrella ? Good... eHH ?

[@kirsteni.russell5903]

Hope for our planet! People like this professor raise my spirits about the search for extraterrestrial life. There are ways to do it and that's what she focuses on. Reminds me of the spirit that once took us to the moon.

[@geraldellis1177]

I LOVE YOU Ted #youmakemybrainfeelgood

[@williamford7824]

In Britain the search is based in Dover.

[@bryonstephens9263]

Well, if you understand how long a signal takes to travel, in light years, then you see the problems.100 years travel is a walk to the store...mindbogglingly insane numbers!!..

[@caseytodd7632]

Talk nerdy to me, Sara.

[@ethanweber7648]

If and when this will happen to explore these planets you have update technology the various that. Would Conflict with such a endeavor

[@wecameinpeace9501]

Awesome presentation. Hard to disagree that evidence of exolife will come via remote chemical sensing of habitable exoplanets. However we will never know if that exolife is just a bunch of amoebas or intelligent life like us. In that sense we should recognize atmospheric detection of biomarkers as evidence of extraterrestrial life is complementary to SETI's effort to detect evidence of 'intelligent' extraterrestrial lie of our caliber. Neither are more 'real' than the other.

[@jo-jovolkswagen7136]

You know all of the information and what do you think what next?

[@tucowept]

Why would the shield have pedals on it? wouldn't rockets be better?

[@jpbown7]

Yes she is very attractive she is on outrageous acts of science. She is usually a little less nervous

[@MrDennisLB]

Glad I had some beans with lunch.... Later tonight I can show the aliens that there is life on this rock!!!

[@jakejeffery8097]

I wish Roger Lier could of done a ted talks :(

[@liljo911xxx]

This is one smart lady..and also cute

[@Defender78]

so when did Trinity from The Matrix become a sci-fi expert??

[@zeroireland]

Sci-fi is short for science fiction... This is sci-non-fi.

[@00P288]

genius

[@gsheltonGuitarist]

3:30 remember those names

[@chadmichaels1896]

I was just thinking about this.

[@FitnessFreak2013]

Hotness!

[@davidkiernan2976]

Yes, Columbus. Changed the world. Ask Geronimo.

[@mikeyoung9810]

Columbus opened up north and south america for exploration and while he didn't treat native peoples very well he was just one man. And men, in general, has been exploiting their fellow man since man began. It was going to happen whether he existed or not. You might as well blame the first humans on earth for all the evil that has been done and continues to be done to this day. Most people can't even get along with family, or neighbors or strangers and other cultures. If you need to blame, the blame starts with us all.

[@richc9503]

Wow. Watched this in 2020 and read the comments wondering what she'd found out... Pretty much that guys on youtube are assholes. A lady doing a presentation in front of a crowd, a little nervous but she does a good job, she's way smarter then most people I know, MIT doesn't admit idiots. Good job Sara Seager.

[@koleksiflac2178]

i am here ...

[@alithejumbo]

Oh it's in Sep 2013! This is why it sounds like stone age lecture xD

[@maxdoubt5219]

It appears to be a race between finding simple life close by in this galaxy by Atmo sniffing, or technological life in some other galaxy by radio snooping. Place your bets!

[@kevinlemon6537]

They keep referring to Cambridge without actually saying if it’s England or USA !!! .

[@fredchege9909]

viewing this nine years later. obviously, some information is now outdated.

[@TheRomeogigli]

So.. Did we find some after 6 years?

[@alexalex13131]

The Earth has been technologically savvy for no more than 200 years. It is more than likely an Earth twin could be more than 200,000 years advanced. Or 200 million. So it is a good (sure) bet than they've been aware of us for quite some time. And with methods undreamed of here.

[@DrSebby]

alexalex13131 ...thankyou. I'm always amazed at how NO ONE EVER seems to realize this simple reality. We are the equivalent of a 2 yr old that just learned how to talk, wondering if anyone else has ALSO discovered this "advanced" skill we have just "mastered". It's hilariously humbling.

[@meagain2222]

Absolutely look no farther than our neighbors the Martians.They are the advanced space engineers.Other planets in our solar system get the Martians to build spacecraft for them.I am sure they would build them for us we need only to ask.Why don't we?

[@fractualquasar3951]

aliens would have no reason to contact us

[@mikesmith1502]

Doubt it 23 million years away from earth some of these kepler planets are that far away maybe more than that, so far we are the only ones out here

[@SoorajSuseelan10001]

She is indirectly accepting the fact that UFO'S and aliens exist.... Finally one clear kind of official indirect confirmation....

[@doh1959]

we know so much but really so little we know nothing about those host planets for life because look closer to home pluto surface was a complete suprise thats how little we really know

[@coleporto4415]

If you are searching for a real education about life in the universe and the meaning behind the ET intervention in the world, look up the Allies of Humanity Briefings, free online.

[@aujax1]

whats wrong with looking at signs that alien life has visited earth?

[@petersclafani4370]

She is alot on ancient mysteries, ancient aliens.

[@JurisKankalis]

Beautiful. charismatic and driven women. I guess I won't be the first one to say I would like to.. study astronomy, together with there. What did you think?

[@danieln6356]

I wish I would have been a scientist! :-(

[@user-nd9re8vr6l]

When she talks i listen

[@Zoza15]

Shoot a probe!, Mass Effect Style :P

[@julieta203]

Joe Rogan had an Alien on his show. He asked if he had tried DMT.

[@jo-jovolkswagen7136]

When you need and my need is not a match ... what is next ..force them or kill them?

[@bimmjim]

Consider the sum total of all human science knowledge. Now consider how that has grown since 1895. How much new science knowledge do you think we will accumulate in the next 100 years? - - - The top Theoretical Physicists say we still don't understand Gravity or Time. . . Wonder about *that*

[@chalupa501]

Watch " QUANTUM MASS GENERATION" for a new scientific paradigm.

[@randomhobbies5796]

Hard to follow her presentation

[@jo-jovolkswagen7136]

They will do anything for you , and when they won't do like what you expect because... what?

[@DamianDeEu]

I really don't think that the analogy about Christopher Columbus' discovery of the americas (and the consequent destruction of native indian tribes by the europeans) quite fits here...

[@summertea545]

Besides that he was completely lost too.

[@deeremeyer1749]

So how did he get where he was going and back to Spain 3 times?

[@mikesmith1502]

Dude bogus paragraph whats with all the big words

[@ryankcoil]

Amazing! Where's ImprovBoston?????

[@jbangz2023]

Exoplanets? Where is the unedited pictures? What software did you use?

[@szaboadammeister]

I find it bloody rude and annoying to put a 5 min advert before a video and not give the option to skip. If this becomes regular I'll quit watching youtube... Other than this, the video is awesome!

[@wijkagentwillemwoestewille6856]

try ghostery, no ads here

[@elenabodna5719]

One night with this woman and I guarantee you more emotions in her Ted talks.

[@geemanbmw]

Our solar system is only rare at the moment

[@TheBakerman55]

It's rediculas that you have to tell humans that stars are Suns much like our own and there is life on this planet,just do the math to see approximately how many would have life also do the Math to add up that life add all military tracked and videos of space craft then add all the videos that NASA has leaked to us then add all individual sightings then add what we've been watching for 4 summers,draw a line under them and add them up. If you came up with ZERO ALIENS or no Life,please turn the paper over and start again.

[@andrewcliffe4753]

Nice work. Pity we can't divert the huge resources wasted worldwide on military spending to science.

[@maliciousmale1]

Finding aliens by their farts

[@peterpao567]

....maybe the alien technology at dodging us is better than our searching one!

[@MrBugman2525]

there's a estimate of one quintillion plants in the milky way

[@advocateparanormal3630]

unfortunately all scientists see everything in 2d..? If you want to find Alien life look to the spirit dimension there are plenty there..

[@222Lightning]

one dream in particular I had about 6 years ago...…..you may be right.

[@37Dionysos]

Must be awfully URGENT somehow...to somebody.

[@SUBINspock]

What's the point in looking for intelligent life on other planets? We can't get on with people with different race or religions here on Earth what makes us think we'd bond with Aliens?

[@NimaVaziri]

Note "intelligent life." Now think about how intelligent are those who take race or religion into account when it comes to life. And also question whether these people are the same ones looking for intelligent life on other planets.

[@raymondanielson8438]

Well said brother the SETI guys are just hypocrites.

[@neiladlington950]

Who said anything about "intelligent" life? I guess "signs of life" is too small a concept to wrap your mind around. Sarah was being kind here and just because she indulges some people asking simplistic questions about UFO's and aliens doesn't mean she devotes one second of her serious time investigating such stuff.

[@gtm5650]

SUBIN.spock o

[@MiG2880]

I agree, I would be embarassed to show them how little compassion we humans seem to show one another. But maybe they might be able to make us aware of a few things. Things which may give us some much needed perspective and make us see how small those petty concerns are.

[@williamskinner2732]

David ---no!

[@maxdoubt5219]

There are no aliens on Earth! Come vacation at our compound in the desert and we will show you. No car? No problem. One of our previous guests will be happy to transport you here free of charge. We await your arrival. Join us.

[@mikesmith1502]

How about you guys talk about those ufos before we talk about planets that are thousands of years from here , thats a better start

[@MOOMOO2728]

Mike Smith right