Super-Earths & Evaporating Planets with Anjali Tripathi & Neil deGrasse Tyson

Is Earth going to evaporate? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice learn about exoplanet discovery, planetary evaporation, biosignatures and technosignatures with astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi.
What is our most studied planet? Learn about Anjali’s time as a White House Fellow and her work with the US Department of Agriculture and climate change. How does NASA give insights on Earth? What can satellites do for you? Plus, we answer audience questions: are exoplanets evaporating?
What is the likelihood of other intelligent life? We discuss intelligent life on Earth and the likelihood of finding life elsewhere in general. Discover spectroscopy, how we learn about the composition of distant exoplanets, and what JWST is discovering about exoplanets. Would we be able to eat and digest life from other planets? Would you want to eat an alien?
Is there a minimum and maximum size for rocky planets to be habitable? We explore planet density, gravity on Mars, and what defines a “Super-Earth.” We break down the different types of biosignature gasses, technosignature gasses, and how pollution could help us find aliens. Are there some gasses that only life can make?
Thanks to our Patrons Christopher Stowe, Bo Cribbs, Jennifer Pierce, Sam Gilbert, Steven Glasser, Antonio Garibay, and David Frigoletto for supporting us this week.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free.
Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: amzn.to/3PL0NFn
Support us on Patreon: / startalkradio
FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:
Twitter: / startalkradio
Facebook: / startalk
Instagram: / startalk
About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
#StarTalk #neildegrassetyson
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:20 - Anjali Tripathi: the Intersection of Science & Government
5:20 - Astrophysics in Government & White House Fellowship
11:54 - Satellites & Sea Level Rise
12:57 - Exoplanets Cosmic Queries
13:17 - Planets Are Evaporating?!
15:58 - The Chances of Intelligent Life
19:23 - Spectroscopy & Exoplanet Detection
21:50 - JWST Looking For Exoplanets
23:28 - Can We Eat Aliens?
25:15 - Super Earths & Ideal Size For Habitable Worlds
30:18 - Biosignatures & Technosignatures
33:34 - Common Atmosphere Composition
34:45 - Closing

[@StarTalk]

Do you think JWST will find life on another planet?

[@rohithkode]

That's what it's job is. Go find one you school bus head!

[@AllergicFungus]

Intelligent life? Hopefully. It's not on planet earth, that's for sure.

[@RufotrisRootedRockhound]

I think finding evidence of life on another planet will happen. However, that happening within a few decades is not in my highest expectations. Though I do wish it would happen before my time is up 😅.

[@bigwill123ism]

I hope so!

[@405adam]

@@AllergicFungusI know you ain’t not talking bout me’s

[@Sileonex123]

This has been a fun episode...having never had the pleasure to hear or see Anjali before...she is brilliant. Enjoyed her answers

[@jettmthebluedragon]

But are they truth or false hopes ?🧐

[@chiluco2000]

She is a true ambassador, not speaking out of turn, following up on their jokes and giving them things to think about. All signs of a super intelligent person!

[@Synathidy]

I have academic experience in chemistry and biology and can briefly address the question of being able to eat organic food stuffs from another planet: When we say "organic" here on Earth, we refer to compounds containing the element carbon, which are abundant in the food we eat. Lipids (fats), carbohydrates (sugars), amino acids (proteins) and DNA (nucleic acids) all contain carbon and are the building blocks our bodies use from broken down foods to supplement our own body's organic compounds which it needs to function. For organic (carbon-containing) compounds to be digestible, we would need them to possess the same CHIRALITY (handedness) to process them as well as being chemically close in structure to our compounds on Earth. The chirality of the organic compounds here was an apparently random development which has become highly conserved across Earth organisms due to its evolution in one or more early ancestors of life, and there is no known obligation for any life outside of Earth to need to share that chemical chirality, or even to be be based on the same families of compounds. Thus, it is highly unlikely that organic compounds from another planet would be able to be consumed. The reason animals on Earth can eat other animals (or plants) on Earth is that all the organisms here (us included) have evolved together over a very long time. Throughout this time, the enzymes in our bodies which both catabolize (break down) and synthesize organic compounds have been fine tuned to be able to process those compounds through chemical interactions that are specific for the structures of both enzyme and substrate. It's like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Take a puzzle piece from another planet, and it would most likely belong to a different "puzzle set" that isn't compatible with our own.

[@redmatrix]

Great info! Question: How do you pronounce CHIRALITY? Does the "ch" sound like "chives" or like "chasm?"

[@petebyrdie4799]

I'll lay off that Klingon blood wine then.

[@emreeren13]

crazy, thanks a lot for the informations 👍🏻 question: do you maybe know what kind of alternatives there could be to the DNA? i mean, out there in the extraterrestrial world?

[@-Gramps]

Cool info! Thanks!

[@kozkiroify]

So what could happen if I grabbed an alien apple and ate it

[@rajanthathomas6009]

Anjali is an absolute delight 😍 and Dr. Tyson and Lord Nice, as always, thank you for giving me more reasons to keep looking up ❤ love from 🇱🇰

[@telamin1809]

What a fun ep. Super interesting. Anjali needs to be invited back!

[@thefrenchguard6999]

Dr Tripathi looked so comfortable in the presence of Dr Tyson and Lord Nice. I would be stammering and be so nervous and not nearly as confident in my answers lol I want that ability. Its a super power to introverts.

[@thisisvarghese]

I thought she was real tensed up..

[@purelove444]

yay all back in the room together, this feels way better💗

[@colonelkurtz2269]

Albert Einstein made contributions to physics. His brother Frank made a monster. 👻 🎃

[@isaackitone]

Frank Einstein?

[@colonelkurtz2269]

@@isaackitone Frankenstein.....

[@phishhead96]

Boo👻👻👻👻👻

[@BuffaloBilliam]

Have you heard the story about Isaac's brother Fig?

[@colonelkurtz2269]

@@BuffaloBilliam love those cookies. Genius

[@wootle]

Another brilliant episode from Dr. Tyson, Lord Nice. Please have Anjali back regularly!

[@SheSweetLikSugarNSavage]

Anjali: "Chuck thank you for your service." Lord...😂🤣🤣 I died lol...

[@redmatrix]

Would have been super funny if he had worked at Chick-fil-a and when she said "tyfys" he would have replied "My Pleasure!"

[@johnbraun814]

Possibly Chuck's last episode after lingerie joke?

[@Tobster718]

Always glad to see a new episode 👏🏼👏🏼🏆

[@KC-nd7nt]

She's very smart and gorgeous too . No doubt a hard worker and dedicated . We need to hold this lady up as a role model . Well done MOM & DAD !! I thank you for your hard work too . ❤❤❤

[@jettmthebluedragon]

But does she know the truth or is it false hopes ?🧐

[@mikemay3557]

I'm feeling good that y'all are able to sit in the same room. I enjoy the physical interactions between you guys. Neil Chuck, you guys make a great team

[@Careless47]

Oh man. What an awesome guest you had on today! Loved the episode.

[@josephdonais4778]

Thank you for getting the show together in Neil's office again.

[@andrewhavard6769]

I love seeing everyone together again

[@NataliaMariaAnastazja]

Hello from Poland 🇵🇱 I love Your podcasts😊 I'm little jealous of Miss Anjali, as a little girl it was my dream to work in and with NASA but I watch NASA TV channel in Polish television😊 and I see many interesting books, which one of them You like the most and which would be the best or the most worth it to read?

[@yveskc1]

Awesome video. Very interesting 👌

[@thebraveheart6081]

Great episode with another great guest Tripathi

[@KatyDidIt124]

I really enjoyed ! Thank you

[@ZackeryCool]

I love the in person discussions they feel much less distancing than the video calls

[@katherandefy]

Totally enjoyed that. Thank you!

[@rissabiagi1570]

The Dr is a freakin saint to interview with these two. 😂 I absolutely loved her answers and her demeanor-a true educator. Awesome episode 👏🏼👍🏼🙃❣️

[@MrYusufSalman]

Dr Tripathi is sooooo coool! Make her a regular of the show.

[@paulpisters668]

Liked this set up.

[@Curionauta361]

Thanks my friend. I like to see your vídeos.

[@TheDriftless]

Great and fun discussion!

[@AceSpadeThePikachu]

Cool to see Neil doing the show back in the office again.

[@garth-anthonythompson3379]

Anjali is a pleasant joy and a great fit. Please have her back more often.

[@user-gw5hb3gh5w]

What a time to be alive!

[@terrakamino]

Thank you so much.

[@THCza]

Yooooo we back in the office ❤️

[@ManaBDew]

I do think of this often Excellent ty for sharing ☝️😎👍🌎 🌫️ 💨

[@KaleOrton]

Love your Startalk when relaxing before sleep folks. Dr Tyson you have the smoothest voice. Chuck sometimes needs his volume levelling as it wakes me up (not so much here, but when you're remonte on previous vids). Seriously AVLS! The producer should pay attention to levels carefully, or it ruins the listening experience to the point I stop. This audio is balanced nicely. Love you guys, great compliment of characters. 👍

[@rajeevgangal542]

Yep but he's a hoot tho. Also very intelligent although he professes to act an idiot

[@qhahhwhew]

I love you guys you making my day better🎉

[@Leoneedass_]

Finally not a video call video 🎉

[@joseimpact]

Omg a in person peisode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@cristianzmara2369]

Super!

[@mackenzieallen]

I enjoy entertainment, thank you

[@AmjadAli-ly2oo]

The in person format of star talk is sooooooooo much better than the “Zoom” virtual format. Chuck’s jokes hit so much better, everyone isn’t talking over everyone else, it’s so much more natural, so much easier to listen to.

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

I've been waiting for 3 years for an in-person startalk. so many podcasts are over zoom still and it's like listening to wax cylinder recordings sometimes

[@GlassDeviant]

Sad that America doesn't do satellite crop yield analysis in 2023. I worked for a Canadian company that put up a satellite decades ago to monitor crop yields and infestation/invasion for optimizing (and minimizing) chemical use.

[@lesliejora9344]

pls never stop d podcast lol

[@davidw4781]

Wow, I just love Anjali's glasses. She looks so smart with them on.

[@lanatrzczka]

Loved it. Really great! One thing however, what's up with the weird camera lens distortion? Is it a super-wide like five inches away from their faces or something?

[@waynegosson1793]

I have a question. Maybe they'll answer this one. Please explain why satelites can't go in the antartic region and take clear images. Something about the curvature blocking the south pole from being seen ?

[@tripendicular]

Chuck is the BEST

[@danut05]

I like her, she's very grounded

[@anewman]

I had to make sure this wasnt recorded pre pandemic because i couldnt believe he did a show in person. still cant really believe it.

[@DeviantDiscoveries]

I really really miss the days where they actually sat and discussed things beside each other. This webcam setup nowadays feels much more anti social, lazy and colder for the viewer. This video was very pleasant.

[@stevenswapp4768]

Aaahhh, still has that new episode smell!

[@leatherface4133]

Miss the personal interviews in the office ❤

[@babbaunited5882]

Thank you for the show👌 I learn so much, English, Physics, Comedy....😂. I got one question: is time going slower when the earth is near to the center of our galaxy? do we have different time zones in our galaxy? the more mass the slower time goes...so we have different time zones in the whole universe, in our galaxy and our solar system? sorry for my bad English :-( all the best from Germany

[@JustinPayton]

For the next in-person interview, I'd put Chuck and Neil on one side and the guest on the other side. That way they don't have to keep turning their head back and forth.

[@redrobin8544]

What is a good diet for space travel?

[@enoughstuff333]

Chuck is so funny!

[@anoopbains1257]

Heck yeah

[@user-op3je1ve3k]

❤

[@AnalogX64]

Enjoyed this video :) the only thing was odd was the aspect ratio of the footage. Seemed squished.

[@KinetikFox]

I thought it was my vodka-altered vision 😛

[@arturocaballero1480]

Her mind is beautiful

[@cmdargument]

Link to the paper Anjali Tripathi mentioned, is there one?

[@alexandersantos1523]

I have a question I have been trying to figure out and depending on the answer I get u may have a potential theory that may work .. but here is my question as we all know nothing can escape a black hole including light or any kind of signal.. now my question is can a signal travel within the black hole or does it compress to a single point?

[@redmatrix]

27:05 That is a part of the TV show The Expanse! The "outers" are humans that grew up in zero to low gravity and their tall slender bodies can't even stand up on Earth. (Mars too?)

[@Pottery4Life]

Indirectly. Yes, it's possible.

[@nancis464]

On a side note, this is the first episode I've seen where they're all in the same room.

[@GAMEOVERTBH]

why did the angles of the room has changed? The old angles are professional more StarTalk?

[@universeisundernoobligatio3283]

Just pay attention to what is being said, your angle issue will go away.

[@GAMEOVERTBH]

@@universeisundernoobligatio3283 Of course I pay attention to the conversation? I am an old StarTalk member 🙄

[@PartridgeAves]

Is it a new video or excerpt from startalk old videos?

[@user-gl6ms2vq6u]

Why is this a subject by itself that humanity need to be concern with?

[@cesksan8841]

Could be posible, theoricaly, freeze the light? Thanks

[@jettmthebluedragon]

You can’t freeze light 😑just look at space 😐you can’t freeze something that does NOT physically exist 😑light is massless the only reason light exists is because of the reactions of that object 😐not all reactions produce light as a product 😑

[@hdmorris255]

If the JWST was in another galaxy, how likely would it be to find earth?

[@TheNickarnett]

Yassss! First like and first comment! Love you guys!

[@cristiankin5420]

First interview with a guest in person since covid?

[@dropshot1967]

Oxygen can be made by having watervapour in the upper layers of the atmosphere getting hit by sunlight (ultraviolet I believe). The Hydrogen can then be blown into space by the sunlight leaving the oxygen in the atmosphere. Of course Oxygen will most likely react with other elements, but there would be some oxygen in the atmosphere for a time.

[@jettmthebluedragon]

You need a LOT more then just oxygen pal 😑

[@KatyDidIt124]

Isotopes of the CONS elements can help determine if a compound is from made from elements that are produced by life or by some other method.

[@jettmthebluedragon]

No they don’t 😑as you can’t live in a radioactive environment 😑isatopes for oxygen and hydrogen can are are radio active 😑and you can die from the only oxygen for life to exist is o2 if it’s not o2 then the chain breaks 😑

[@politiciansthrowstones]

NDT Will deliver his own eulogy he loves to hear his own Voice so much

[@Chris_Rybowski]

She reminds me of Jodie Foster in Contact!

[@SheSweetLikSugarNSavage]

Anjali was an enjoyable guest. She was very impressive. And good for her, not wanting to reveal her age. I don't know men always want to ask that silly question of women . 🙄 It's rude! "😑💭My age? Why does it matter? I'm smart and I get stuff done!"

[@Xarpenter]

Women constantly ask me my age. What does that tell you? Why do they keep asking? Why does it matter? I'm smart and I get things done.

[@SolZeAyn]

If we are on the moon and see the earth 🌎 do we see downward or upward?

[@proud_atheist5759]

My only question, why are all the exoplanets so far found only have orbits in days??

[@graemethompson6705]

I would think that more regular transits = more easily observable

[@marianagyorgyfalvi3659]

In what form does it remove hydrogen and helium gas, to be fine dust particles?

[@crypt0n3p4l]

lucky to have him as son

[@jmanj3917]

2:40 It's killing you to avoid saying something about W, isn't it, Chuck? 😂

[@Ali-lm7uw]

The aspect ratio is messed up. It looks stretched wide

[@rimurutempest2130]

Damn We missed opportunity to get her working for our ISRO India . Anyway jackpot scientist for NASA

[@abstract5249]

11:10 I laughed way too hard at that hexagon joke.

[@anwerj]

Chuck talking about physics and Neil making jokes. We have come a long way.😂

[@Incorruptus1]

The methane general impression is farts. But methane can also be produced by rotten plantmatter, and for instance fungi feeding of rotten plant matter. So does not really have to point to only animal life, or bacteria etc.

[@tcbhakta8419]

neil degrasse tyson thoughts on Malcolm's thunderstorm plasmoid generator.

[@youngblack253]

I know we need atmosphere to harness the benefits of propellers. But I do wonder what benefit a propeller would have on any craft.

[@andreassheriff]

The aspect ratio is off. I see you were trying to do a thing, but it looks weird.

[@kyanothesacredfoo222]

The fact that this concept has been around for years and people argue about it not being real or not even tho theres scientific proof and evidence of it being real, the government should've taken more action against it simply by getting rid of the problem, all the fossil fuel ran vehicles and factories.

[@jmanj3917]

0:55 Chuck! My man!! What happened to the BIHL-lions, a la Carl Sagan?

[@deborahsimpson4968]

I want to know all about that incredi globe. Very difficult to discern. Astrolog8ical?

[@mackenzieallen]

Cow farts have been a topic of discussion in the context of global warming. While it is true that cows produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, during their digestive process, it is primarily through burps and not farts that they emit this gas. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions are transportation, electricity production, industry, residential housing, and agriculture. While agriculture accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions from the financial sector, not all of those emissions come from cows. Soil, land, feed, and manure management also contribute to the agriculture industry's ecological footprint. It is important to note that the problem with cows comes down to their burps, not their farts. Cows produce a lot of methane during their digestive process, and the vast majority of this methane escapes by eructation (belching). While cow burps have been identified as a significant contributor to climate change, it is not the only source of greenhouse gas emissions. In conclusion, while cow burps do contribute to global warming, it is not the only source of greenhouse gas emissions. It is important to consider all sources of greenhouse gas emissions and take steps to reduce them in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.

[@RidingwithDylan]

WHERE CAN I GET A NIEL DEGRASSE TYSON BOBLEHEAD?????

[@Ranveer_sangha03]

The video ratio changed looks good and different ❤

[@matteoespert5009]

Anjali she's beautiful and intelligent she is a dream 😍 ✨️ ❤️

[@TheFifthWorld22]

🌟🌟🌟🌬️🎶

[@GopinathRavichandran]

Missing questions from Alejandro from Mexico and Chuck's amazing impressions 😂

[@shihabhaji9369]

Please keep all the episodes in this format of live in person interactions between the grate Neil, the wonderful Chuck and the interesting gests. I know that you guys are doing the best you can during the virtual episodes, but it's much better this way. Keep up with good work

[@chuckborozinski5110]

I really enjoy and look forward to your videos and the discussion between you and Chuck. However I would suggest the next time you bring on a woman expert put her on your right side and Chuck on your left. It just seemed to me there was a lot of discussoin going on between you and Chuck right in front of her face. I just felt that since she was the guest Expert on EXO planets, it appeared she was just wedged in between you two. Love your episodes, just my own observation.