SETI Live

Join us for a live discussion with senior planetary astronomer Franck Marchis and planetary scientist Beth Johnson as they delve into the thrilling search for life on Saturn's icy moon, Enceladus. Drawing on recent findings highlighted by Universe Today and ESA, Franck and Beth will explore the significant implications of a single grain of ice potentially holding evidence of life and why Enceladus stands as a top target for future explorations by the European Space Agency. Discover how ESA's ambitious mission plans aim to investigate the habitability of ocean worlds within our Solar System, focusing on the unique conditions of Enceladus. Learn about the intriguing characteristics that make this distant moon an ideal candidate for uncovering signs of life beyond Earth, including its watery plumes rich in organic compounds and the powerful source of chemical energy that may fuel living organisms. This engaging session promises to ignite curiosity and offer insights into the technological innovations and scientific quests that drive our search for extraterrestrial life. Don't miss this opportunity to journey through the latest advancements and hypotheses that position Enceladus as a beacon of hope in the quest to answer one of humanity's most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe? (Recorded 28 March 2024.)

The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system has fascinated both scientists and the public since the discovery of the last five of its seven terrestrial worlds in 2017. With four of those planets in the so-called habitable zone, where water can be liquid, the system has become a favorite target of ground- and space-based telescopes alike, especially with regard to the potential for harboring life. However, TRAPPIST-1 is a red dwarf star, cooler and smaller than our own Sun, leading to concerns about the ability of these tidally locked worlds to develop and maintain their own atmospheres. Now, in new research published in The Astrophysical Journal, a team of researchers has discovered that TRAPPIST-1e's atmosphere is being stripped by strong electric currents, quashing some hopes that the world is habitable. Communications specialist Beth Johnson is joined by co-author Dr. Cecilia Garraffo from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to talk about this disappointing news and its impact on the search for life beyond Earth, as well as her work in establishing AstroAI, "a cutting-edge research institute dedicated to advancing astrophysics through the application of artificial intelligence." (Recorded 21 March 2024.) Paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad206a

A tale of destiny and danger, The Asteroid Hunter chronicles firsthand the high-stakes OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, narrated by Principal Investigator Dr. Dante Lauretta. It offers readers an intimate glimpse into the riveting exploits of the mission and Dr. Lauretta's wild, winding personal journey to Bennu and back. Peeling back the curtain on the wonders of the cosmos, this enthralling account promises a rare glimpse into the tightly woven fabric of scientific exploration, where technical precision converges with humanity's profound curiosity and indomitable spirit. In anticipation of this exciting new release, communications specialist Beth Johnson chats with Dr. Lauretta about the book, the mission, and the future of asteroid science. (Recorded live 19 March 2024.)

Nimbly combining the tools of art and science, SETI Institute Artist in Residence Xin Liu expresses what it means to be human through a diverse body of work that includes frost-coated sculptures, a bubbling fountain of crude oil, and a performance in outer space. In a new body of sculptures exhibited at Pioneer Works in New York City, the artist considers her fears around having her eggs frozen, creating warped, skeletal, frost-covered sculptures that propose a human body transformed through a cryogenic process. Through art, Liu centers the human experience in the face of technologies and developments motivated by efficiency, productivity, and optimization. Art21 is the world's leading source to learn directly from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, the mission of Art21 is to educate and expand access to contemporary art, producing documentary films, resources, and public programs. Learn more at http://Art21.org. Join SETI Artist in Residence Program Director Bettina Forget as she chats with Emma Nordin from Art21, premieres Xin Liu's video, and then speaks with her about this latest show and its scientific concepts.

Only eight times in history have scientists found an asteroid, tracked its trajectory toward Earth, and caught the resulting fireball on cameras. The latest of these eight events happened in January 2024, with the discovery of asteroid 2024 BX1, a mere three hours before impacting the atmosphere over Europe. And of course, the SETI Institute's own Dr. Peter Jenniskens was hot on the trail, flying to Germany to help search for meteorite fragments. Within the week, several pieces were discovered, and early analysis found that they belong to a rare group of meteorites called "aubrites". Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she chats with Dr. Jenniskens about this search, the resulting find and its implications, and prior work hunting for meteorites around the world. Press release: https://www.seti.org/press-release/asteroid-impacted-near-berlin-identified-rare-aubrite

Throughout human history, comets have fascinated us. They have gone from signs and portents of bad things to come to well-studied and even visited "dirty snowballs". Every year, observers search the skies, hoping to discover the Next Big Comet - Halley, Hyakutake, Hale–Bopp, McNaught. From SOHO and LINEAR to ATLAS and IRAS, numerous observatories have continued to add to the count of discovered comets. But it doesn't require expensive hardware or spacecraft to make similar observations from your own backyard; telescopes and even binoculars will work - at least for the brightest objects. For members of Unistellar's Citizen Science Network, however, comets can be seen at faint magnitudes under a range of night sky conditions. Join Beth Johnson as she welcomes SETI Institute Postdoctoral Fellow Ariel Graykowski to this week's SETI Live to discuss the results of citizen scientist observations of comets 12P/Pons-Brooks and C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). Unistellar's comet activity program: https://www.unistellar.com/citizen-science/comets/

Phil Plait, aka the Bad Astronomer, has been communicating and correcting space science since the turn of the century (sorry, Phil!). His first book, "Bad Astronomy", tackled numerous misconceptions and myths about astronomy and space missions. His second book, "Death from the Skies!", took a look at a variety of ways the world will end. Now, in his latest book, "Under Alien Skies", Phil becomes a tour guide to the cosmos, taking us all on a trip through the universe to marvel at the wonders of other worlds, distant star systems, and mind-blowing phenomena. Communications specialist Beth Johnson chats with Dr. Plait about his latest book and just what wonders await us in our solar system and out amongst the stars.

With a first flight on April 19, 2021, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter broke ground on new capabilities for remote planetary missions. For nearly three years, the little drone far exceeded the originally planned technology demonstration of up to five flights, taking off and landing 72 times! Sadly, damage to the rotor blades has now left Ginny grounded, but the spacecraft has paved the way for future aerial explorers at Mars and, potentially, other space destinations. Join senior astronomer and Director of Unistellar Citizen Science Franck Marchis in this exciting SETI Live with Ingenuity Team Lead Teddy Tzanetos, as they look back at the stunning accomplishments of this small but mighty craft and discuss what's next for the future of drones and planetary science. (Recorded 15 February 2024.)

Join us for an exciting SETI Live where we'll explore the wonders beyond Earth. We're excited to have Valery Lainey, a renowned researcher from the Paris Observatory in France, as our guest. Franck Marchis, our Senior Astronomer, will be guiding the conversation, sharing insights from the universe. It's set to be an engaging event, and we hope you'll be part of it! In a groundbreaking study published in Nature Journal, Valery Lainey and his team have unveiled a remarkable discovery about Saturn's moon Mimas. Once thought to be a cold, solid body of ice and rock, Mimas now appears to harbor a vast global ocean beneath its icy crust. This revelation comes after a meticulous analysis of Mimas's orbit, as observed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which showed unexpected wobbles that suggest the presence of an under-ice ocean. For years, the scientific community was skeptical about the possibility of an ocean within Mimas, mainly because the expected surface deformations were absent. However, Lainey's research, based on recent simulations and precise orbital measurements, suggests that an ocean could exist without leaving visible marks on the moon's surface. This finding not only reshapes our understanding of Mimas but also opens new avenues in the search for habitable environments beyond Earth. (Recorded 8 February 2024.) Press release: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2416084-saturns-moon-mimas-may-be-hiding-a-vast-global-ocean-under-its-ice/

In a groundbreaking cosmic quest, the SETI Institute's Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster (COSMIC) at the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is expanding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). This cutting-edge technology is not a distinct telescope; it's a detector. COSMIC searches for extraterrestrial signals and paves the way for future science using a copy of the raw data from the telescope's observations. At the heart of COSMIC's mission is pursuing the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe? Project scientist Dr. Chenoa Tremblay and the team detailed the project in a paper published in The Astronomical Journal. At the American Astronomical Society's winter 2024 conference in New Orleans, Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center, interviewed Dr. Tremblay about the project and its mission.

NASA's Juno mission has observed mineral salts and organic compounds on the surface of Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Data for this discovery was collected by the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) spectrometer aboard the spacecraft during a close flyby of the icy moon. The findings, which could help scientists better understand the origin of Ganymede and the composition of its deep ocean, were published on Oct. 30 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Federico Tosi, a Juno co-investigator from Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome and lead author of the paper, speaks with senior astronomer Franck Marchis about this discovery and what it could mean for Ganymede's subsurface oceans and possibly life. (Recorded 25 January 2024.) Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02107-5

Critically acclaimed, bestselling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal) set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements, but after years of research, they aren't so sure it's a good idea. Space technologies and space business are progressing fast, but we lack the knowledge needed to have space kids, build space farms, and create space nations in a way that doesn't spark conflict back home. In a world hurtling toward human expansion into space, A City on Mars investigates whether the dream of new worlds won't create nightmares, both for settlers and the people they leave behind. With deep expertise and a winning sense of humor, the Weinersmiths investigate perhaps the biggest questions humanity will ever ask itself—whether and how to become multiplanetary. Join them in a special conversation with SETI Institute's Beth Johnson.

Join us for an exclusive SETI Live event, as we take a first look at the next-generation telescope from Unistellar - the ODYSSEY. First introduced in 2017 with their eVscope, Unistellar has been a prominent collaborator with the SETI Institute since 2019. eVscopes have been used by schools, colleges, and the public to observe exoplanets, supernovae, and asteroids in a truly global network that continues to grow. Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center, and Franck Marchis, Co-founder of Unistellar and citizen science director at the SETI Institute, will talk about the technology of the new telescope, insights on how such a telescope is beta tested, and how the ODYSSEY will dramatically impact citizen and amateur astronomer's contribution to cutting edge scientific research. We'll take a tour of this beautiful instrument, inside and out, and look at some early results and images. (Recorded 10 January 2024.)

The new year has begun, and it's time for your favorite hosts - Franck Marchis and Beth Johnson - to run down some of the space science to look forward to in 2024. We will talk about launches, missions, celestial events (including a certain solar eclipse), and even SETI Institute's 40th anniversary. So come watch live and bring your questions!

For our last SETI Live of 2023, senior astronomer Seth Shostak and communications specialist Beth Johnson have fun chatting about the "science" behind Santa's overnight journey. How can he deliver presents so quickly? How do the reindeer fly? And just how did NORAD's Santa Tracker come about? Join the holiday shenanigans and watch live! (Recorded 21 December 2023.)

In a new study published in the Astronomical Journal, researchers used the known population of exoplanets to set better thresholds for planetary effects on signals from ETIs (extraterrestrial intelligences). Megan Grace Li, a Ph.D. student at UCLA in UCLA SETI, conducted this research as a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates intern in the Breakthrough Listen project at the Berkeley SETI Research Center. Join Megan as she chats with Beth Johnson about her work and what it means for the future of SETI searches. (Recorded 30 November 2023.)

On Earth, we understand how and where earthquakes happen due to the discovery of plate tectonics – the continental crust's creation, movement, and destruction. However, when astronauts placed seismometers on the lunar surface during NASA's Apollo mission era, those instruments recorded quakes on the Moon. In the 1970s, the Viking landers also recorded quakes on the surface of Mars. Since neither of these worlds has plate tectonics, scientists set about collecting more data to understand the phenomena, which led to the recent NASA InSight lander. Now, a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters explains how the largest recorded seismic event on Mars provided evidence for a different sort of tectonic origin — the release of stress within the Martian crust. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she talks to lead author Benjamin Fernando about the results of an amazing international collaboration that led to this new discovery. (Recorded 16 November 2023.)

The Universe is trying to kill us. We know an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, which was great for the rise of mammals, but how do we prevent a similar fate for humanity? Enter the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, NASA's first attempt at planetary defense by redirecting the orbit of an asteroid's moon. DART launched in November 2021, impacted Dimorphos in September 2022, and successfully changed the moonlet's orbit by 32 minutes. Since that successful test mission, the data from the impact and subsequent debris has been analyzed by countless teams worldwide. So what is next for planetary defense? Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she chats with scientist Dawn Graninger from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory about DART, follow-up mission Hera, and the future of saving the planet from near-Earth objects. (Recorded 2 November 2023.)

Look at a Moon atlas, and you'll see a land populated with the names of philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers. Great men like Plato, Aristarchus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Planck have been immortalized by naming Moon craters after them, cementing their names in the firmament. But – what about the women? Out of the 1,578 cataloged and named craters on the lunar surface, 32 are named after women – that is barely 2%. SETI Artist in Residence Program Director Bettina Forget found this percentage to be "disappointingly low", so she decided to highlight the issue through her artwork. After researching the locations of the lunar craters named after women using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Bettina created a series of 32 drawings on paper, using acrylic paint and graphite. Each drawing is a portrait of a crater, accentuating topographical features, textures, and shadowing. That project became even larger when Bettina began working on portraits of each crater using acrylic paint in vibrant shades of red and pink. Now, three of those paintings are part of The Life Cycle of Celestial Objects exhibit at the McIntosh Gallery in London, Ontario. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson in a one-on-one discussion with Bettina about this visually stunning project in our monthly SETI AIR episode of SETI Live. (Recorded 26 October 2023.)

Led by Anicia Arredondo, researchers used the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to investigate the metallic nature of the asteroid Psyche, believed to be rich in metals. SOFIA observed the entire surface of Psyche, using mid-infrared instruments to analyze its emissivity and porosity. The results confirmed that Psyche is a metallic body with some differences between the northern and southern poles. This study paves the way for NASA's mission to Psyche, launching in October 2023, promising insights into planetary cores and planet formation. Psyche's size and potential for differentiation make it a significant subject for understanding Earth-like planets. Join Anicia and SETI Institute senior astronomer Franck Marchis to learn more! (Recorded live19 October 2023.)

Launched on Sept. 8, 2016, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft traveled to a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36) and collected a sample of rocks and dust from the surface. The spacecraft flew by Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, delivering the capsule containing the sample, which landed at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. Yesterday, NASA revealed the contents of the capsule live, and preliminary analysis revealed not only an abundance of space rocks in and around the capsule but also evidence of high-carbon content and water. Those findings and ones to come will help scientists investigate how planets formed and perhaps how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. Communications specialist Beth Johnson is joined by OSIRIS-Rex's principal investigator, Dante Lauretta. Join them in this special conversation about an amazing mission and what those space rocks have revealed and could further reveal. (Recorded 12 October 2020.)

Up until now, the quest to find evidence of active volcanism on other worlds has been limited to our own solar system. We've definitively seen volcanoes erupting on Jupiter's moon, Io; we've possibly found evidence of geologically recent volcanism on Venus; and Mars has the largest volcano, although dormant, in Olympus Mons. With the advent of the JWST era, however, more possibilities have opened up. Colby Ostberg is an astronomer at UC Riverside and the lead author of an intriguing recent study on terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres and their potential volcanic activities, focusing on the direct imaging of such exoplanets. Dr. Franck Marchis and Colby discuss the results of the article, including the implication of volcanic activity on the color of an exoplanet and its atmospheric composition. Discover the future of exoplanetary science, where we're heading in our quest to understand these distant worlds, and how advances in technology and telescopic observations are bringing us closer to answers. (Recorded live on 5 October 2023.) Preprint of the paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.15972

The Apollo missions showed scientists that the craters on the Moon were from impacts rather than volcanoes, overturning previously held hypotheses. Now, new research using data collected by China's Chinese Chang'E 1 and 2 orbiters has discovered a hot spot under the surface. Using an instrument that made observations at microwave wavelengths, the team mapped out temperatures and found one particular suspected volcano, known as Compton-Belkovich, glowed in the microwave. However, surface evidence shows the volcano last erupted about 3.5 billion years ago, and the heat is coming from radioactive elements in the solid rock. That radioactivity led scientists to conclude that under the surface lies a large chunk of granite - magma that cooled underground - providing evidence for the most Earth-like volcanism found on the Moon to date. Join planetary astronomer Franck Marchis as he discusses these interesting new findings with lead author Matt Siegler, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. (Recorded live on 28 September 2023.) Press release: https://www.psi.edu/blog/evidence-of-new-volcanic-process-on-moon-discovered-pr/

Exoplanet discoveries have been piling up faster and faster over the last decade, limiting announcements of new discoveries to the strange, unusual, and unexpected. One unexpected type of planet is the possible Hycean world -- hot, water-covered worlds with hydrogen atmospheres larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune with sizable habitable zones. With the addition of JWST's capabilities, previously discovered exoplanets are now being analyzed for their atmospheric composition, and the results are intriguing. In a new paper accepted for The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the atmosphere of an exoplanet known as K2-18 b was found to contain carbon dioxide and methane, adding the world to the list of possible Hycean planets. Additionally, a molecule called dimethyl sulfide, which on Earth is only produced by life, was possibly detected. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she speaks with lead author Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge, in a SETI Live at a special time. (Recorded live on 21 September 2023.) Preprint of the paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2309.05566.pdf

Ask anyone interested in space science, and you will likely also find a person influenced in some way by science fiction, whether they grew up watching Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, watching movies, or reading books. The genre has grown and expanded over the centuries, reflecting and inspiring changes in the world, our technology, and even our dreams of exploration. Now, Ariel Waldman - filmmaker, explorer, and former NASA advisor - has written an accessible book featuring dozens of interviews that "takes readers on a journey to the farthest depths of space". Join communications specialist Beth Johnson in conversation with Ariel as they discuss her new book, Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV. (Recorded live on 24 September 2023.)

We follow up with SETI Artist in Residence Jonathon Keats about his project The Library of the Great Silence, an installation art project that addresses one of the implications of the Fermi Paradox. If the cosmos is only sparsely populated by intelligent beings that implies that at some point in their development almost all technological societies encounter a barrier they cannot cross. To counter such a dystopian prospect, Keats proposes an intergalactic lending library to research planetary futures. Branches of this library have already been installed at the Allen Telescope Array and at museums and universities around the world. Join SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget in conversation with Jonathon Keats and find out what's in the library! Recorded on 7 September 2023.

An enigmatic cosmic entity has been consistently beaming radio waves to Earth every 22 minutes for over three decades, perplexing the scientific community. Identified as GPM J1839−10, this celestial body is believed to be a fading star emitting energy from its poles. Yet, intriguingly, its spin is so leisurely it seems implausible for its existence, marking it both incredibly stable and unusually slow. We're thrilled to have Natasha Hurley-Walker, the leading radio astronomer from Curtin University in Australia, who spearheaded the research in conversation with the SETI astronomer and Chief Scientific Officer at Unistellar, Franck Marchis. Together, they'll delve into this baffling find, initially spotted in archival data from 1988 and later confirmed through 2022 observations using the MeerKAT array. Could this star be something new? Maybe it changes what we think we know about other stars. Or could it be a signal from aliens? Record live 24 August 2023. Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06202-5

SETI Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Daedelus imagines the first 10,000 days after first contact with an alien civilization and puts those imaginings to music. Daedelus calls this post-detection era the 'Xenopocene', which also serves as the title of their newly released album. In this conversation with SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget, discover Daedelus' creative process and what inspired them during their two-year residency with the AIR program, plus listen in on this fascinating album that weaves influences of Gustav Holst, Sun Ra, Alice Deejay, and Amon Tobin. Recorded live 17 August 2023. Listen to Xenopocene: https://daedelusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/xenopocene

Tune in to this week's SETI Live broadcast, beamed directly from Devon Island in the High Arctic. This exceptional locale serves as a remarkable analog, mirroring key environmental features of both the Moon and Mars to help prepare for their exploration. Dr. Pascal Lee and his team have embarked on their annual expedition to study the local geology and microbiology, and their relevance to the Moon and Mars. Beyond their scientific mission, they're putting spacesuits, drills, and cutting-edge technologies through rigorous trials, all destined for potential deployment in the human quest to explore the Moon and Mars. Join SETI Institute CEO Bill Diamond as he discusses this exciting research and fascinating location with Dr. Lee, live via Starlink from the Arctic. Recorded live on 10 August 2023.

Frontier Development Lab (FDL) is an applied artificial intelligence (AI) research accelerator fostering collaboration among researchers, scientists, and engineers across diverse fields. FDL aims to address paramount challenges in space and Earth science through cutting-edge AI and Machine Learning applications. FDL is a collaborative effort of the SETI Institute, NASA, the Department of Energy (DoE), and prominent private sector partners. Discover the immense potential of AI for space exploration, Earth sciences, and humanity as SETI Institute CEO, Bill Diamond, engages in a compelling conversation with Jason Talley from the DoE's Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office. Together, they delve into the transformative possibilities that AI brings to these critical domains, pushing the boundaries of innovation and exploration. Recorded live 3 August 2023.

In an unprecedented achievement, citizen scientists have set a new record for the SETI Institute and Unistellar, comprising the highest number of observers providing data on a single event. Amateur astronomers participating in the SETI Institute's and Unistellar's Cosmic Cataclysms program conducted a groundbreaking observation of supernova (SN) 2023ixf. The observations, which began just one hour after the supernova's first known appearance, have generated the longest continuous light curve of this supernova gathered by citizen scientists that has been published to date. Join Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research, as he discusses this record-breaking citizen science project with researcher Lauren Sgro. Press release: https://www.seti.org/press-release/record-breaking-team-citizen-scientists-contribute-data-pinwheel-galaxy-supernova Research note: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ace41f Recorded live 27 July 2023.

We will present the first on-sky demonstration of the Fibered Imager foR a Single Telescope (FIRST) instrument at the Subaru Telescope. Using techniques of aperture masking and spatial filtering, FIRST combines the power of spectro-interferometry to deliver high contrast capabilities and spatial resolutions beyond the reach of traditional coronagraphic instruments. We will explain the 'pupil remapping' technique - the heart of the FIRST instrument - and its practical applications. This process divides the telescope pupil into sub-pupils, enabling simultaneous measurements of all baseline fringe patterns. Our researchers tested this instrument on two types of targets: a point source (Keho'oea - α Lyrae) and a binary system (Hokulei - α Aurigae), achieving a contrast and stability sufficient to study the close surroundings of those stars. The successful demonstration of FIRST signifies a significant step forward for future interferometric instrumentation on extremely large telescopes, opening new observing capabilities in the visible wavelength range at the Subaru Telescope. With the SETI Institute's Franck Marchis and Sebastien Vievard, exoplanet instrumentation scientist on SCExAO. Recorded live 20 July 2023

If an alien civilization wanted to communicate with other civilizations throughout the Milky Way, the galaxy's core holds potential as a strategic site for a beacon. Until now, radio SETI has primarily dedicated its efforts to the search for continuous signals. A new study sheds light on the remarkable energy efficiency of a train of pulses as a means of interstellar communication across vast distances. This marks the first-ever comprehensive endeavor to conduct in-depth searches for these signals. Join us in discussion with Dr. Vishal Gajjar, a SETI Institute astronomer working at the Allen Telescope Array. Paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/acccf0 Recorded live 13 July 2023.

Meet Adriana Knouf, our newest artist in residence! Adriana engages with topics such as wet media, space art, satellites, radio transmission, non-human encounters, queer and trans futurities, and machine learning. Join SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget and Adriana as they talk about her project TX-1, which has flown on the International Space Station, TX-2, an experiment in speculative satellite construction, and how space travel can be made more accessible to those marked as transgender. Recorded live 6 July 2023.

Gravitational waves play a cosmic symphony as they pass through our galaxy. This week, the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) Physics Frontiers Center released the results of 15 years of data in a set of papers published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. This research is the first evidence of gravitational waves at very low frequencies. The team, comprised of 190 scientists, transformed our region of the Milky Way Galaxy into an immense gravitational-wave antenna using pulsars. NANOGrav's endeavor involved collecting data from 68 pulsars, fashioning a pulsar timing array—a distinctive type of detector. In 2020, with over a decade of data, NANOGrav scientists detected hints of an additional enigmatic "hum" in the timing behavior of all the pulsars in their array. After exploring alternative explanations, they grew confident in the authenticity of this signal. Its detection became increasingly feasible with more extensive observations. However, at that stage, the gravitational-wave signature predicted by general relativity remained too faint to emerge. After fifteen years of pulsar observations, the evidence of gravitational waves, with periods spanning years to decades, emerges prominently. Join Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center, as he discusses this groundbreaking research with NANOGrav team member and SETI Institute researcher Dr. Michael Lam. Press release: https://www.seti.org/press-release/nanogravs-15-year-journey-reveals-cosmic-hum Recorded live 29 June 2023

The search for life beyond Earth received a slight boost from new research published in Nature this month. Scientists working with data collected by NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn discovered evidence of phosphates in ice particles ejected via cryovolcanism into the E-ring structure by the tiny moon Enceladus. Although a mere 500 kilometers in diameter, Enceladus is a huge target in the quest for astrobiology in our solar system as beneath the outer ice shell lies a subsurface ocean about 10 km deep. That ocean is warmed via tidal heating, and plumes of water vapor escape through cracks in the surface. Enter the Cassini mission, which spent over 13 years orbiting Saturn, collecting data on the gas giant, the rings, and various moons, including Enceladus. The spacecraft even flew through the plumes, using instruments such as the ion and neutral mass spectrometer (INMS) and the cosmic dust analyzer (CDA) to directly sample the material. Over the years, five of the six elements considered to be the building blocks for life as we know it - carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur - have been found within those ice grains. The recent discovery of the sixth element, in the form of phosphates, not only completes the set but provides an ingredient necessary for the creation of DNA and RNA. While the discovery is not evidence of life on Enceladus, the potential for life in that subsurface ocean continues to grow. Please join lead author Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at Freie Universität Berlin, and SETI Institute senior scientist Franck Marchis as they discuss the impact of this discovery, the deeper meaning for the search for life beyond Earth, and what's next for the research. Press releases: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/informationen/fup/2023/fup_23_137-saturnmond-enceladus-ozean-phosphate/index.html https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-cassini-data-reveals-building-block-for-life-in-enceladus-ocean https://www.swri.org/press-release/key-building-block-life-found-saturn-moon-enceladus Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05987-9 Recorded 22 June 2023

Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, Director of the SETI Institute's Carl Sagan Center, joins us live from the Global Exploration Summit in Portugal. Last week Cabrol was co-author on a comment published in Nature Astronomy that explored the implications and potential scientific impacts on increased activity on Mars, specifically, human-crewed missions. How will the presence of people on Mars affect the search for past or present life and what planetary protection measures will be required to protect the integrity of scientific research as well as life here on Earth when crews return? Hosted by Dr. Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the SETI Institute's Carl Sagan Center. Read more about the comment at seti.org: https://bit.ly/43WGnNU Recorded 13 June 2023.

NASA's JWST revealed a groundbreaking discovery about the true nature of main belt comets. The surprising presence of water in a main belt comet is challenging our understanding of the solar system's origins. The recent study of this enigmatic comet ignited intriguing questions about its composition, history, and potential interstellar origins. Join Mike Kelley, an astronomer from the University of Maryland, and Dr. Franck Marchis, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, for our next SETI Live. Mike and Franck will discuss the significance of this discovery and the implications for astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life as it connects cometary bodies and the delivery of water and organic molecules to Earth. Press release: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-123 Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06152-y Recorded live 8 June 2023.

A team of scientists and engineers from the SETI Institute, Impossible Sensing, NASA JPL, and other institutions will test their innovative robotic laser system on a deep-sea expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus. The mission, called InVADER (In-situ Vent Analysis Divebot for Exobiology Research), aims to advance technologies to explore, characterize and sample the seabed here on Earth. In particular, InVADER's Laser Divebot will find marine minerals and catalog biodiversity in the seabed faster and more affordably than ever. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she chats with SETI Institute research scientist and project lead Pablo Sobron about this new mission and the future of remote sensing. Press release: https://www.seti.org/press-release/invader-mission-test-its-robotic-laser-divebot-deep-sea-expedition

There was a total solar eclipse in Australia on Thursday, April 20 (which was Wednesday, April 19 here in California). Join SETI Institute CEO Bill Diamond with Madhulika (Lika) Guhathkurta, PhD Senior Advisor for New Initiatives, GSFC/HPD Program Scientist/Heliophysics, NASA HQ. Lika is in Australia for the eclipse and will talk to us about what we can learn from this phenomenon and why eclipses are so special. Recorded 18 April 2023.

A new NASA mission to Saturn's giant moon, Titan, is due to launch in 2027. When it arrives in the mid-2030s, it will begin a journey of discovery that could bring about a new understanding of the development of life in the universe. This mission, called Dragonfly, will carry an instrument called the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), designed to help scientists hone in on the chemistry at work on Titan. It may also shed light on the kinds of chemical steps that occurred on Earth that ultimately led to the formation of life, called prebiotic chemistry. Join Dragonfly Deputy PI and DRaMS instrument lead Melissa Trainer in a conversation with communications specialist Beth Johnson, as they discuss this upcoming mission and the potential science discoveries DRaMS could bring. Recorded on 13 April 2023. More information: https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly

As research teams around the world prepare for the launch of two separate missions to our 'sister planet' Venus, other scientists are spending their time looking through the data already collected by previous missions. Take, for example, the Magellan spacecraft, which mapped the surface of Venus from September 1990 through October 1994 using synthetic aperture radar. Last month, Science published a new paper detailing how scientists compared two radar images space eight months apart and discovered a volcanic vent that had grown and changed shape in that time period. Join co-author Robert Herrick from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and communications specialist Beth Johnson as they discuss how the discovery was made, how it changes what we know of Venus, and what the new information could mean for future Venus missions. (Recorded live on 6 April 2023. Paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm7735

Author and book designer Rebecca Demarest will be featured on this episode of SETI Live, along with astronomer and SETI Research Scientist Paul Dalba. The two will delve into the upcoming Exotopia expedition, an experimental sci-fi narrative that invites participants to embark on imaginary journeys to study extraterrestrial life on actual exoplanets within our galaxy. The forthcoming voyage will transport us to TOI-1452 b, a super-Earth exoplanet situated roughly 100 lightyears from Earth. TOI-1452 b orbits a red dwarf star within its Habitable Zone, an area where there is a possibility of liquid water on the planet's surface, given the presence of a protective atmosphere. Although scientists have some understanding of TOI-1452 b's characteristics, there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding this newly discovered world. The Exotopia expedition will explore this enigma and offer travelers the opportunity to illustrate their own adventure using AI-generated art. Join us as we discuss the unique confluence of astronomy, art, sci-fi, and AI technology related to this distinctive storytelling experience.

When pondering the probability of discovering technologically advanced extraterrestrial life, the question that often arises is, "if they're out there, why haven't we found them yet?" And often, the response is that we have only searched a tiny portion of the galaxy. Further, algorithms developed decades ago for the earliest digital computers can be outdated and inefficient when applied to modern petabyte-scale datasets. Now, research published in Nature Astronomy and led by an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, Peter Ma, along with researchers from the SETI Institute, Breakthrough Listen and scientific research institutions around the world, has applied a deep learning technique to a previously studied dataset of nearby stars and uncovered eight previously unidentified signals of interest. Join Senior Scientist Franck Marchis in conversation with lead author Peter Ma, co-author Leandro Rizk, and their supervisor, SETI Institute astronomer Cherry Ng, as they discuss the usefulness of machine learning, their recent findings, and the potential for the future of SETI. (Recorded live 23 March 2023.) Paper: https://seti.berkeley.edu/ml_gbt/overview.html

Astronomers learn about the universe by looking up, but the closest, most fascinating and most important (to us) astronomical object is below our feet. As we discover more and more planets in our galaxy, the importance of understanding and protecting our own "pale blue dot" becomes ever more critical. Join Professor Adrienne Cool, astrophysicist at San Francisco State University and founder of Astronomers for Planet Earth and Jessica Agnos, co-founder, in a conversation about the universe, the Earth and why astronomers have a unique perspective on one very special planet. Recorded live on 8 March 2023.

The NASA DART mission impacted Dimorphos, the moon of near-Earth asteroid Didymos, on September 26, 2022, reducing its orbit by 33 minutes. Citizen astronomers around the world contributed crucial observations to quantify the impact's effects and understand our ability to alter an asteroid's path for planetary defense. Learn more from SETI Postdoctoral Fellow Ariel Graykowski on the implications for the future of planetary defense. Nature paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05852-9

The Juno spacecraft launched on August 5, 2011, and arrived at Jupiter in 2016, where the mission began collecting data on the gas giant. In January 2021, NASA announced that the spacecraft's mission had been extended to September 2025. The extended mission's science campaigns expand on discoveries Juno has already made about Jupiter's interior structure, internal magnetic field, atmosphere (including polar cyclones, deep atmosphere, and auroras), and magnetosphere. Juno's extended mission also includes flybys of the moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io. Join Dr. Scott Bolton, Director of the Space Science and Engineering Division at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Principal Investigator of Juno, as he chats with communications specialist Beth Johnson about this important mission, what we have learned, and what comes next. More information: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/ Recorded live 16 February 2023.

New research suggests that a lack of a stable asteroid belt around these common, small, and cool stars may make their exoplanets less habitable for life. Join us in conversation with lead researcher Anna C. Childs to explore the implications of this research and the future of the search for alien life. Learn more about the most common type of star in our galaxy and the potential challenges in finding habitable exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs. Paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ac9052 Recorded live on stream on 9 February 2023.

A new comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is making a rare visit to Earth, coming closer than it has in over 50,000 years. Stargazers around the world have admired its eerie green glow and bright tail of dust. Join SETI Institute Senior Planetary Astronomer, Dr. Franck Marchis, and Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Ariel Graykowski, as they discuss the significance of this comet and its impact on the search for life in space. Learn about comets and the night sky in this once-in-a-lifetime event. Recorded live on 2 February 2023.

SETI Institute's Artist-in-Residence, Felipe Pérez Santiago, discusses the ambitious Earthling Project. Launched in 2020, the project collects songs from people around the world to create musical compositions representing humanity. These compositions will be sent into space with the help of the Arch Mission Foundation, a nonprofit preserving human knowledge for future generations. Tune in to hear from Santiago and SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget, and listen to the world sing in harmony on the Earthling Project - Songs for Outer Space. Recorded live on stream 26 January 2023.