1 00:00:10,860 --> 00:00:08,950 [Music] 2 00:00:34,709 --> 00:00:10,870 so 3 00:00:40,470 --> 00:00:38,069 greetings friends fellow earthlings and 4 00:00:43,110 --> 00:00:40,480 maybe hopeful explorers of potentially 5 00:00:45,029 --> 00:00:43,120 habitable worlds out there 6 00:00:47,750 --> 00:00:45,039 welcome to ask an astrobiologist the 7 00:00:49,830 --> 00:00:47,760 show that seeks to celebrate the science 8 00:00:51,910 --> 00:00:49,840 and the scientists involved in our quest 9 00:00:54,470 --> 00:00:51,920 to understand the nature of life 10 00:00:57,029 --> 00:00:54,480 i'm your host dr graham lau also known 11 00:00:59,029 --> 00:00:57,039 online now as space beard and we're 12 00:01:01,910 --> 00:00:59,039 brought to you by the nasa astrobiology 13 00:01:04,869 --> 00:01:01,920 program and saginet.org 14 00:01:07,910 --> 00:01:04,879 you know when i was a kid we didn't know 15 00:01:09,830 --> 00:01:07,920 of any exoplanets for sure we had ideas 16 00:01:11,510 --> 00:01:09,840 that there were worlds out there 17 00:01:13,510 --> 00:01:11,520 but it wasn't until the early 90s that 18 00:01:15,990 --> 00:01:13,520 we first started detecting worlds around 19 00:01:18,310 --> 00:01:16,000 other stars and now we know of thousands 20 00:01:19,830 --> 00:01:18,320 of exoplanets out there and now we can 21 00:01:21,910 --> 00:01:19,840 also start asking questions about 22 00:01:24,789 --> 00:01:21,920 whether some of those worlds are 23 00:01:26,550 --> 00:01:24,799 habitable or could be inhabited by life 24 00:01:28,870 --> 00:01:26,560 as we know it and so we have a very 25 00:01:30,550 --> 00:01:28,880 special guest for today's episode to 26 00:01:33,030 --> 00:01:30,560 explore some of those kinds of questions 27 00:01:35,749 --> 00:01:33,040 with us and to share his work in this 28 00:01:38,149 --> 00:01:35,759 realm of habitable worlds out there 29 00:01:40,069 --> 00:01:38,159 now before i introduce our wonderful 30 00:01:42,310 --> 00:01:40,079 guest we have a little housekeeping to 31 00:01:44,630 --> 00:01:42,320 do as always we like to point out those 32 00:01:47,030 --> 00:01:44,640 of you out there who are sharing about 33 00:01:49,350 --> 00:01:47,040 our show sharing about our wonderful 34 00:01:51,030 --> 00:01:49,360 astrobiologist guests uh getting 35 00:01:52,550 --> 00:01:51,040 involved in the conversation with them 36 00:01:53,429 --> 00:01:52,560 about their research and the things they 37 00:01:55,590 --> 00:01:53,439 do 38 00:01:57,510 --> 00:01:55,600 and this month we have to give a shout 39 00:02:00,069 --> 00:01:57,520 out to the reigning 40 00:02:03,270 --> 00:02:00,079 ambassador for the show denise at 41 00:02:05,109 --> 00:02:03,280 astrobio dnz on twitter 42 00:02:07,350 --> 00:02:05,119 denise is a master's student in 43 00:02:09,029 --> 00:02:07,360 molecular biology and evolution at the 44 00:02:11,029 --> 00:02:09,039 university of kiel 45 00:02:11,910 --> 00:02:11,039 she's shared many times about our show 46 00:02:13,910 --> 00:02:11,920 and has gotten involved in the 47 00:02:15,350 --> 00:02:13,920 conversation so denise thank you very 48 00:02:17,430 --> 00:02:15,360 much for being involved and ask an 49 00:02:19,830 --> 00:02:17,440 astrobiologist 50 00:02:22,949 --> 00:02:19,840 now that said i get to introduce our 51 00:02:25,430 --> 00:02:22,959 guest professor abel mendes professor 52 00:02:27,190 --> 00:02:25,440 mendes is a planetary astrobiologist and 53 00:02:28,869 --> 00:02:27,200 the director of the planetary 54 00:02:31,990 --> 00:02:28,879 habitability laboratory at the 55 00:02:33,990 --> 00:02:32,000 university of puerto rico at arecibo 56 00:02:35,110 --> 00:02:34,000 his research focuses on the habitability 57 00:02:37,190 --> 00:02:35,120 of earth 58 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:37,200 the worlds of our solar system and some 59 00:02:42,710 --> 00:02:39,760 of those worlds out there around 60 00:02:46,710 --> 00:02:45,190 he's been a nasa mirs fellow in physics 61 00:02:49,670 --> 00:02:46,720 and astrophysics and has research 62 00:02:52,550 --> 00:02:49,680 experience at fermilab nasa goddard nasa 63 00:02:54,790 --> 00:02:52,560 ames and with the arecibo observatory uh 64 00:02:56,470 --> 00:02:54,800 so professor abdel mendez uh thank you 65 00:02:58,790 --> 00:02:56,480 for joining us and welcome to ask an 66 00:03:00,550 --> 00:02:58,800 astrobiologist 67 00:03:02,710 --> 00:03:00,560 hello thank you for having me my 68 00:03:04,390 --> 00:03:02,720 pleasure to be here with all you 69 00:03:05,830 --> 00:03:04,400 it's so great to have you join us i 70 00:03:08,550 --> 00:03:05,840 think a lot of our audience might know 71 00:03:10,790 --> 00:03:08,560 you the best from twitter uh at prof 72 00:03:13,910 --> 00:03:10,800 abba mendez where you share a lot of 73 00:03:16,070 --> 00:03:13,920 news about astrobiology and planetary 74 00:03:17,830 --> 00:03:16,080 science i think a lot of folks follow 75 00:03:20,229 --> 00:03:17,840 you just to get that good hit of 76 00:03:22,229 --> 00:03:20,239 astrobiology news every day but maybe 77 00:03:23,509 --> 00:03:22,239 they don't know as much about your 78 00:03:24,949 --> 00:03:23,519 research so 79 00:03:26,789 --> 00:03:24,959 i'd like to start off with you just 80 00:03:28,949 --> 00:03:26,799 talking a little bit about what what 81 00:03:31,589 --> 00:03:28,959 really got you into your career field 82 00:03:35,110 --> 00:03:31,599 what inspired you as a child to pursue a 83 00:03:37,910 --> 00:03:35,120 career in planetary astrobiology 84 00:03:39,830 --> 00:03:37,920 well i always love astronomy and the 85 00:03:43,030 --> 00:03:39,840 idea of extraterrestrial life in the 86 00:03:45,350 --> 00:03:43,040 universe i grew up watching star trek 87 00:03:46,390 --> 00:03:45,360 and the cosmos television series by carl 88 00:03:48,869 --> 00:03:46,400 sagan 89 00:03:51,509 --> 00:03:48,879 i had a telescope and a computer since i 90 00:03:53,589 --> 00:03:51,519 was 10 years old i had a wonderful view 91 00:03:55,910 --> 00:03:53,599 of the night sky from my home back in 92 00:03:58,470 --> 00:03:55,920 then in rural puerto rico 93 00:04:01,110 --> 00:03:58,480 there were so many streets there were 94 00:04:04,229 --> 00:04:01,120 not that many streetlies back then so i 95 00:04:05,350 --> 00:04:04,239 was able to appreciate our galaxy the 96 00:04:07,270 --> 00:04:05,360 milky way 97 00:04:08,949 --> 00:04:07,280 i contemplated the stars i'm planning 98 00:04:11,670 --> 00:04:08,959 almost every night i took notes and 99 00:04:13,110 --> 00:04:11,680 wrote code in basic computer language to 100 00:04:15,350 --> 00:04:13,120 predict the position of planets back 101 00:04:17,909 --> 00:04:15,360 then as soon as i learned about the 102 00:04:20,150 --> 00:04:17,919 receivable observatory asked my parents 103 00:04:23,430 --> 00:04:20,160 to visit observatory we went even below 104 00:04:25,990 --> 00:04:23,440 the edition in egypt on my first visit 105 00:04:28,310 --> 00:04:26,000 i had a blast that day i met many 106 00:04:30,230 --> 00:04:28,320 scientists there and they were eager to 107 00:04:33,590 --> 00:04:30,240 talk to me about their research at 108 00:04:35,990 --> 00:04:33,600 observatory and i was just 12 years old 109 00:04:37,909 --> 00:04:36,000 the observatory reinforced my interest 110 00:04:40,230 --> 00:04:37,919 in astronomy and i was very curious 111 00:04:41,030 --> 00:04:40,240 about the reciprocal message i would 112 00:04:42,469 --> 00:04:41,040 first 113 00:04:44,629 --> 00:04:42,479 attempt to send a message to other 114 00:04:45,990 --> 00:04:44,639 civilizations if there's anybody 115 00:04:48,469 --> 00:04:46,000 listening out there 116 00:04:50,390 --> 00:04:48,479 so i decided to study physics 117 00:04:52,550 --> 00:04:50,400 against the recommendations of many of 118 00:04:54,550 --> 00:04:52,560 my friends they say that i should do 119 00:04:57,749 --> 00:04:54,560 engineering instead because that's where 120 00:04:59,270 --> 00:04:57,759 the money is i decided for my passion 121 00:05:01,189 --> 00:04:59,280 and never looked back 122 00:05:04,230 --> 00:05:01,199 i did a bachelor master in theoretical 123 00:05:06,390 --> 00:05:04,240 physics at the university of puerto rico 124 00:05:08,310 --> 00:05:06,400 my university didn't have an astronomy 125 00:05:10,550 --> 00:05:08,320 program so i took as many courses in 126 00:05:12,070 --> 00:05:10,560 astronomy mathematics and computer 127 00:05:14,310 --> 00:05:12,080 science as possible 128 00:05:17,029 --> 00:05:14,320 during graduate school i selected a 129 00:05:18,629 --> 00:05:17,039 thesis project in biophysics because it 130 00:05:20,469 --> 00:05:18,639 was very interesting i had a lot of 131 00:05:22,830 --> 00:05:20,479 computational work 132 00:05:25,909 --> 00:05:22,840 that was my first big connection with 133 00:05:27,990 --> 00:05:25,919 biology i also participated but then of 134 00:05:30,710 --> 00:05:28,000 many physics and planetary research 135 00:05:32,150 --> 00:05:30,720 programs for students at nasa angler and 136 00:05:34,469 --> 00:05:32,160 the science 137 00:05:36,950 --> 00:05:34,479 i started teaching position at the 138 00:05:40,629 --> 00:05:36,960 university of puerto rico in arecibo in 139 00:05:42,150 --> 00:05:40,639 1996 my campus is about 30 minutes from 140 00:05:44,390 --> 00:05:42,160 the observatory 141 00:05:46,870 --> 00:05:44,400 it was back then that i had the freedom 142 00:05:49,430 --> 00:05:46,880 to conduct my own research topic and i 143 00:05:51,110 --> 00:05:49,440 decided to take back my passion for the 144 00:05:52,870 --> 00:05:51,120 idea of strata racial life in the 145 00:05:54,390 --> 00:05:52,880 universe 146 00:05:55,909 --> 00:05:54,400 that year was announced the discovery of 147 00:05:58,790 --> 00:05:55,919 the martial meteorite with potential 148 00:06:00,710 --> 00:05:58,800 faucets so that was the thing that 149 00:06:03,029 --> 00:06:00,720 probably motivated me more 150 00:06:04,830 --> 00:06:03,039 i went to one to the early astrobiology 151 00:06:08,710 --> 00:06:04,840 school to train myself more in 152 00:06:11,029 --> 00:06:08,720 astrobiology field in 2000 nasa had his 153 00:06:13,830 --> 00:06:11,039 first astrobiology science conference at 154 00:06:15,590 --> 00:06:13,840 cyclone and i was there 155 00:06:17,430 --> 00:06:15,600 there were not that many hispanic 156 00:06:20,550 --> 00:06:17,440 persons but then i was on the only 157 00:06:22,870 --> 00:06:20,560 person from puerto rico there i was 158 00:06:25,350 --> 00:06:22,880 particularly interested in the concept 159 00:06:27,430 --> 00:06:25,360 of habitability how we can measure how 160 00:06:28,710 --> 00:06:27,440 good or bad an environment 161 00:06:31,909 --> 00:06:28,720 is for life 162 00:06:36,550 --> 00:06:31,919 i had two very influential books early 163 00:06:41,350 --> 00:06:38,469 an introduction 164 00:06:42,790 --> 00:06:41,360 to environmental uh biophysics by 165 00:06:45,590 --> 00:06:42,800 campbell and norma 166 00:06:46,390 --> 00:06:45,600 1998 167 00:06:56,469 --> 00:06:46,400 i 168 00:06:59,350 --> 00:06:56,479 and you can very you can very well call 169 00:07:02,309 --> 00:06:59,360 this book habitability physical factors 170 00:07:04,550 --> 00:07:02,319 i also like the natural selection of the 171 00:07:07,270 --> 00:07:04,560 chemical elements by willian and frausto 172 00:07:09,749 --> 00:07:07,280 da silva 1996 173 00:07:11,430 --> 00:07:09,759 you can call this book habitability now 174 00:07:13,589 --> 00:07:11,440 chemical factors 175 00:07:15,990 --> 00:07:13,599 and for astronomy 176 00:07:19,110 --> 00:07:16,000 i love physics and chemistry of the 177 00:07:21,589 --> 00:07:19,120 solar system by lewis 1997 178 00:07:24,629 --> 00:07:21,599 so these three books are probably the 179 00:07:27,350 --> 00:07:24,639 most influential ones early on 180 00:07:28,629 --> 00:07:27,360 through all my career my computers got 181 00:07:34,469 --> 00:07:28,639 smaller 182 00:07:37,670 --> 00:07:36,550 i love that concept computers get 183 00:07:39,749 --> 00:07:37,680 smaller to tell us because it gets 184 00:07:41,909 --> 00:07:39,759 bigger um which is really important i i 185 00:07:44,390 --> 00:07:41,919 do want to talk at length about arecibo 186 00:07:48,070 --> 00:07:44,400 with you um in a bit but but first um so 187 00:07:49,990 --> 00:07:48,080 you are a professor uh at upr arecibo um 188 00:07:51,749 --> 00:07:50,000 i wonder if you could tell our audience 189 00:07:53,990 --> 00:07:51,759 about the things you teach and maybe 190 00:07:55,909 --> 00:07:54,000 even your vision for the future of 191 00:07:57,990 --> 00:07:55,919 students studying with you from puerto 192 00:08:01,589 --> 00:07:58,000 rico 193 00:08:04,950 --> 00:08:01,599 yes i started in 2010 our planetary 194 00:08:07,589 --> 00:08:04,960 habitability laboratory this is a a 195 00:08:09,670 --> 00:08:07,599 research and educational laboratory 196 00:08:11,270 --> 00:08:09,680 especially to do theoretical work about 197 00:08:13,430 --> 00:08:11,280 understanding habitability from the 198 00:08:15,990 --> 00:08:13,440 solar system and exoplanet 199 00:08:18,230 --> 00:08:16,000 and i'm part of this uh project we train 200 00:08:20,070 --> 00:08:18,240 students in research and we have also a 201 00:08:23,189 --> 00:08:20,080 astrobiology course 202 00:08:26,869 --> 00:08:23,199 for for our students so right now we 203 00:08:27,990 --> 00:08:26,879 have about 30 students three private and 204 00:08:29,990 --> 00:08:28,000 uh 205 00:08:31,510 --> 00:08:30,000 the rest are undergraduates involved in 206 00:08:34,149 --> 00:08:31,520 different projects 207 00:08:40,149 --> 00:08:34,159 uh regarding uh 208 00:08:43,990 --> 00:08:42,469 that's fantastic and so can you tell us 209 00:08:45,910 --> 00:08:44,000 uh about the planetary habitability 210 00:08:48,630 --> 00:08:45,920 laboratory um what are some of the 211 00:08:51,030 --> 00:08:48,640 primary missions and objectives um 212 00:08:54,070 --> 00:08:51,040 through phl uh uh you know what are you 213 00:08:57,269 --> 00:08:54,080 trying to develop uh through the dhl yes 214 00:08:58,949 --> 00:08:57,279 we want to we started this project uh 215 00:09:00,870 --> 00:08:58,959 because there are 216 00:09:02,630 --> 00:09:00,880 back then in the early days of 217 00:09:05,190 --> 00:09:02,640 astrobiology we noticed that there were 218 00:09:06,790 --> 00:09:05,200 many misconceptions even until today 219 00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:06,800 about habitability 220 00:09:11,590 --> 00:09:09,760 for example that we can define 221 00:09:13,990 --> 00:09:11,600 that we cannot define habitability 222 00:09:16,550 --> 00:09:14,000 because it's very extra constant that we 223 00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:16,560 cannot quantify it because it's too 224 00:09:21,829 --> 00:09:19,360 complicated or that we cannot assess 225 00:09:23,190 --> 00:09:21,839 that ability of faraway words because we 226 00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:23,200 don't know all the details of the 227 00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:24,480 environment 228 00:09:28,949 --> 00:09:25,360 so 229 00:09:31,670 --> 00:09:28,959 i started asking myself how to define a 230 00:09:34,310 --> 00:09:31,680 measure habitability so that's the main 231 00:09:36,710 --> 00:09:34,320 a problem around 20 years ago in the 232 00:09:39,590 --> 00:09:36,720 early days of astrobiology field i 233 00:09:42,710 --> 00:09:39,600 started by looking for a definition 234 00:09:45,190 --> 00:09:42,720 including beyond the astrobiology field 235 00:09:47,190 --> 00:09:45,200 and i found i found that most dictionary 236 00:09:49,350 --> 00:09:47,200 definitions were associated to human 237 00:09:51,590 --> 00:09:49,360 habitation habitability disassociated 238 00:09:54,389 --> 00:09:51,600 with human habitation 239 00:09:56,949 --> 00:09:54,399 this this topic seemed important enough 240 00:09:59,910 --> 00:09:56,959 disabling the whole chapter in biology 241 00:10:02,470 --> 00:09:59,920 but to my surprise the words 242 00:10:06,069 --> 00:10:02,480 habitable and habitability were not 243 00:10:08,550 --> 00:10:06,079 generally present in biology textbooks 244 00:10:11,110 --> 00:10:08,560 therefore i thought that like everybody 245 00:10:14,150 --> 00:10:11,120 else that the topic of habitability was 246 00:10:16,310 --> 00:10:14,160 a new problem or question in biology 247 00:10:18,790 --> 00:10:16,320 brought by the astrobiology that the 248 00:10:19,990 --> 00:10:18,800 biological concept of habitability was 249 00:10:22,310 --> 00:10:20,000 exclusively 250 00:10:23,829 --> 00:10:22,320 an astrobiology topic 251 00:10:25,910 --> 00:10:23,839 but 252 00:10:28,470 --> 00:10:25,920 the first astrobiology paper to 253 00:10:30,870 --> 00:10:28,480 directory address how to quantify 254 00:10:34,310 --> 00:10:30,880 habitability was published by chuck and 255 00:10:36,470 --> 00:10:34,320 holland in astrobiology in 2007 256 00:10:38,230 --> 00:10:36,480 they suggest using the available 257 00:10:40,630 --> 00:10:38,240 powerful life 258 00:10:43,509 --> 00:10:40,640 or energy per time as the best proceed 259 00:10:46,069 --> 00:10:43,519 to quantify habitability 260 00:10:48,790 --> 00:10:46,079 a paper around that time by tory holler 261 00:10:51,509 --> 00:10:48,800 for nasa ames also concur with using 262 00:10:53,350 --> 00:10:51,519 energy to quantify habitability i was 263 00:10:55,509 --> 00:10:53,360 fascinated with this idea but not 264 00:10:56,949 --> 00:10:55,519 totally convinced it was the final 265 00:11:00,389 --> 00:10:56,959 solution 266 00:11:03,509 --> 00:11:00,399 then in around 2009 i found something 267 00:11:05,829 --> 00:11:03,519 that changed everything for me i found a 268 00:11:08,310 --> 00:11:05,839 1993 paper 269 00:11:10,310 --> 00:11:08,320 by rice and others not related to 270 00:11:13,509 --> 00:11:10,320 astrobiology at all 271 00:11:16,069 --> 00:11:13,519 but using the word habitability to refer 272 00:11:17,990 --> 00:11:16,079 to the quality of a semi-arid land for 273 00:11:20,310 --> 00:11:18,000 some type of birds 274 00:11:22,150 --> 00:11:20,320 the paper also pointed that their model 275 00:11:26,230 --> 00:11:22,160 was consistent with the habitat 276 00:11:29,190 --> 00:11:26,240 suitability indus used in ecology 277 00:11:31,430 --> 00:11:29,200 i searched for that phrase habitat 278 00:11:32,949 --> 00:11:31,440 suitability and went to the source and i 279 00:11:34,990 --> 00:11:32,959 was overblown 280 00:11:38,069 --> 00:11:35,000 i finally realized that what 281 00:11:40,710 --> 00:11:38,079 astrobiologists called habitability as a 282 00:11:42,069 --> 00:11:40,720 new problem was actually a whole problem 283 00:11:45,750 --> 00:11:42,079 provencali 284 00:11:49,030 --> 00:11:45,760 called habitat suitability in biology 285 00:11:50,710 --> 00:11:49,040 in the late 1970s ecologists were using 286 00:11:53,750 --> 00:11:50,720 different measures 287 00:11:55,910 --> 00:11:53,760 of habitability 288 00:11:57,590 --> 00:11:55,920 uh of the avita quality not all 289 00:11:59,430 --> 00:11:57,600 consistent between them 290 00:12:02,949 --> 00:11:59,440 same problem with astrobiologists are 291 00:12:05,430 --> 00:12:02,959 having today then in 1980 292 00:12:07,590 --> 00:12:05,440 the u.s fish and wildlife service 293 00:12:10,389 --> 00:12:07,600 decided to fix this and create a 294 00:12:13,030 --> 00:12:10,399 standard this description 295 00:12:14,949 --> 00:12:13,040 of habitability or a white paper 296 00:12:17,590 --> 00:12:14,959 which they call the habitat suitability 297 00:12:19,190 --> 00:12:17,600 in this mode i then realized that the 298 00:12:21,030 --> 00:12:19,200 problem of defining quantified 299 00:12:22,870 --> 00:12:21,040 habitability was already solved by a 300 00:12:27,430 --> 00:12:22,880 biologist 301 00:12:31,590 --> 00:12:29,350 habitability model for astrobiology 302 00:12:34,310 --> 00:12:31,600 describing how the astrobiology field 303 00:12:37,110 --> 00:12:34,320 can incorporate the ecology ecological 304 00:12:38,550 --> 00:12:37,120 definition of habitability 305 00:12:43,269 --> 00:12:38,560 so 306 00:12:45,430 --> 00:12:43,279 concepts of habitability habitability is 307 00:12:46,629 --> 00:12:45,440 defined as the suitability environment 308 00:12:48,790 --> 00:12:46,639 for life 309 00:12:50,550 --> 00:12:48,800 it is proportional to carrying capacity 310 00:12:53,110 --> 00:12:50,560 this is a key word in biology which is 311 00:12:55,590 --> 00:12:53,120 the maximum stable biomass that an 312 00:12:59,509 --> 00:12:55,600 environment can sustain this is how they 313 00:13:01,750 --> 00:12:59,519 quantify habitability in bio biology 314 00:13:04,389 --> 00:13:01,760 habitability is used to determine how a 315 00:13:05,990 --> 00:13:04,399 set of environmental factors impact life 316 00:13:08,150 --> 00:13:06,000 their presence or abundance the key 317 00:13:10,310 --> 00:13:08,160 thing here about this streaming is that 318 00:13:12,949 --> 00:13:10,320 the set of environmental factors are not 319 00:13:15,350 --> 00:13:12,959 necessarily the only important ones but 320 00:13:17,990 --> 00:13:15,360 the ones you want to understand how 321 00:13:19,990 --> 00:13:18,000 significant or not they are for life and 322 00:13:22,550 --> 00:13:20,000 everybody thinking about what all the 323 00:13:24,150 --> 00:13:22,560 factors that we need to combine no no 324 00:13:26,389 --> 00:13:24,160 you you 325 00:13:27,430 --> 00:13:26,399 do habitability by parts you want to 326 00:13:30,710 --> 00:13:27,440 understand 327 00:13:32,790 --> 00:13:30,720 a set of factors at a time 328 00:13:35,110 --> 00:13:32,800 and i love the classical elements 329 00:13:38,069 --> 00:13:35,120 analogy for the requirements of life 330 00:13:40,550 --> 00:13:38,079 life needs the classical energy elements 331 00:13:43,189 --> 00:13:40,560 air water earth and fire and more 332 00:13:44,150 --> 00:13:43,199 correctly a gas liquid solid and some 333 00:13:45,910 --> 00:13:44,160 energy 334 00:13:48,389 --> 00:13:45,920 one of the reason is that the elements 335 00:13:50,470 --> 00:13:48,399 necessary for dna and other biogenic 336 00:13:52,949 --> 00:13:50,480 elements are not available in a single 337 00:13:55,350 --> 00:13:52,959 state of matter so you need them for 338 00:13:57,509 --> 00:13:55,360 them to be mixed with a source of energy 339 00:14:04,069 --> 00:13:57,519 so follow the classical elements you're 340 00:14:07,910 --> 00:14:05,750 yeah very interesting i i like that you 341 00:14:10,629 --> 00:14:07,920 know you tie this back this idea of of 342 00:14:11,990 --> 00:14:10,639 habitat suitability indices um and this 343 00:14:13,350 --> 00:14:12,000 issue that you know some you know for 344 00:14:16,470 --> 00:14:13,360 instance planetary scientists and 345 00:14:18,230 --> 00:14:16,480 astrophysicists weren't reading old 346 00:14:20,150 --> 00:14:18,240 ecology papers or aware of what's going 347 00:14:21,990 --> 00:14:20,160 on in ecology it's one reason i love 348 00:14:24,230 --> 00:14:22,000 astrobiology so much is that we're kind 349 00:14:25,910 --> 00:14:24,240 of we're kind of breaking that structure 350 00:14:27,990 --> 00:14:25,920 of putting every science into its 351 00:14:29,590 --> 00:14:28,000 sub-sub-discipline where people don't 352 00:14:31,990 --> 00:14:29,600 talk to each other and it kind of fixes 353 00:14:33,350 --> 00:14:32,000 that by forcing us to think about what 354 00:14:35,430 --> 00:14:33,360 other people in different disciplines 355 00:14:37,430 --> 00:14:35,440 are doing um before we move on i do want 356 00:14:39,189 --> 00:14:37,440 to mention one of the polls that we had 357 00:14:40,150 --> 00:14:39,199 through the nasa astrobiology twitter 358 00:14:43,189 --> 00:14:40,160 account 359 00:14:45,189 --> 00:14:43,199 at nasa astrobio we asked all of the 360 00:14:47,910 --> 00:14:45,199 followers of the nasa astrobiology 361 00:14:50,150 --> 00:14:47,920 account just about how many of these 362 00:14:50,949 --> 00:14:50,160 exoplanets have we actually detected so 363 00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:50,959 far 364 00:14:55,389 --> 00:14:53,120 uh we had four potential answers either 365 00:14:58,710 --> 00:14:55,399 251 366 00:14:59,710 --> 00:14:58,720 3728 4500 367 00:15:01,430 --> 00:14:59,720 or 10 368 00:15:04,310 --> 00:15:01,440 502 369 00:15:06,230 --> 00:15:04,320 and the majority got the answer right at 370 00:15:07,910 --> 00:15:06,240 45 21. 371 00:15:09,910 --> 00:15:07,920 personally i didn't have that number 372 00:15:11,670 --> 00:15:09,920 memorized i just have a rough idea of 373 00:15:13,590 --> 00:15:11,680 where it is right now because i feel 374 00:15:15,670 --> 00:15:13,600 like every time i memorize a number for 375 00:15:17,670 --> 00:15:15,680 how many confirmed exoplanets we have 376 00:15:19,430 --> 00:15:17,680 that never changes you know days or 377 00:15:20,710 --> 00:15:19,440 weeks or months later and it's just 378 00:15:23,350 --> 00:15:20,720 there's no point in you know continually 379 00:15:26,230 --> 00:15:23,360 memorizing but um but we had a whole lot 380 00:15:29,269 --> 00:15:26,240 of votes uh 56.8 percent of those who 381 00:15:31,189 --> 00:15:29,279 voted 183 votes got it right um that's a 382 00:15:34,069 --> 00:15:31,199 lot of worlds out there and based on 383 00:15:35,910 --> 00:15:34,079 that soul number alone in a very close 384 00:15:38,150 --> 00:15:35,920 place to us we found exoplanets very 385 00:15:39,829 --> 00:15:38,160 close to our own solar system and then a 386 00:15:41,829 --> 00:15:39,839 bunch more kind of close to the center 387 00:15:44,550 --> 00:15:41,839 of the galaxy but we really haven't 388 00:15:46,870 --> 00:15:44,560 found any yet uh confirmed anywhere 389 00:15:49,030 --> 00:15:46,880 outside of that in the galaxy but just 390 00:15:52,310 --> 00:15:49,040 based on the math that means there's a 391 00:15:54,870 --> 00:15:52,320 lot of worlds out there um you know it 392 00:15:56,790 --> 00:15:54,880 could be 400 billion 800 billion maybe a 393 00:15:58,470 --> 00:15:56,800 trillion worlds out there we really 394 00:16:00,710 --> 00:15:58,480 don't know but we have a good estimate 395 00:16:03,110 --> 00:16:00,720 now that maybe there's at least 1.6 396 00:16:04,550 --> 00:16:03,120 worlds per star if not more 397 00:16:06,550 --> 00:16:04,560 um and so how many of those are 398 00:16:08,550 --> 00:16:06,560 habitable is a big question 399 00:16:10,790 --> 00:16:08,560 and so when i when i was first mentioned 400 00:16:12,870 --> 00:16:10,800 i was going to have you on the show uh a 401 00:16:14,230 --> 00:16:12,880 young graduate student reached out to me 402 00:16:15,910 --> 00:16:14,240 and said that they've actually been 403 00:16:18,069 --> 00:16:15,920 using your your habitability uh 404 00:16:20,230 --> 00:16:18,079 exoplanet uh habitability catalog for 405 00:16:22,150 --> 00:16:20,240 some time now and i wonder if you could 406 00:16:23,749 --> 00:16:22,160 tell our audience then about you know 407 00:16:25,350 --> 00:16:23,759 how you've developed the catalog and how 408 00:16:27,509 --> 00:16:25,360 these factors you mentioned earlier kind 409 00:16:28,629 --> 00:16:27,519 of build into this idea of of how we're 410 00:16:30,710 --> 00:16:28,639 now taking 411 00:16:32,629 --> 00:16:30,720 our idea of what could mean habitability 412 00:16:35,590 --> 00:16:32,639 and how we're actually now classifying 413 00:16:36,870 --> 00:16:35,600 potentially habitable worlds out there 414 00:16:39,590 --> 00:16:36,880 well 415 00:16:41,749 --> 00:16:39,600 we have the habit of exoplanet catalog 416 00:16:43,430 --> 00:16:41,759 it's an online database of potentially 417 00:16:45,990 --> 00:16:43,440 habitable words discoveries for 418 00:16:48,710 --> 00:16:46,000 scientists educators and general public 419 00:16:50,870 --> 00:16:48,720 it just started by accident 420 00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:50,880 i just wanted to keep track of the new 421 00:16:53,990 --> 00:16:52,160 discoveries 422 00:16:55,829 --> 00:16:54,000 and decide that why not put that 423 00:16:58,069 --> 00:16:55,839 everything online 424 00:17:01,670 --> 00:16:58,079 and using a little bit of art because i 425 00:17:02,710 --> 00:17:01,680 used to draw so now i have a another uh 426 00:17:04,870 --> 00:17:02,720 reason 427 00:17:07,510 --> 00:17:04,880 another excuse to 428 00:17:10,549 --> 00:17:07,520 to draw some nice images of a 429 00:17:13,350 --> 00:17:10,559 representation of exoplanets just for 430 00:17:16,549 --> 00:17:13,360 for visualization purposes only 431 00:17:19,829 --> 00:17:16,559 so we started with that catalog in 2011 432 00:17:20,949 --> 00:17:19,839 so this uh december 433 00:17:23,270 --> 00:17:20,959 uh 434 00:17:24,309 --> 00:17:23,280 fifth we celebrate ten years with the 435 00:17:26,549 --> 00:17:24,319 catalogue 436 00:17:28,710 --> 00:17:26,559 the color identify classifies and 437 00:17:31,110 --> 00:17:28,720 compare exoplanets of interest for the 438 00:17:33,830 --> 00:17:31,120 search for life in the universe latest 439 00:17:35,590 --> 00:17:33,840 update lists up to 60 potentially 440 00:17:39,909 --> 00:17:35,600 habitable words 441 00:17:41,750 --> 00:17:39,919 but only out of those 24 of those uh are 442 00:17:43,430 --> 00:17:41,760 what we call the conservative samples 443 00:17:45,190 --> 00:17:43,440 are more likely to have habitable 444 00:17:48,630 --> 00:17:45,200 conditions based on their signs and 445 00:17:51,190 --> 00:17:48,640 installation so i have to stress out 446 00:17:54,470 --> 00:17:51,200 that even that we have these nice images 447 00:17:56,710 --> 00:17:54,480 and views in our catalog page they are 448 00:17:59,110 --> 00:17:56,720 just active representation 449 00:18:00,870 --> 00:17:59,120 the only correct thing of those images 450 00:18:02,549 --> 00:18:00,880 is about their size and their 451 00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:02,559 uncertainties 452 00:18:07,830 --> 00:18:04,320 and that we know that they have the 453 00:18:09,990 --> 00:18:07,840 right orbit to be considered potentially 454 00:18:11,029 --> 00:18:10,000 habitable which we call the habitable 455 00:18:13,350 --> 00:18:11,039 zone 456 00:18:15,990 --> 00:18:13,360 or the stellar more properly the sterile 457 00:18:18,630 --> 00:18:16,000 habitable zone so they are more likely 458 00:18:21,190 --> 00:18:18,640 to have uh good temperatures given if 459 00:18:23,830 --> 00:18:21,200 they have an atmosphere just to have a 460 00:18:26,390 --> 00:18:23,840 liquid water at the surface 461 00:18:29,110 --> 00:18:26,400 so from all these objects 462 00:18:31,830 --> 00:18:29,120 they could be right there could be wrong 463 00:18:32,950 --> 00:18:31,840 they could be oceans were there they 464 00:18:35,029 --> 00:18:32,960 could be 465 00:18:37,909 --> 00:18:35,039 uh dry lands 466 00:18:40,150 --> 00:18:37,919 worse without atmosphere without water 467 00:18:42,950 --> 00:18:40,160 or even um 468 00:18:44,870 --> 00:18:42,960 even planets that are too big 469 00:18:47,270 --> 00:18:44,880 based on our the certainty that are 470 00:18:49,990 --> 00:18:47,280 probably more like mini net we don't 471 00:18:52,950 --> 00:18:50,000 know we have this sample there and what 472 00:18:53,830 --> 00:18:52,960 we need to do is explore each of each 473 00:18:56,230 --> 00:18:53,840 one 474 00:18:58,549 --> 00:18:56,240 as good as possible 475 00:19:01,190 --> 00:18:58,559 probably the most interesting planet are 476 00:19:03,590 --> 00:19:01,200 those around trap is one 477 00:19:05,750 --> 00:19:03,600 because it has three or even four 478 00:19:07,110 --> 00:19:05,760 planets in the habitable zone and close 479 00:19:09,110 --> 00:19:07,120 enough to prepare for further 480 00:19:11,350 --> 00:19:09,120 characterization for with future 481 00:19:13,190 --> 00:19:11,360 telescopes so that's one big problem 482 00:19:15,990 --> 00:19:13,200 that many of those planets are too far 483 00:19:18,310 --> 00:19:16,000 and we won't know anything about or more 484 00:19:19,510 --> 00:19:18,320 in the future but a few of those are 485 00:19:21,590 --> 00:19:19,520 close enough 486 00:19:24,310 --> 00:19:21,600 that that we will go the next step 487 00:19:26,390 --> 00:19:24,320 learning about their atmosphere 488 00:19:27,909 --> 00:19:26,400 eventually something about the surface 489 00:19:30,630 --> 00:19:27,919 properties 490 00:19:34,870 --> 00:19:30,640 and uh in between probably if they are 491 00:19:37,669 --> 00:19:36,310 yeah and that so 492 00:19:39,350 --> 00:19:37,679 myself and some others have argued 493 00:19:41,590 --> 00:19:39,360 before that the word habitable zone 494 00:19:43,830 --> 00:19:41,600 itself is potentially presumptive and 495 00:19:45,029 --> 00:19:43,840 misleading um because we don't know as 496 00:19:47,350 --> 00:19:45,039 you mentioned what those worlds are 497 00:19:49,750 --> 00:19:47,360 actually like inside of that zone just 498 00:19:51,510 --> 00:19:49,760 based on its orbital position alone and 499 00:19:52,870 --> 00:19:51,520 so i'm wondering if i can ask you this 500 00:19:54,870 --> 00:19:52,880 question um 501 00:19:58,070 --> 00:19:54,880 what happens if we find out that there 502 00:20:00,070 --> 00:19:58,080 is life in europa's ocean and enceladus 503 00:20:01,909 --> 00:20:00,080 ocean and maybe we discover signs of 504 00:20:03,909 --> 00:20:01,919 life from a titanian ocean at the 505 00:20:06,390 --> 00:20:03,919 surface with dragonfly what if we 506 00:20:09,430 --> 00:20:06,400 discover that life is potentially more 507 00:20:10,630 --> 00:20:09,440 common on icy ocean worlds does that 508 00:20:13,350 --> 00:20:10,640 mean we've been looking in the wrong 509 00:20:15,190 --> 00:20:13,360 place or are we still very justified in 510 00:20:17,110 --> 00:20:15,200 looking in this realm of the goldilocks 511 00:20:18,390 --> 00:20:17,120 zone for liquid water because of what we 512 00:20:19,350 --> 00:20:18,400 currently know 513 00:20:21,909 --> 00:20:19,360 okay 514 00:20:24,310 --> 00:20:21,919 oh i know that the concept of the 515 00:20:26,950 --> 00:20:24,320 habitable sum is confusing 516 00:20:29,190 --> 00:20:26,960 but we should state that there are two 517 00:20:33,270 --> 00:20:29,200 concepts here if you're using the word 518 00:20:36,310 --> 00:20:33,280 the habitable song as a a general uh uh 519 00:20:38,950 --> 00:20:36,320 statement or word transpiration or as a 520 00:20:41,430 --> 00:20:38,960 proper name and here when we call the 521 00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:41,440 the habitable song using astronomy it's 522 00:20:45,110 --> 00:20:43,200 used as a proper name you can 523 00:20:46,710 --> 00:20:45,120 collaborate with the stellar potentially 524 00:20:49,350 --> 00:20:46,720 habitable zone 525 00:20:52,149 --> 00:20:49,360 and it says particular song and and 526 00:20:54,950 --> 00:20:52,159 relating that to what ecologists do 527 00:20:57,510 --> 00:20:54,960 regarding habitability this totally 528 00:21:00,310 --> 00:20:57,520 makes sense because when you evaluate 529 00:21:02,950 --> 00:21:00,320 habitability you evaluate a certain 530 00:21:04,870 --> 00:21:02,960 environment under certain conditions on 531 00:21:07,110 --> 00:21:04,880 the certain variables 532 00:21:10,549 --> 00:21:07,120 so this particular stellar habitable 533 00:21:13,990 --> 00:21:10,559 zone are for earth-like planets surface 534 00:21:16,870 --> 00:21:14,000 or liquid water and then surface life 535 00:21:18,870 --> 00:21:16,880 but the fact is there is a library of 536 00:21:21,110 --> 00:21:18,880 habitable zones 537 00:21:23,830 --> 00:21:21,120 you can consider planetary habitable 538 00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:23,840 zones you can consider sterile habitable 539 00:21:28,310 --> 00:21:26,000 zones around stars like this one 540 00:21:30,630 --> 00:21:28,320 and the classical habitable zone or even 541 00:21:32,549 --> 00:21:30,640 galactic habitable zones 542 00:21:34,870 --> 00:21:32,559 and if you are considering planetary 543 00:21:36,549 --> 00:21:34,880 habitable zones you can 544 00:21:38,870 --> 00:21:36,559 decide and this is something that we 545 00:21:40,630 --> 00:21:38,880 learned from ecologies once you want to 546 00:21:43,270 --> 00:21:40,640 evaluate the habitability of the system 547 00:21:44,549 --> 00:21:43,280 you have to decide the space that you 548 00:21:46,149 --> 00:21:44,559 are considering 549 00:21:47,669 --> 00:21:46,159 and the time frame that you're 550 00:21:50,310 --> 00:21:47,679 considering 551 00:21:52,789 --> 00:21:50,320 and the space here could be just surface 552 00:21:54,870 --> 00:21:52,799 or it could be surface or could be that 553 00:21:58,470 --> 00:21:54,880 surface including oceans 554 00:21:59,990 --> 00:21:58,480 and then uh you will create a library 555 00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:00,000 so eventually we will create something 556 00:22:04,630 --> 00:22:02,640 like the book the habitable zones and 557 00:22:07,350 --> 00:22:04,640 then a library of different 558 00:22:09,990 --> 00:22:07,360 considerations and including those in 559 00:22:12,310 --> 00:22:10,000 the surface and the oceans and like in 560 00:22:15,029 --> 00:22:12,320 the solar system as you mentioned and 561 00:22:17,590 --> 00:22:15,039 like europa and insalados and and even 562 00:22:18,950 --> 00:22:17,600 the titan surface and the on the life as 563 00:22:21,029 --> 00:22:18,960 we don't know it 564 00:22:23,750 --> 00:22:21,039 so though those are different habitable 565 00:22:25,590 --> 00:22:23,760 zones it will be amazing yeah the only 566 00:22:27,430 --> 00:22:25,600 thing that that kind of that brings up a 567 00:22:29,430 --> 00:22:27,440 really good point too 568 00:22:31,110 --> 00:22:29,440 but that brings a good point uh you've 569 00:22:32,390 --> 00:22:31,120 recently announced this new planet hab 570 00:22:34,230 --> 00:22:32,400 collaboration 571 00:22:35,430 --> 00:22:34,240 where yourself and a rather large group 572 00:22:36,870 --> 00:22:35,440 of researchers are going to work 573 00:22:38,789 --> 00:22:36,880 together to kind of 574 00:22:41,029 --> 00:22:38,799 help us define and develop these metrics 575 00:22:42,870 --> 00:22:41,039 of what makes something habitable um i 576 00:22:45,350 --> 00:22:42,880 wonder if you can speak to the current 577 00:22:46,870 --> 00:22:45,360 work uh for the planethab collaboration 578 00:22:49,190 --> 00:22:46,880 and how you envision the future moving 579 00:22:53,270 --> 00:22:49,200 forward with that team 580 00:22:56,070 --> 00:22:53,280 i think this is a re-emerging field 581 00:22:57,669 --> 00:22:56,080 so right now ecologists have been doing 582 00:22:59,350 --> 00:22:57,679 them from forever 583 00:23:01,510 --> 00:22:59,360 since the 70s 584 00:23:03,830 --> 00:23:01,520 now we are starting to apply this model 585 00:23:06,549 --> 00:23:03,840 to astrobiology so it is applica 586 00:23:09,270 --> 00:23:06,559 different application and extension of 587 00:23:11,270 --> 00:23:09,280 these ideas so that's why we have a 588 00:23:12,950 --> 00:23:11,280 large collaboration of over 30 589 00:23:15,830 --> 00:23:12,960 scientists from different disciplines 590 00:23:17,669 --> 00:23:15,840 from astronomy to biology and ecology 591 00:23:20,070 --> 00:23:17,679 very important 592 00:23:23,270 --> 00:23:20,080 that we're trying to get together all 593 00:23:24,390 --> 00:23:23,280 these ideas and creating a different 594 00:23:27,510 --> 00:23:24,400 models 595 00:23:31,110 --> 00:23:27,520 so the idea now is that 596 00:23:34,789 --> 00:23:31,120 now that we have this uh uh uh 597 00:23:37,190 --> 00:23:34,799 white paper guiding on how it works 598 00:23:39,029 --> 00:23:37,200 then we will address specific 599 00:23:39,990 --> 00:23:39,039 environments we are working with people 600 00:23:41,909 --> 00:23:40,000 uh 601 00:23:44,950 --> 00:23:41,919 re-evaluating the habitability of the 602 00:23:48,230 --> 00:23:44,960 surface of mars and not to say that mars 603 00:23:51,510 --> 00:23:48,240 is habitable but we can say how bad it 604 00:23:53,990 --> 00:23:51,520 is also so you think that this model is 605 00:23:55,750 --> 00:23:54,000 just to the idea to tell just how is 606 00:23:57,430 --> 00:23:55,760 this available or not that's an 607 00:23:59,190 --> 00:23:57,440 oversimplification 608 00:24:01,510 --> 00:23:59,200 once you're comparing environment you 609 00:24:04,390 --> 00:24:01,520 want you really want to know which one 610 00:24:08,230 --> 00:24:04,400 are worse or good or bad in the case of 611 00:24:10,070 --> 00:24:08,240 mars we can have a scale how bad it is 612 00:24:12,630 --> 00:24:10,080 and then move forward 613 00:24:14,710 --> 00:24:12,640 deeper to the surface to other better 614 00:24:16,549 --> 00:24:14,720 environments so that's the idea and 615 00:24:20,230 --> 00:24:16,559 other people working with the oceans in 616 00:24:25,190 --> 00:24:20,240 europa and then each each uh environment 617 00:24:28,230 --> 00:24:26,789 yeah so i'm really glad you have this 618 00:24:30,230 --> 00:24:28,240 collaboration now so i'm looking forward 619 00:24:31,750 --> 00:24:30,240 to the work coming out of that i know i 620 00:24:34,230 --> 00:24:31,760 read that you have a session at apps 621 00:24:36,470 --> 00:24:34,240 icon 2022 that i'm sure our audience 622 00:24:38,549 --> 00:24:36,480 will look forward to participating in or 623 00:24:40,230 --> 00:24:38,559 coming to watch if they're registered 624 00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:40,240 i want to switch the conversation just a 625 00:24:43,669 --> 00:24:41,440 little bit in the time that you and i 626 00:24:44,789 --> 00:24:43,679 have left for i open it up to audience 627 00:24:46,310 --> 00:24:44,799 questions 628 00:24:48,310 --> 00:24:46,320 our audience right now can ask their 629 00:24:50,310 --> 00:24:48,320 questions on the facebook chat or on the 630 00:24:52,070 --> 00:24:50,320 youtube chat and we will do our best to 631 00:24:55,190 --> 00:24:52,080 get those questions over so that we can 632 00:24:57,750 --> 00:24:55,200 ask them of professor mendez um we did 633 00:24:59,110 --> 00:24:57,760 have one other nasa astro bio poll on 634 00:25:01,029 --> 00:24:59,120 the twitter 635 00:25:03,350 --> 00:25:01,039 at nasa astrobio 636 00:25:05,590 --> 00:25:03,360 we asked everyone when was the very 637 00:25:07,990 --> 00:25:05,600 first exoplanets detected when were the 638 00:25:10,789 --> 00:25:08,000 first exoplanets detected uh using 639 00:25:12,549 --> 00:25:10,799 arecibo by the way uh and we had a few 640 00:25:16,310 --> 00:25:12,559 answers in there the two that had the 641 00:25:18,950 --> 00:25:16,320 most were 1992 and 1995. 642 00:25:21,110 --> 00:25:18,960 so we had some people argue it was 95 643 00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:21,120 and yes that was when we found 51 pega 644 00:25:25,669 --> 00:25:23,760 cb the first exoplanet around a main 645 00:25:27,430 --> 00:25:25,679 sequence star but actually the very 646 00:25:28,950 --> 00:25:27,440 first detections that we know of came in 647 00:25:31,110 --> 00:25:28,960 1992 648 00:25:33,430 --> 00:25:31,120 uh finding exoplanets around pulsars was 649 00:25:36,230 --> 00:25:33,440 the very first time we found exoplanets 650 00:25:38,870 --> 00:25:36,240 out there and now we have over 4 500 and 651 00:25:41,510 --> 00:25:38,880 aracebo was part of that history of 652 00:25:43,510 --> 00:25:41,520 these detections of exoplanets out there 653 00:25:45,269 --> 00:25:43,520 arecibo had its construction completed 654 00:25:47,430 --> 00:25:45,279 in 1963. 655 00:25:49,269 --> 00:25:47,440 many of us who are nerds for things like 656 00:25:52,549 --> 00:25:49,279 this we know that era sibo is featured 657 00:25:54,390 --> 00:25:52,559 in films like the amazing contact 658 00:25:56,630 --> 00:25:54,400 as well as in golden eye and several 659 00:25:59,029 --> 00:25:56,640 other movies uh we've seen pictures of 660 00:26:00,870 --> 00:25:59,039 arecibo you know from the time we were 661 00:26:02,789 --> 00:26:00,880 children thinking about this telescope 662 00:26:05,110 --> 00:26:02,799 and how important it was and i think 663 00:26:07,909 --> 00:26:05,120 many of you hopefully are also aware 664 00:26:09,830 --> 00:26:07,919 that we lost the main telescope at the 665 00:26:11,190 --> 00:26:09,840 arizona observatory 666 00:26:12,710 --> 00:26:11,200 last year 667 00:26:14,549 --> 00:26:12,720 the main 668 00:26:15,590 --> 00:26:14,559 telescope collapsed and took out the 669 00:26:17,190 --> 00:26:15,600 dish 670 00:26:19,350 --> 00:26:17,200 and this was kind of you know in some 671 00:26:21,669 --> 00:26:19,360 ways a long time coming too there was a 672 00:26:23,269 --> 00:26:21,679 major hurricane in puerto rico in 2017 673 00:26:25,430 --> 00:26:23,279 hurricane maria 674 00:26:27,909 --> 00:26:25,440 it caused a large number of fatalities a 675 00:26:29,430 --> 00:26:27,919 very large amount of damage to property 676 00:26:33,029 --> 00:26:29,440 it was a devastating hurricane for the 677 00:26:34,789 --> 00:26:33,039 island and it also damaged arecibo and 678 00:26:36,789 --> 00:26:34,799 with that with a lack of funding to 679 00:26:39,110 --> 00:26:36,799 support upgrading the telescope 680 00:26:40,149 --> 00:26:39,120 maintaining it uh we led to this 681 00:26:42,549 --> 00:26:40,159 collapse 682 00:26:45,269 --> 00:26:42,559 uh and so professor mendez you've used 683 00:26:48,630 --> 00:26:45,279 aracebo for observations um you know 684 00:26:50,470 --> 00:26:48,640 you're a professor um nearby um to the 685 00:26:52,149 --> 00:26:50,480 observatory i'm wondering if you could 686 00:26:55,430 --> 00:26:52,159 tell us you know about what this really 687 00:26:56,549 --> 00:26:55,440 meant to young people in puerto rico and 688 00:27:00,549 --> 00:26:56,559 you know really what led to this 689 00:27:06,070 --> 00:27:03,110 that was very hard for everybody here in 690 00:27:09,110 --> 00:27:06,080 puerto rico arecibo is iconic not only 691 00:27:11,029 --> 00:27:09,120 in the world but also uh for puerto rico 692 00:27:13,029 --> 00:27:11,039 we are very proud 693 00:27:16,710 --> 00:27:13,039 of our observatory 694 00:27:18,230 --> 00:27:16,720 but uh we are trying to move forward 695 00:27:20,310 --> 00:27:18,240 and i 696 00:27:22,789 --> 00:27:20,320 as i said i stood the possibility of 697 00:27:25,190 --> 00:27:22,799 life as elsewhere in the theoretical 698 00:27:26,870 --> 00:27:25,200 framework but we also use the arecibo 699 00:27:28,389 --> 00:27:26,880 observatory to study start with 700 00:27:31,350 --> 00:27:28,399 potentially known 701 00:27:33,510 --> 00:27:31,360 uh the non-potentially habitable planets 702 00:27:35,590 --> 00:27:33,520 we want to understand the impact of 703 00:27:36,630 --> 00:27:35,600 radiation environmental stars on their 704 00:27:38,630 --> 00:27:36,640 planet 705 00:27:40,710 --> 00:27:38,640 because some stars are very stable like 706 00:27:42,470 --> 00:27:40,720 our sun but others are like red door 707 00:27:44,310 --> 00:27:42,480 stars are very active constantly 708 00:27:46,710 --> 00:27:44,320 emitting extra doses of radiation which 709 00:27:49,350 --> 00:27:46,720 could degrade the atmosphere of planets 710 00:27:51,190 --> 00:27:49,360 even made them not suitable for light 711 00:27:53,029 --> 00:27:51,200 i have been monitoring from the receiver 712 00:27:53,990 --> 00:27:53,039 observatory some of these after start 713 00:27:56,230 --> 00:27:54,000 for the 714 00:28:00,070 --> 00:27:56,240 last five four years 715 00:28:03,029 --> 00:28:00,080 so i used observatory before maria and i 716 00:28:06,710 --> 00:28:03,039 noticed the after the hurricane 717 00:28:09,990 --> 00:28:06,720 how uh the shaking of the structure made 718 00:28:12,870 --> 00:28:10,000 the observations a little bit sense less 719 00:28:13,750 --> 00:28:12,880 bit sensitive it was totally usable 720 00:28:18,789 --> 00:28:13,760 yet 721 00:28:23,110 --> 00:28:20,389 then uh 722 00:28:26,470 --> 00:28:23,120 a little bit of history about this in 723 00:28:28,310 --> 00:28:26,480 august 10 uh 2020 the auxiliary cable 724 00:28:31,510 --> 00:28:28,320 supported the receiver platform platform 725 00:28:33,029 --> 00:28:31,520 broke causing a 100 feet a long gash on 726 00:28:35,669 --> 00:28:33,039 the reflector dish 727 00:28:36,630 --> 00:28:35,679 i used observatory just one week before 728 00:28:38,470 --> 00:28:36,640 that 729 00:28:39,590 --> 00:28:38,480 and i was planning to involve more 730 00:28:43,510 --> 00:28:39,600 students 731 00:28:45,669 --> 00:28:43,520 the observatory 732 00:28:48,630 --> 00:28:45,679 and i was planning to trade more and 733 00:28:50,149 --> 00:28:48,640 that semester and that starting august 734 00:28:53,510 --> 00:28:50,159 we had the issue 735 00:28:56,789 --> 00:28:53,520 then on november 6 a second uh 736 00:28:59,190 --> 00:28:56,799 2020 receive call cable broke 737 00:29:01,590 --> 00:28:59,200 this time involving one of the four long 738 00:29:02,950 --> 00:29:01,600 main support cables causing additional 739 00:29:05,110 --> 00:29:02,960 damage 740 00:29:06,630 --> 00:29:05,120 and finally in the early morning of 741 00:29:08,710 --> 00:29:06,640 december first 742 00:29:10,470 --> 00:29:08,720 uh 2020 the main platform with all the 743 00:29:13,590 --> 00:29:10,480 telescope receiver collapse destroying 744 00:29:16,310 --> 00:29:13,600 the telescope today the observatory 745 00:29:19,350 --> 00:29:16,320 keeps working using other less known 746 00:29:21,830 --> 00:29:19,360 instruments so we only lost the big 747 00:29:24,070 --> 00:29:21,840 famous telescope but the receiver 748 00:29:26,950 --> 00:29:24,080 observatory is still working there the 749 00:29:29,029 --> 00:29:26,960 buildings the people everybody's there 750 00:29:31,750 --> 00:29:29,039 they are working toward replacing or 751 00:29:35,909 --> 00:29:31,760 upgrading his famous telescope sometime 752 00:29:40,789 --> 00:29:38,870 that's fantastic and no i i had never 753 00:29:42,230 --> 00:29:40,799 honestly visited arecibo unfortunately 754 00:29:43,430 --> 00:29:42,240 i've never been there but i've heard 755 00:29:44,549 --> 00:29:43,440 from a lot of friends and you mentioned 756 00:29:46,789 --> 00:29:44,559 when you kind of first started in 757 00:29:48,149 --> 00:29:46,799 astrobiology there weren't anyone there 758 00:29:49,590 --> 00:29:48,159 wasn't anyone else from puerto rico and 759 00:29:52,789 --> 00:29:49,600 now we have several puerto rican 760 00:29:54,549 --> 00:29:52,799 scientists in astrobiology and planetary 761 00:29:56,549 --> 00:29:54,559 science and you know you have to wonder 762 00:29:59,190 --> 00:29:56,559 was was the arecibo observatory part of 763 00:30:01,029 --> 00:29:59,200 what inspired them i've heard from many 764 00:30:03,750 --> 00:30:01,039 uh folks from puerto rico that that 765 00:30:05,510 --> 00:30:03,760 having arecibo was not only iconic but 766 00:30:06,870 --> 00:30:05,520 really inspired them to feel like part 767 00:30:08,950 --> 00:30:06,880 of what we're doing right now in 768 00:30:11,029 --> 00:30:08,960 exploring the cosmos and and better 769 00:30:12,789 --> 00:30:11,039 understanding the future i'll also say 770 00:30:15,909 --> 00:30:12,799 that one thing that i learned and i'm 771 00:30:17,350 --> 00:30:15,919 sure many others did was the phrase 772 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:17,360 might pronounce this wrong is it is it 773 00:30:22,549 --> 00:30:18,850 wepa 774 00:30:24,549 --> 00:30:22,559 [Laughter] 775 00:30:26,310 --> 00:30:24,559 so i saw this phrase over and over again 776 00:30:28,230 --> 00:30:26,320 on twitter i had to look it up to find 777 00:30:30,070 --> 00:30:28,240 out what this phrase was that was being 778 00:30:31,909 --> 00:30:30,080 used over and over again 779 00:30:33,669 --> 00:30:31,919 and i saw like a lot of camaraderie and 780 00:30:36,549 --> 00:30:33,679 support from the community from from 781 00:30:38,710 --> 00:30:36,559 puerto rico for arecibo and for the 782 00:30:39,669 --> 00:30:38,720 potential future to support a potential 783 00:30:41,669 --> 00:30:39,679 future 784 00:30:43,110 --> 00:30:41,679 for the telescope for the observatory 785 00:30:45,430 --> 00:30:43,120 i'm very glad you mentioned that the 786 00:30:47,830 --> 00:30:45,440 observatory is still functioning and 787 00:30:50,710 --> 00:30:47,840 there is a plan a potential plan for a 788 00:30:52,389 --> 00:30:50,720 future of a larger telescope at the 789 00:30:54,230 --> 00:30:52,399 observatory i'm wondering if you could 790 00:30:56,310 --> 00:30:54,240 tell us a bit about what that looks like 791 00:30:58,470 --> 00:30:56,320 right now um we're getting close to one 792 00:30:59,830 --> 00:30:58,480 year after the collapse 793 00:31:01,110 --> 00:30:59,840 how do you envision the future of 794 00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:01,120 arecibo 795 00:31:03,830 --> 00:31:02,000 yes 796 00:31:06,149 --> 00:31:03,840 scientists there and all scientists 797 00:31:08,630 --> 00:31:06,159 around the world the 798 00:31:11,110 --> 00:31:08,640 community of arecibo users are working 799 00:31:13,430 --> 00:31:11,120 toward the future observatory 800 00:31:15,509 --> 00:31:13,440 they are planning things in the short 801 00:31:18,389 --> 00:31:15,519 term and the long term 802 00:31:20,870 --> 00:31:18,399 for the short term probably next year so 803 00:31:22,549 --> 00:31:20,880 other instruments smaller intro 804 00:31:23,750 --> 00:31:22,559 instrument located 805 00:31:26,950 --> 00:31:23,760 throughout the 806 00:31:27,750 --> 00:31:26,960 arecibo observatory campus 807 00:31:29,990 --> 00:31:27,760 but 808 00:31:31,110 --> 00:31:30,000 eventually there are two possible 809 00:31:33,669 --> 00:31:31,120 options 810 00:31:37,669 --> 00:31:33,679 the observatory could be fixed 811 00:31:39,190 --> 00:31:37,679 uh the main dish seventy percent of the 812 00:31:42,149 --> 00:31:39,200 seventy-five percent of the main dish is 813 00:31:45,350 --> 00:31:42,159 still working so that's easy to repair 814 00:31:48,549 --> 00:31:45,360 so what collapse was the main receivers 815 00:31:51,269 --> 00:31:48,559 that was hanging by three towers 816 00:31:54,630 --> 00:31:51,279 and that was the most expensive part 817 00:31:57,350 --> 00:31:54,640 but there are other ways to fix that if 818 00:31:58,549 --> 00:31:57,360 you put the receivers instead of hanging 819 00:32:00,470 --> 00:31:58,559 at the top 820 00:32:04,630 --> 00:32:00,480 at the bottom 821 00:32:07,750 --> 00:32:04,640 and then hanging a secondary reflector 822 00:32:10,070 --> 00:32:07,760 like like a cassegrain telescope 823 00:32:12,630 --> 00:32:10,080 so that's one alternative to fix the 824 00:32:15,830 --> 00:32:12,640 telescope but that if that happens it 825 00:32:17,990 --> 00:32:15,840 will take five or ten years 826 00:32:20,630 --> 00:32:18,000 but there are other options 827 00:32:23,509 --> 00:32:20,640 built a totally new telescope in the 828 00:32:24,789 --> 00:32:23,519 next generation a receivable telescope 829 00:32:27,350 --> 00:32:24,799 ringgit 830 00:32:29,669 --> 00:32:27,360 and this is one idea that 831 00:32:30,789 --> 00:32:29,679 we are proposing with the receivo 832 00:32:32,230 --> 00:32:30,799 community 833 00:32:34,950 --> 00:32:32,240 of scientists 834 00:32:37,350 --> 00:32:34,960 is that uh building a face array 835 00:32:39,350 --> 00:32:37,360 telescope so it will 836 00:32:41,669 --> 00:32:39,360 totally look different it will be 837 00:32:45,269 --> 00:32:41,679 instead of one single dish will be 838 00:32:47,110 --> 00:32:45,279 thousands or some smaller dishes 839 00:32:50,149 --> 00:32:47,120 working together 840 00:32:53,190 --> 00:32:50,159 and uh in a face array mode 841 00:32:56,549 --> 00:32:53,200 and that means that you can do 842 00:32:59,830 --> 00:32:56,559 you will have a more sensitive telescope 843 00:33:02,710 --> 00:32:59,840 and it will i will be able to without 844 00:33:05,190 --> 00:33:02,720 moving that much to observe different 845 00:33:08,230 --> 00:33:05,200 video in the sky even so it will be put 846 00:33:10,630 --> 00:33:08,240 in a platform that is movable so you 847 00:33:12,389 --> 00:33:10,640 will have a longer 848 00:33:15,029 --> 00:33:12,399 region of the sky that you will be 849 00:33:18,070 --> 00:33:15,039 observing and you will be observing 850 00:33:20,070 --> 00:33:18,080 places never seen before by any big 851 00:33:23,110 --> 00:33:20,080 radio telescope because 852 00:33:26,310 --> 00:33:23,120 this radio telescope like the one in 853 00:33:27,669 --> 00:33:26,320 china fast have limited capability of 854 00:33:28,789 --> 00:33:27,679 the sky 855 00:33:32,630 --> 00:33:28,799 that uh 856 00:33:33,750 --> 00:33:32,640 uh that you you can do so but that 857 00:33:36,149 --> 00:33:33,760 uh 858 00:33:38,630 --> 00:33:36,159 next generation telescope probably is 859 00:33:40,310 --> 00:33:38,640 something for 10 or or 860 00:33:43,350 --> 00:33:40,320 15 year frames 861 00:33:45,909 --> 00:33:43,360 so the community is working to uh 862 00:33:46,630 --> 00:33:45,919 writing proposals in between 863 00:33:55,990 --> 00:33:46,640 and 864 00:33:57,029 --> 00:33:56,000 see what that looks like i know there's 865 00:33:58,470 --> 00:33:57,039 a lot of people out there who are 866 00:34:00,149 --> 00:33:58,480 curious to see how they can be involved 867 00:34:01,830 --> 00:34:00,159 in supporting the telescope and the 868 00:34:03,830 --> 00:34:01,840 future of the observatory 869 00:34:05,110 --> 00:34:03,840 um i i do i realize we're kind of 870 00:34:07,190 --> 00:34:05,120 running over on time from you know you 871 00:34:08,790 --> 00:34:07,200 and i discussing things and i do want to 872 00:34:11,030 --> 00:34:08,800 open it up to the audience questions 873 00:34:13,270 --> 00:34:11,040 here as soon as i can um i have one more 874 00:34:14,629 --> 00:34:13,280 question though of my own first um you 875 00:34:16,710 --> 00:34:14,639 know so you know with looking at 876 00:34:18,629 --> 00:34:16,720 potentially habitable exoplanets out 877 00:34:20,470 --> 00:34:18,639 there we have some really incredible 878 00:34:22,710 --> 00:34:20,480 telescopes coming up soon the james webb 879 00:34:25,829 --> 00:34:22,720 space telescope the nancy grace roman 880 00:34:27,510 --> 00:34:25,839 telescope uh we'll hear soon from the 881 00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:27,520 planetary decadal about what might 882 00:34:30,149 --> 00:34:28,320 happen 883 00:34:31,589 --> 00:34:30,159 soon with maybe levoir or habex or one 884 00:34:33,589 --> 00:34:31,599 of these other options for a next 885 00:34:35,030 --> 00:34:33,599 generation large telescope there's 886 00:34:36,869 --> 00:34:35,040 definitely a lot of things coming coming 887 00:34:40,470 --> 00:34:36,879 in the near future and in the next few 888 00:34:42,790 --> 00:34:40,480 decades for us to observe exoplanets to 889 00:34:44,950 --> 00:34:42,800 look at their atmospheres maybe one day 890 00:34:46,230 --> 00:34:44,960 in the not too too distant future maybe 891 00:34:48,310 --> 00:34:46,240 even understanding a bit of their 892 00:34:49,510 --> 00:34:48,320 surface processes what their surfaces 893 00:34:51,669 --> 00:34:49,520 look like 894 00:34:54,149 --> 00:34:51,679 i'm wondering so say say you weren't 895 00:34:56,069 --> 00:34:54,159 limited by funding you could build any 896 00:34:57,670 --> 00:34:56,079 telescope you wanted to to look at 897 00:34:59,589 --> 00:34:57,680 anything you wanted to 898 00:35:02,310 --> 00:34:59,599 what telescope would you build and what 899 00:35:03,990 --> 00:35:02,320 would you look at 900 00:35:06,230 --> 00:35:04,000 that's fascinating 901 00:35:07,349 --> 00:35:06,240 the last decade we have been collecting 902 00:35:09,270 --> 00:35:07,359 plants 903 00:35:11,750 --> 00:35:09,280 or places to look 904 00:35:14,870 --> 00:35:11,760 now we have the places to look and 905 00:35:18,550 --> 00:35:14,880 in this decade we will try to get some 906 00:35:19,910 --> 00:35:18,560 idea of their atmosphere if any 907 00:35:23,430 --> 00:35:19,920 then eventually 908 00:35:24,550 --> 00:35:23,440 properties about the surface and and and 909 00:35:28,470 --> 00:35:24,560 and life 910 00:35:34,390 --> 00:35:31,589 big net thing to do will be an array of 911 00:35:37,109 --> 00:35:34,400 telescopes in a space 912 00:35:38,950 --> 00:35:37,119 and this array will not only you can 913 00:35:41,670 --> 00:35:38,960 build star by building our rail 914 00:35:44,870 --> 00:35:41,680 telescope of on earth but then it will 915 00:35:47,910 --> 00:35:44,880 be to have many telescopes in orbit 916 00:35:51,430 --> 00:35:47,920 including ones in the orbit opposite 917 00:35:54,710 --> 00:35:51,440 to to earth orbiting our sun so you will 918 00:35:56,630 --> 00:35:54,720 have a constant instantaneous baseline 919 00:35:57,430 --> 00:35:56,640 for interferometry 920 00:36:00,310 --> 00:35:57,440 and 921 00:36:02,950 --> 00:36:00,320 also uh an increase your not only your 922 00:36:05,510 --> 00:36:02,960 sensitivity if you have mini telescope 923 00:36:08,470 --> 00:36:05,520 but also because of the distance 924 00:36:10,310 --> 00:36:08,480 the spatial resolution of telescope so i 925 00:36:13,030 --> 00:36:10,320 think that will be the 926 00:36:17,190 --> 00:36:13,040 thing so not just one telescope many 927 00:36:20,870 --> 00:36:19,349 awesome i look forward to it the mendez 928 00:36:22,230 --> 00:36:20,880 telescope um 929 00:36:24,150 --> 00:36:22,240 when it's in space i look forward to 930 00:36:25,430 --> 00:36:24,160 seeing that happen um we can go to the 931 00:36:26,950 --> 00:36:25,440 audience q a now though we do have a 932 00:36:28,950 --> 00:36:26,960 bunch of questions that the audience has 933 00:36:31,190 --> 00:36:28,960 been asking through twitter and through 934 00:36:32,870 --> 00:36:31,200 facebook and through youtube uh and so 935 00:36:36,230 --> 00:36:32,880 i'll start off with a question from raul 936 00:36:37,190 --> 00:36:36,240 magana um user at raoul magana 2 on 937 00:36:40,310 --> 00:36:37,200 twitter 938 00:36:42,550 --> 00:36:40,320 rahul wonders if the successes of life 939 00:36:45,030 --> 00:36:42,560 as we know it here on earth 940 00:36:46,710 --> 00:36:45,040 implies that we will likely find life as 941 00:36:47,589 --> 00:36:46,720 we know it elsewhere 942 00:36:48,950 --> 00:36:47,599 um 943 00:36:50,870 --> 00:36:48,960 i guess you know since we have living 944 00:36:52,630 --> 00:36:50,880 things here right now does that mean we 945 00:36:55,030 --> 00:36:52,640 should expect that aliens look just like 946 00:36:58,069 --> 00:36:55,040 us basically well 947 00:37:00,150 --> 00:36:58,079 okay uh when i started in this field 948 00:37:02,230 --> 00:37:00,160 i was a draw to this field because 949 00:37:03,589 --> 00:37:02,240 looking live elsewhere so that was an 950 00:37:06,710 --> 00:37:03,599 important thing 951 00:37:08,950 --> 00:37:06,720 life as words is is is is 952 00:37:11,589 --> 00:37:08,960 the thing to go for it 953 00:37:13,109 --> 00:37:11,599 and that's probably the easiest solution 954 00:37:15,829 --> 00:37:13,119 because uh 955 00:37:18,230 --> 00:37:15,839 we have stars here the sun you see stars 956 00:37:20,550 --> 00:37:18,240 everywhere you have we have planets here 957 00:37:23,510 --> 00:37:20,560 you see now planets 958 00:37:26,069 --> 00:37:23,520 everywhere so why not live here life 959 00:37:29,030 --> 00:37:26,079 everywhere so that's the simple solution 960 00:37:31,910 --> 00:37:29,040 but once you study astrobiology and i 961 00:37:34,390 --> 00:37:31,920 mean all the details of this you go into 962 00:37:35,510 --> 00:37:34,400 the physics chemistry and biology of 963 00:37:36,470 --> 00:37:35,520 life 964 00:37:38,870 --> 00:37:36,480 you 965 00:37:40,390 --> 00:37:38,880 start to get doubts 966 00:37:43,430 --> 00:37:40,400 because 967 00:37:45,430 --> 00:37:43,440 you see how difficult is for all the 968 00:37:47,829 --> 00:37:45,440 conditions to come right not only of 969 00:37:50,390 --> 00:37:47,839 life also but on the planet life might 970 00:37:52,790 --> 00:37:50,400 be easy to start but the planet to keep 971 00:37:54,790 --> 00:37:52,800 that life for long enough or something 972 00:37:57,270 --> 00:37:54,800 uh uh 973 00:38:00,470 --> 00:37:57,280 more complex to happen so there are many 974 00:38:01,829 --> 00:38:00,480 factors that could go wrong so now i am 975 00:38:03,430 --> 00:38:01,839 surprised 976 00:38:04,630 --> 00:38:03,440 that uh 977 00:38:07,190 --> 00:38:04,640 we are here 978 00:38:10,230 --> 00:38:07,200 more than everything and now i don't 979 00:38:12,390 --> 00:38:10,240 think and i'm just not interested in 980 00:38:13,829 --> 00:38:12,400 looking on life elsewhere 981 00:38:16,870 --> 00:38:13,839 i also 982 00:38:19,990 --> 00:38:16,880 uh the idea of not finding life is 983 00:38:23,670 --> 00:38:20,000 important and it will be for example 984 00:38:25,190 --> 00:38:23,680 amazing that if you look up in 985 00:38:27,109 --> 00:38:25,200 habitable environments because all 986 00:38:29,510 --> 00:38:27,119 habitable environments having liquid 987 00:38:31,109 --> 00:38:29,520 water on earth have life is that true 988 00:38:33,430 --> 00:38:31,119 elsewhere 989 00:38:34,390 --> 00:38:33,440 we actually haven't looked a habitable 990 00:38:36,630 --> 00:38:34,400 place 991 00:38:38,550 --> 00:38:36,640 and for example if we look at running 992 00:38:40,630 --> 00:38:38,560 water on mars 993 00:38:42,950 --> 00:38:40,640 we see on the deep surface we find a 994 00:38:44,710 --> 00:38:42,960 running water and by all the standards 995 00:38:48,550 --> 00:38:44,720 if we put terrestrial light there it 996 00:38:49,990 --> 00:38:48,560 will survive and then we don't see any 997 00:38:53,349 --> 00:38:50,000 life at all 998 00:38:56,790 --> 00:38:53,359 that will be more amazing what went 999 00:38:58,069 --> 00:38:56,800 wrong are we so special so the big 1000 00:39:01,430 --> 00:38:58,079 answer 1001 00:39:04,710 --> 00:39:01,440 is right there on mars and is 1002 00:39:06,069 --> 00:39:04,720 not finding life is bigger answer than 1003 00:39:06,950 --> 00:39:06,079 finding life 1004 00:39:10,390 --> 00:39:06,960 so 1005 00:39:13,349 --> 00:39:10,400 it is important to look for life uh of 1006 00:39:15,109 --> 00:39:13,359 any way possible it's also good to 1007 00:39:17,030 --> 00:39:15,119 consider other 1008 00:39:19,510 --> 00:39:17,040 life as we don't know it 1009 00:39:21,109 --> 00:39:19,520 but the problem is that life as we know 1010 00:39:24,230 --> 00:39:21,119 it use 1011 00:39:25,109 --> 00:39:24,240 most of the most abundant elements on 1012 00:39:32,390 --> 00:39:25,119 life 1013 00:39:35,109 --> 00:39:32,400 will have to compete anyway 1014 00:39:37,589 --> 00:39:35,119 from one life that we know it works that 1015 00:39:40,829 --> 00:39:37,599 use those elements so it will be an 1016 00:39:43,109 --> 00:39:40,839 advantage so probably that's why in 1017 00:39:44,550 --> 00:39:43,119 titan uh conditions which are very 1018 00:39:47,109 --> 00:39:44,560 different 1019 00:39:50,069 --> 00:39:47,119 one of saturn the conditions are very 1020 00:39:52,630 --> 00:39:50,079 different for our life so maybe there is 1021 00:39:54,630 --> 00:39:52,640 a different process but i can tell you 1022 00:39:56,710 --> 00:39:54,640 because it has a 1023 00:39:58,230 --> 00:39:56,720 very low energy available because of the 1024 00:40:00,710 --> 00:39:58,240 low temperatures 1025 00:40:03,910 --> 00:40:00,720 then evolution there everything will go 1026 00:40:07,109 --> 00:40:03,920 slower and will be probably 1027 00:40:09,510 --> 00:40:07,119 is any life it will be less 1028 00:40:14,710 --> 00:40:09,520 concentrated less dense as compared to 1029 00:40:17,349 --> 00:40:15,750 yeah and there's still so much to 1030 00:40:18,710 --> 00:40:17,359 explore 1031 00:40:20,870 --> 00:40:18,720 and with our explorations we have 1032 00:40:22,069 --> 00:40:20,880 another question from atmo hoodles on 1033 00:40:24,470 --> 00:40:22,079 youtube 1034 00:40:25,990 --> 00:40:24,480 she has two questions one is whether or 1035 00:40:28,150 --> 00:40:26,000 not there are any teams planning on 1036 00:40:29,990 --> 00:40:28,160 using jwst to check out any of these 1037 00:40:31,190 --> 00:40:30,000 planets further and and i can answer 1038 00:40:33,349 --> 00:40:31,200 that yes there's a bunch of 1039 00:40:35,670 --> 00:40:33,359 observational astronomers and planetary 1040 00:40:38,550 --> 00:40:35,680 scientists who are have been very 1041 00:40:40,069 --> 00:40:38,560 excited for quite some time for jwst for 1042 00:40:42,309 --> 00:40:40,079 the purpose that it will give us very 1043 00:40:44,470 --> 00:40:42,319 good resolution uh and looking at some 1044 00:40:45,990 --> 00:40:44,480 of these atmospheres of exoplanets uh 1045 00:40:48,309 --> 00:40:46,000 we've had a lot of folks on the show 1046 00:40:50,790 --> 00:40:48,319 previously who have done observational 1047 00:40:53,910 --> 00:40:50,800 astrophysics or know those who do it uh 1048 00:40:55,829 --> 00:40:53,920 who plan to use jwst just for that 1049 00:40:57,829 --> 00:40:55,839 but professor mendes for you 1050 00:41:01,190 --> 00:40:57,839 muhoodles wants to know 1051 00:41:02,630 --> 00:41:01,200 how new data from jwst might impact the 1052 00:41:05,910 --> 00:41:02,640 catalog 1053 00:41:08,710 --> 00:41:05,920 oh okay that's great so right now we 1054 00:41:11,990 --> 00:41:08,720 have objects of interest and uh all 1055 00:41:13,670 --> 00:41:12,000 those 24 uh 1056 00:41:16,309 --> 00:41:13,680 better objects 1057 00:41:17,750 --> 00:41:16,319 we don't have any idea of their 1058 00:41:22,230 --> 00:41:17,760 atmosphere 1059 00:41:25,829 --> 00:41:22,240 or surface properties so if any of the 1060 00:41:28,870 --> 00:41:25,839 observations of james webb uh tells us 1061 00:41:31,109 --> 00:41:28,880 something about atmosphere definitely we 1062 00:41:32,870 --> 00:41:31,119 will highlight those objects 1063 00:41:33,990 --> 00:41:32,880 but probably at the beginning will be 1064 00:41:36,069 --> 00:41:34,000 only 1065 00:41:38,150 --> 00:41:36,079 things about the characterization of the 1066 00:41:40,470 --> 00:41:38,160 atmosphere so 1067 00:41:42,950 --> 00:41:40,480 what ingredients are what molecules are 1068 00:41:44,309 --> 00:41:42,960 there not necessarily life that was 1069 00:41:47,430 --> 00:41:44,319 important point 1070 00:41:50,309 --> 00:41:47,440 but then uh eventually we might be 1071 00:41:52,150 --> 00:41:50,319 detecting some biosignature strong 1072 00:41:55,030 --> 00:41:52,160 compounds in the atmosphere that tells 1073 00:41:57,829 --> 00:41:55,040 that probably a biological process is 1074 00:42:00,230 --> 00:41:57,839 going on so that will be highlight those 1075 00:42:02,870 --> 00:42:00,240 planets are we we'll put that in the web 1076 00:42:03,829 --> 00:42:02,880 page flashing or something like 1077 00:42:06,309 --> 00:42:03,839 that 1078 00:42:09,910 --> 00:42:06,319 because for for instance now we are 1079 00:42:11,510 --> 00:42:09,920 moving from just objects to something 1080 00:42:17,670 --> 00:42:11,520 more real 1081 00:42:22,309 --> 00:42:20,230 awesome um and i mentioned when we first 1082 00:42:23,910 --> 00:42:22,319 started the show that you are very well 1083 00:42:25,270 --> 00:42:23,920 known on twitter for all the cool news 1084 00:42:28,470 --> 00:42:25,280 you share not just about things like 1085 00:42:29,910 --> 00:42:28,480 jwst and and the catalog but also 1086 00:42:31,589 --> 00:42:29,920 just for all the science and 1087 00:42:34,069 --> 00:42:31,599 astrobiology you share 1088 00:42:36,950 --> 00:42:34,079 uh so my friend joey pastorski who is at 1089 00:42:39,349 --> 00:42:36,960 joeypasterski on twitter uh he also with 1090 00:42:41,990 --> 00:42:39,359 me co-leads the the early career council 1091 00:42:43,750 --> 00:42:42,000 of the network for life detection um 1092 00:42:45,109 --> 00:42:43,760 joey wants to wants to know since you do 1093 00:42:46,950 --> 00:42:45,119 such a great job of communicating and 1094 00:42:49,910 --> 00:42:46,960 sharing lots of science 1095 00:42:51,750 --> 00:42:49,920 on social media uh how do you balance 1096 00:42:53,990 --> 00:42:51,760 having such an active social media 1097 00:42:56,309 --> 00:42:54,000 presence with your research and teaching 1098 00:42:57,750 --> 00:42:56,319 responsibilities um and he rephrased it 1099 00:43:01,190 --> 00:42:57,760 and basically said how do you not get 1100 00:43:05,589 --> 00:43:03,430 that's a great question and i have the 1101 00:43:08,390 --> 00:43:05,599 secret for that 1102 00:43:10,390 --> 00:43:08,400 okay okay let's say that twitter for me 1103 00:43:12,390 --> 00:43:10,400 is part of the job and that's my only 1104 00:43:13,670 --> 00:43:12,400 social media i don't use facebook or 1105 00:43:16,790 --> 00:43:13,680 anything else 1106 00:43:19,589 --> 00:43:16,800 and what i like is to read most of my 1107 00:43:23,430 --> 00:43:19,599 information because i didn't have 1108 00:43:26,150 --> 00:43:23,440 a specific course about biophysics or 1109 00:43:29,030 --> 00:43:26,160 astronomy and planetary science i have 1110 00:43:30,550 --> 00:43:29,040 to get that from myself and install it 1111 00:43:33,109 --> 00:43:30,560 with box 1112 00:43:36,790 --> 00:43:33,119 and i lit read a lot 1113 00:43:39,190 --> 00:43:36,800 and uh so twitter for me is what you are 1114 00:43:40,550 --> 00:43:39,200 actually seeing my post is what i'm 1115 00:43:43,750 --> 00:43:40,560 reading 1116 00:43:48,550 --> 00:43:43,760 so what i have a a a 1117 00:43:52,630 --> 00:43:49,670 a program 1118 00:43:54,790 --> 00:43:52,640 that get keywords from the internet and 1119 00:43:56,470 --> 00:43:54,800 from twitter from everywhere else so 1120 00:43:59,270 --> 00:43:56,480 topics i like 1121 00:44:01,510 --> 00:43:59,280 and when i like a topic or i reading a 1122 00:44:03,190 --> 00:44:01,520 topic i just share it 1123 00:44:05,109 --> 00:44:03,200 i just share for everybody else 1124 00:44:07,829 --> 00:44:05,119 especially my students so they're 1125 00:44:10,870 --> 00:44:07,839 they're there for reverence so it has it 1126 00:44:12,950 --> 00:44:10,880 has it is important for us to have that 1127 00:44:14,069 --> 00:44:12,960 reference sometimes i remember 1128 00:44:25,190 --> 00:44:14,079 i 1129 00:44:27,430 --> 00:44:25,200 just to keep track 1130 00:44:30,870 --> 00:44:27,440 of the signs i like 1131 00:44:33,109 --> 00:44:30,880 and uh and uh what i am reading and also 1132 00:44:34,790 --> 00:44:33,119 to share with my students and to the 1133 00:44:36,550 --> 00:44:34,800 general public 1134 00:44:38,390 --> 00:44:36,560 that's awesome yeah i i appreciate 1135 00:44:39,990 --> 00:44:38,400 following you on twitter um i get a lot 1136 00:44:41,190 --> 00:44:40,000 of things to read i find articles to 1137 00:44:43,589 --> 00:44:41,200 read because of you so i really 1138 00:44:46,470 --> 00:44:43,599 appreciate your work there um we have a 1139 00:44:48,630 --> 00:44:46,480 question from andrew planet on facebook 1140 00:44:50,390 --> 00:44:48,640 um and andrew basically wants to know um 1141 00:44:53,349 --> 00:44:50,400 you know we found some exoplanets early 1142 00:44:54,950 --> 00:44:53,359 on um with more indirect methods have we 1143 00:44:57,990 --> 00:44:54,960 gone back with our more evolving 1144 00:44:59,589 --> 00:44:58,000 technology to look at these worlds um 1145 00:45:01,910 --> 00:44:59,599 maybe for instance you could speak to 1146 00:45:03,910 --> 00:45:01,920 are we going back now to try to image 1147 00:45:05,589 --> 00:45:03,920 some of these exoplanets that we found 1148 00:45:07,750 --> 00:45:05,599 around other stars using using things 1149 00:45:09,510 --> 00:45:07,760 like transit and the radial methods and 1150 00:45:11,910 --> 00:45:09,520 stuff like that 1151 00:45:13,750 --> 00:45:11,920 well uh imaging a 1152 00:45:16,630 --> 00:45:13,760 one of this planet will be something 1153 00:45:18,470 --> 00:45:16,640 very hard it will be something for the 1154 00:45:20,630 --> 00:45:18,480 future maybe 1155 00:45:22,870 --> 00:45:20,640 one more decade or two decades 1156 00:45:25,670 --> 00:45:22,880 uh constructing a telescope that will 1157 00:45:27,589 --> 00:45:25,680 have some culture of the star because 1158 00:45:30,230 --> 00:45:27,599 the stars are very bright 1159 00:45:33,030 --> 00:45:30,240 and then this uh potentially habitable 1160 00:45:35,990 --> 00:45:33,040 planet has already talked too close 1161 00:45:37,910 --> 00:45:36,000 and they are outshined by by the start 1162 00:45:40,630 --> 00:45:37,920 so you need to have a different 1163 00:45:43,430 --> 00:45:40,640 instrument right now to do that 1164 00:45:45,589 --> 00:45:43,440 so we are in this decade at least using 1165 00:45:47,990 --> 00:45:45,599 transit characterizing the atmosphere of 1166 00:45:50,069 --> 00:45:48,000 this planet then there are a series of 1167 00:45:52,390 --> 00:45:50,079 instruments or concept instruments that 1168 00:45:55,190 --> 00:45:52,400 are planned for the future which have a 1169 00:45:57,990 --> 00:45:55,200 culture so you can see actually the 1170 00:46:00,550 --> 00:45:58,000 individual light of the of the of the 1171 00:46:03,670 --> 00:46:00,560 planet once you do that 1172 00:46:06,390 --> 00:46:03,680 you can do a spectroscopy and see again 1173 00:46:09,349 --> 00:46:06,400 the atmosphere of the planet but you can 1174 00:46:11,349 --> 00:46:09,359 also learn about properties of the 1175 00:46:13,270 --> 00:46:11,359 surface also because as the planet 1176 00:46:16,069 --> 00:46:13,280 rotates 1177 00:46:18,630 --> 00:46:16,079 if it has oceans and you have land 1178 00:46:20,870 --> 00:46:18,640 oceans are much darker than land and you 1179 00:46:22,870 --> 00:46:20,880 will see you still see the planet as a 1180 00:46:24,550 --> 00:46:22,880 dot of light but you will see 1181 00:46:26,630 --> 00:46:24,560 brightening because of the land 1182 00:46:28,630 --> 00:46:26,640 reflection darkening 1183 00:46:29,910 --> 00:46:28,640 the ocean and it will be its large 1184 00:46:31,270 --> 00:46:29,920 transition 1185 00:46:34,710 --> 00:46:31,280 and 1186 00:46:37,750 --> 00:46:34,720 then you can tell through time hey this 1187 00:46:39,349 --> 00:46:37,760 planet have land and oceans 1188 00:46:42,390 --> 00:46:39,359 and that's that will be something 1189 00:46:44,550 --> 00:46:42,400 amazing it is the planet is covered 1190 00:46:46,390 --> 00:46:44,560 by clouds everywhere you you won't be 1191 00:46:48,710 --> 00:46:46,400 able to tell anything this is a desert 1192 00:46:51,670 --> 00:46:48,720 planet or is it an ocean planet you 1193 00:46:53,349 --> 00:46:51,680 won't tell it but the ones that we would 1194 00:46:55,510 --> 00:46:53,359 love to see 1195 00:46:57,990 --> 00:46:55,520 then we have this possibility also to 1196 00:47:01,589 --> 00:46:58,000 learn something about their surface long 1197 00:47:05,030 --> 00:47:01,599 before we can have a a actual close-in 1198 00:47:07,990 --> 00:47:06,870 awesome yeah it makes me think right now 1199 00:47:09,750 --> 00:47:08,000 there could be someone watching this 1200 00:47:11,349 --> 00:47:09,760 show right now perhaps a young person 1201 00:47:13,510 --> 00:47:11,359 who's interested in astrobiology and 1202 00:47:15,030 --> 00:47:13,520 planetary science who might help us make 1203 00:47:17,109 --> 00:47:15,040 those very first detections of seeing 1204 00:47:19,109 --> 00:47:17,119 the ocean versus the land and helping us 1205 00:47:20,790 --> 00:47:19,119 study more about these worlds and and 1206 00:47:23,270 --> 00:47:20,800 that takes me to the next question from 1207 00:47:25,030 --> 00:47:23,280 abelen bradford on youtube 1208 00:47:27,589 --> 00:47:25,040 abeblin has said that she uses 1209 00:47:28,630 --> 00:47:27,599 winogradski columns in teaching to 1210 00:47:29,910 --> 00:47:28,640 introduce 1211 00:47:31,430 --> 00:47:29,920 students to the concept of the 1212 00:47:33,589 --> 00:47:31,440 microbiome 1213 00:47:35,670 --> 00:47:33,599 um and she wants to know are there any 1214 00:47:37,750 --> 00:47:35,680 tools that you might recommend that can 1215 00:47:39,349 --> 00:47:37,760 help the students to understand your 1216 00:47:40,710 --> 00:47:39,359 work 1217 00:47:44,630 --> 00:47:40,720 oh 1218 00:47:47,430 --> 00:47:44,640 i think i used before a lot 1219 00:47:49,750 --> 00:47:47,440 the analogy that i talked about about 1220 00:47:53,030 --> 00:47:49,760 the classical elements 1221 00:47:56,150 --> 00:47:53,040 because for example when i say people 1222 00:48:00,230 --> 00:47:56,160 students relate that easy because of the 1223 00:48:01,190 --> 00:48:00,240 tv with air water earth and fire 1224 00:48:03,190 --> 00:48:01,200 and 1225 00:48:06,950 --> 00:48:03,200 they know those concepts 1226 00:48:09,349 --> 00:48:06,960 and uh i was amazed that 1227 00:48:10,870 --> 00:48:09,359 once the students learned that and we 1228 00:48:14,230 --> 00:48:10,880 showed them examples let's say for 1229 00:48:17,190 --> 00:48:14,240 example a rainforest wire rainforest is 1230 00:48:19,270 --> 00:48:17,200 that habitable because it has these four 1231 00:48:21,510 --> 00:48:19,280 elements on abundance 1232 00:48:23,030 --> 00:48:21,520 but what about a desert so there's a 1233 00:48:24,309 --> 00:48:23,040 limiting factor of 1234 00:48:27,430 --> 00:48:24,319 liquid water 1235 00:48:29,109 --> 00:48:27,440 and what about the the ocean the ocean 1236 00:48:31,109 --> 00:48:29,119 it looks like a desert of light and 1237 00:48:34,230 --> 00:48:31,119 there's a plenty of water there 1238 00:48:37,349 --> 00:48:34,240 and you see that there's limited of 1239 00:48:39,030 --> 00:48:37,359 oxygen there gases are less dissolved 1240 00:48:42,309 --> 00:48:39,040 that are that depth 1241 00:48:44,069 --> 00:48:42,319 and there's also less energy so once 1242 00:48:47,589 --> 00:48:44,079 they got that 1243 00:48:50,150 --> 00:48:47,599 when i just uh presented okay let's uh 1244 00:48:52,870 --> 00:48:50,160 estimate and talk about habitability of 1245 00:48:54,470 --> 00:48:52,880 the oceans in europa 1246 00:48:56,870 --> 00:48:54,480 and say okay 1247 00:49:00,150 --> 00:48:56,880 what will happen and then look okay let 1248 00:49:02,630 --> 00:49:00,160 me see about gas okay no atmosphere okay 1249 00:49:05,270 --> 00:49:02,640 we have something wrong here and then 1250 00:49:07,030 --> 00:49:05,280 about the energy well chemical energy 1251 00:49:10,230 --> 00:49:07,040 sunlight there is a 1252 00:49:13,430 --> 00:49:10,240 that's below a deep layer of ice 1253 00:49:15,109 --> 00:49:13,440 and then realize that that's worse than 1254 00:49:17,510 --> 00:49:15,119 any ocean 1255 00:49:20,069 --> 00:49:17,520 here on earth and in those conditions 1256 00:49:21,750 --> 00:49:20,079 you only have microbial life 1257 00:49:24,630 --> 00:49:21,760 and then this is worse 1258 00:49:26,230 --> 00:49:24,640 and we have life here 1259 00:49:28,470 --> 00:49:26,240 so 1260 00:49:29,349 --> 00:49:28,480 i asked them do you think that 1261 00:49:33,510 --> 00:49:29,359 you will 1262 00:49:35,829 --> 00:49:33,520 fishes will be able to live they say no 1263 00:49:38,790 --> 00:49:35,839 no they realize that and i have seen 1264 00:49:41,349 --> 00:49:38,800 scientists postulating about maybe their 1265 00:49:44,549 --> 00:49:41,359 fishes or something well with that 1266 00:49:46,790 --> 00:49:44,559 simple analogy you can go that far and i 1267 00:49:50,230 --> 00:49:46,800 use that analogy because also in the 1268 00:49:52,150 --> 00:49:50,240 concept of habitability uh in a more 1269 00:49:54,549 --> 00:49:52,160 quantitative way 1270 00:49:57,270 --> 00:49:54,559 you use that information just to put 1271 00:49:59,349 --> 00:49:57,280 numbers to your problem 1272 00:50:03,670 --> 00:49:59,359 so i think that's a as a powerful 1273 00:50:06,950 --> 00:50:03,680 analogy for for for starting us as uh 1274 00:50:08,950 --> 00:50:06,960 habitability assessments for kids 1275 00:50:10,630 --> 00:50:08,960 awesome yeah the technology is so 1276 00:50:12,069 --> 00:50:10,640 important for making things relative to 1277 00:50:13,109 --> 00:50:12,079 our own understanding especially for 1278 00:50:15,109 --> 00:50:13,119 children 1279 00:50:17,270 --> 00:50:15,119 i might add for for abel and for any 1280 00:50:18,470 --> 00:50:17,280 educators who are watching uh if you go 1281 00:50:21,109 --> 00:50:18,480 to 1282 00:50:23,109 --> 00:50:21,119 astrobiology.nasa.gov 1283 00:50:24,150 --> 00:50:23,119 the website of the nasa astrobiology 1284 00:50:26,309 --> 00:50:24,160 program 1285 00:50:29,109 --> 00:50:26,319 there's a page called education where we 1286 00:50:30,950 --> 00:50:29,119 have a whole bunch of resources on 1287 00:50:33,670 --> 00:50:30,960 education including lots of really cool 1288 00:50:35,190 --> 00:50:33,680 analogies uh learning materials links to 1289 00:50:37,109 --> 00:50:35,200 other programs and how to teach 1290 00:50:40,230 --> 00:50:37,119 astrobiology including things like 1291 00:50:42,069 --> 00:50:40,240 planetary astrobiology and exoplanets 1292 00:50:44,790 --> 00:50:42,079 our next question for you uh professor 1293 00:50:47,510 --> 00:50:44,800 mendez comes from carson who goes by at 1294 00:50:49,430 --> 00:50:47,520 the fermi paradox on twitter 1295 00:50:51,750 --> 00:50:49,440 carson wants to know what do you think 1296 00:50:55,589 --> 00:50:51,760 is the most interesting problem 1297 00:50:58,630 --> 00:50:56,390 well 1298 00:51:01,670 --> 00:50:58,640 i think that the most interesting 1299 00:51:03,589 --> 00:51:01,680 problem is to find out if all habitable 1300 00:51:06,309 --> 00:51:03,599 places 1301 00:51:09,190 --> 00:51:06,319 are supposed to have life i think that's 1302 00:51:12,549 --> 00:51:09,200 the big question it's not 1303 00:51:15,910 --> 00:51:12,559 the interest of finding life alone 1304 00:51:18,710 --> 00:51:15,920 so so saying that a mission is uh 1305 00:51:20,230 --> 00:51:18,720 looking for finding life if it doesn't 1306 00:51:21,910 --> 00:51:20,240 find life then 1307 00:51:24,309 --> 00:51:21,920 all we can the mission was not 1308 00:51:28,950 --> 00:51:24,319 successful no no no that's not a good 1309 00:51:32,870 --> 00:51:28,960 approach is just missions should look 1310 00:51:34,950 --> 00:51:32,880 to determine if all habitable places can 1311 00:51:37,510 --> 00:51:34,960 sustain life or not 1312 00:51:40,230 --> 00:51:37,520 i think that's a more important question 1313 00:51:42,309 --> 00:51:40,240 so far we know that not all environments 1314 00:51:44,390 --> 00:51:42,319 can support life we see the moon we see 1315 00:51:46,150 --> 00:51:44,400 the mars we see that 1316 00:51:47,430 --> 00:51:46,160 now that question is answered not all 1317 00:51:49,430 --> 00:51:47,440 environments 1318 00:51:52,470 --> 00:51:49,440 support life it's not that easy 1319 00:51:55,910 --> 00:51:52,480 but then that those that we know that 1320 00:51:58,390 --> 00:51:55,920 are habitable by our standards 1321 00:52:00,630 --> 00:51:58,400 are they able to support life elsewhere 1322 00:52:04,390 --> 00:52:00,640 that's i think that's the big question 1323 00:52:05,829 --> 00:52:04,400 um uh and i say before if we find that 1324 00:52:07,430 --> 00:52:05,839 some or 1325 00:52:08,950 --> 00:52:07,440 all those 1326 00:52:11,430 --> 00:52:08,960 don't 1327 00:52:14,069 --> 00:52:11,440 is telling that life is uh in the 1328 00:52:17,109 --> 00:52:14,079 universe is not that common as we 1329 00:52:19,510 --> 00:52:17,119 believe maybe it's hard for the original 1330 00:52:21,510 --> 00:52:19,520 life and then for for or maintaining 1331 00:52:22,309 --> 00:52:21,520 life so there are those two problems 1332 00:52:26,950 --> 00:52:22,319 there 1333 00:52:29,910 --> 00:52:28,950 yeah absolutely and so we have a couple 1334 00:52:31,829 --> 00:52:29,920 of questions coming in i know we're 1335 00:52:33,349 --> 00:52:31,839 starting to run down time a little bit i 1336 00:52:34,710 --> 00:52:33,359 have just a few more 1337 00:52:36,230 --> 00:52:34,720 two questions came in that are very 1338 00:52:39,270 --> 00:52:36,240 relatively relevant to our discussion of 1339 00:52:40,870 --> 00:52:39,280 the arecibo telescope um the first one 1340 00:52:42,069 --> 00:52:40,880 i'm not sure at what level you'd like to 1341 00:52:43,990 --> 00:52:42,079 speak to this 1342 00:52:46,390 --> 00:52:44,000 tom caruso who's watching on facebook 1343 00:52:47,829 --> 00:52:46,400 has asked if you can discuss 1344 00:52:50,470 --> 00:52:47,839 some of the radio observations from 1345 00:52:52,150 --> 00:52:50,480 arecibo uh specifically tom wants to 1346 00:52:53,990 --> 00:52:52,160 know about the discovery of water in 1347 00:52:55,670 --> 00:52:54,000 craters on mercury 1348 00:52:57,589 --> 00:52:55,680 but as i mentioned earlier arecibo has 1349 00:52:58,870 --> 00:52:57,599 actually had a lot of discoveries i 1350 00:53:00,549 --> 00:52:58,880 wonder if you could just speak to the 1351 00:53:02,309 --> 00:53:00,559 use of radio observatories for looking 1352 00:53:04,069 --> 00:53:02,319 at things like water and craters and 1353 00:53:06,630 --> 00:53:04,079 even more 1354 00:53:09,030 --> 00:53:06,640 and the observatory as you said has been 1355 00:53:11,270 --> 00:53:09,040 used for many different things 1356 00:53:13,670 --> 00:53:11,280 one thing that i want to point out is 1357 00:53:16,790 --> 00:53:13,680 that the difference of their original 1358 00:53:18,870 --> 00:53:16,800 observatory was that it was also able to 1359 00:53:21,270 --> 00:53:18,880 receive signals like every radio 1360 00:53:24,630 --> 00:53:21,280 telescope as a receiver but also 1361 00:53:27,750 --> 00:53:24,640 transmit signals and once you transmit 1362 00:53:30,230 --> 00:53:27,760 signals you can use a radar mode and 1363 00:53:31,910 --> 00:53:30,240 transmit the signal and bounce back 1364 00:53:34,309 --> 00:53:31,920 and now when that 1365 00:53:35,829 --> 00:53:34,319 in that mode you can learn a lot more 1366 00:53:38,470 --> 00:53:35,839 about the universe 1367 00:53:39,430 --> 00:53:38,480 as long as what you are looking is close 1368 00:53:42,710 --> 00:53:39,440 enough 1369 00:53:43,750 --> 00:53:42,720 for that transmission to go back 1370 00:53:46,950 --> 00:53:43,760 and 1371 00:53:48,950 --> 00:53:46,960 so in the radar mode when you say that 1372 00:53:51,589 --> 00:53:48,960 radio light 1373 00:53:53,750 --> 00:53:51,599 to the surface and then interact with 1374 00:53:56,470 --> 00:53:53,760 the surface it comes back with different 1375 00:53:58,710 --> 00:53:56,480 information it's like you turn a white 1376 00:54:01,589 --> 00:53:58,720 light to a surface and this is dark 1377 00:54:03,030 --> 00:54:01,599 surface okay that server is dark or 1378 00:54:05,349 --> 00:54:03,040 different colors 1379 00:54:07,589 --> 00:54:05,359 and if you analyze in terms of a 1380 00:54:08,870 --> 00:54:07,599 spectroscopy what different elements 1381 00:54:11,589 --> 00:54:08,880 absorb 1382 00:54:13,990 --> 00:54:11,599 different type of light then when you 1383 00:54:15,030 --> 00:54:14,000 return light your radial light in this 1384 00:54:17,190 --> 00:54:15,040 case 1385 00:54:19,589 --> 00:54:17,200 can tell you uh different properties of 1386 00:54:23,829 --> 00:54:19,599 the surface so that's why the receiver 1387 00:54:26,309 --> 00:54:23,839 has been used to also see not only moon 1388 00:54:29,430 --> 00:54:26,319 but also in mercury 1389 00:54:30,870 --> 00:54:29,440 and uh at least looking for uh that uh 1390 00:54:32,470 --> 00:54:30,880 water 1391 00:54:34,630 --> 00:54:32,480 i got yeah one of them i mentioned 1392 00:54:36,549 --> 00:54:34,640 erasibo had like the first maps of the 1393 00:54:38,470 --> 00:54:36,559 surface of venus um there's lots of 1394 00:54:40,390 --> 00:54:38,480 things we've done in radar mode a lot of 1395 00:54:42,470 --> 00:54:40,400 folks they think of the magellan radar 1396 00:54:45,030 --> 00:54:42,480 maps of venus but uh we actually had 1397 00:54:47,270 --> 00:54:45,040 arecibo radar maps of venus as well 1398 00:54:50,150 --> 00:54:47,280 um so you know we've done a lot in the 1399 00:54:51,750 --> 00:54:50,160 past with the uh arecibo observatory 1400 00:54:54,309 --> 00:54:51,760 our next question from facebook comes 1401 00:54:56,390 --> 00:54:54,319 from martin hazzowski um martin actually 1402 00:54:58,710 --> 00:54:56,400 wants to know if uh if you can speak to 1403 00:55:00,950 --> 00:54:58,720 the value or if there is some value 1404 00:55:02,870 --> 00:55:00,960 to pairing the resolution of a next 1405 00:55:04,630 --> 00:55:02,880 generation arecibo 1406 00:55:06,630 --> 00:55:04,640 with something like a proposed lunar 1407 00:55:08,230 --> 00:55:06,640 based radio telescope 1408 00:55:10,630 --> 00:55:08,240 and not even offer you know any other 1409 00:55:14,549 --> 00:55:10,640 telescopes is there a way for us to pair 1410 00:55:19,990 --> 00:55:17,750 definitely okay we need to construct 1411 00:55:21,190 --> 00:55:20,000 more big radio telescope around the 1412 00:55:23,990 --> 00:55:21,200 world 1413 00:55:26,230 --> 00:55:24,000 right now we have a 1414 00:55:29,190 --> 00:55:26,240 fast in china 1415 00:55:30,470 --> 00:55:29,200 it's looking is it has a limited field 1416 00:55:32,309 --> 00:55:30,480 of view 1417 00:55:34,710 --> 00:55:32,319 and then uh 1418 00:55:37,030 --> 00:55:34,720 imagine that we are looking at something 1419 00:55:40,390 --> 00:55:37,040 inspiring happening in one location in 1420 00:55:42,789 --> 00:55:40,400 the sky and earth move and then you miss 1421 00:55:44,549 --> 00:55:42,799 part of that uh observation because you 1422 00:55:46,549 --> 00:55:44,559 don't have any telescope on the other 1423 00:55:48,630 --> 00:55:46,559 side as sensitive 1424 00:55:51,430 --> 00:55:48,640 as the one or close to sensitive as the 1425 00:55:53,510 --> 00:55:51,440 one in china so there are many research 1426 00:55:56,789 --> 00:55:53,520 projects and scientists trying to do 1427 00:55:59,990 --> 00:55:56,799 research in the radio spectrum and we 1428 00:56:01,109 --> 00:56:00,000 need more instruments everywhere every 1429 00:56:02,630 --> 00:56:01,119 everywhere 1430 00:56:05,430 --> 00:56:02,640 and definitely 1431 00:56:08,950 --> 00:56:05,440 an instrument on the moon 1432 00:56:11,990 --> 00:56:08,960 will be something amazing because on 1433 00:56:14,829 --> 00:56:12,000 earth and i can attest to this 1434 00:56:17,829 --> 00:56:14,839 you have the problem of a radio 1435 00:56:20,069 --> 00:56:17,839 interference and it kills you 1436 00:56:22,309 --> 00:56:20,079 many observations for example 1437 00:56:24,390 --> 00:56:22,319 we were doing observations in one 1438 00:56:27,109 --> 00:56:24,400 particular frequency 1439 00:56:28,230 --> 00:56:27,119 and we have the problem of the airplanes 1440 00:56:35,349 --> 00:56:28,240 radar 1441 00:56:37,589 --> 00:56:35,359 far away 1442 00:56:40,230 --> 00:56:37,599 in the airport here in puerto rico far 1443 00:56:42,630 --> 00:56:40,240 away from the observatory but 1444 00:56:44,630 --> 00:56:42,640 the receiver was so sensitive 1445 00:56:47,430 --> 00:56:44,640 that he was picking that 1446 00:56:50,309 --> 00:56:47,440 and it was random it was something not 1447 00:56:53,349 --> 00:56:50,319 expected because of the so many 1448 00:56:55,270 --> 00:56:53,359 airplanes they turn off on off this uh 1449 00:56:58,710 --> 00:56:55,280 radar for for landing 1450 00:57:01,190 --> 00:56:58,720 and uh so we have the that issue not 1451 00:57:03,510 --> 00:57:01,200 having that on the moon because it's in 1452 00:57:05,270 --> 00:57:03,520 the far side blocked by 1453 00:57:07,589 --> 00:57:05,280 or blocking 1454 00:57:09,510 --> 00:57:07,599 by all terrestrial communication 1455 00:57:12,390 --> 00:57:09,520 that will be a 1456 00:57:14,230 --> 00:57:12,400 silent noise and anything 1457 00:57:15,589 --> 00:57:14,240 will be something astronomical and that 1458 00:57:16,710 --> 00:57:15,599 will be great 1459 00:57:19,349 --> 00:57:16,720 but still 1460 00:57:21,589 --> 00:57:19,359 it will look at one particular direction 1461 00:57:23,510 --> 00:57:21,599 and you have many telescopes everywhere 1462 00:57:25,430 --> 00:57:23,520 it will be good not only in the moon 1463 00:57:27,270 --> 00:57:25,440 even in a space different radio 1464 00:57:28,630 --> 00:57:27,280 telescope not that big probably because 1465 00:57:31,030 --> 00:57:28,640 in the moon you 1466 00:57:32,710 --> 00:57:31,040 could build something big 1467 00:57:34,710 --> 00:57:32,720 taking advantage of the crater the 1468 00:57:37,349 --> 00:57:34,720 problem is that it will be much more 1469 00:57:41,109 --> 00:57:37,359 expensive than anything on earth 1470 00:57:43,750 --> 00:57:41,119 and uh for if you are trying first do 1471 00:57:46,150 --> 00:57:43,760 many around earth big ones because are 1472 00:57:47,910 --> 00:57:46,160 less expensive than the moon 1473 00:57:49,270 --> 00:57:47,920 then in space 1474 00:57:51,109 --> 00:57:49,280 smaller ones 1475 00:57:54,950 --> 00:57:51,119 and then you will have all the bases 1476 00:57:58,950 --> 00:57:57,190 and and then one day you'll have a 1477 00:58:01,109 --> 00:57:58,960 telescope the size of the entire solar 1478 00:58:02,549 --> 00:58:01,119 system with a giant interferometer right 1479 00:58:04,630 --> 00:58:02,559 that's what that's what some of us nerd 1480 00:58:06,150 --> 00:58:04,640 out about is the potential for you know 1481 00:58:09,670 --> 00:58:06,160 a couple of centuries maybe from now of 1482 00:58:11,829 --> 00:58:09,680 having solar system sized observatory um 1483 00:58:13,589 --> 00:58:11,839 professor abel mendez it's been so great 1484 00:58:15,670 --> 00:58:13,599 having you on the show i really 1485 00:58:17,910 --> 00:58:15,680 appreciate you joining us and sharing 1486 00:58:21,270 --> 00:58:17,920 about your history your research about 1487 00:58:22,710 --> 00:58:21,280 arecibo uh its past and future um are 1488 00:58:24,950 --> 00:58:22,720 there any any messages you'd like to 1489 00:58:27,349 --> 00:58:24,960 share with our audience young old and 1490 00:58:28,870 --> 00:58:27,359 anyone else out there before we complete 1491 00:58:32,230 --> 00:58:28,880 this show 1492 00:58:34,390 --> 00:58:32,240 oh yes uh i just want to highlight that 1493 00:58:36,470 --> 00:58:34,400 there is a big cinematography project 1494 00:58:38,150 --> 00:58:36,480 coming up soon about the receivable 1495 00:58:41,190 --> 00:58:38,160 observatory 1496 00:58:43,270 --> 00:58:41,200 and uh i hope that you see you will see 1497 00:58:45,109 --> 00:58:43,280 you will learn more about the history 1498 00:58:47,910 --> 00:58:45,119 what we have done 1499 00:58:50,870 --> 00:58:47,920 and what's the future of the observatory 1500 00:58:52,390 --> 00:58:50,880 oh thank you very much know 1501 00:58:54,390 --> 00:58:52,400 oh yeah it's been so great having you 1502 00:58:56,630 --> 00:58:54,400 with us uh and when that does come out 1503 00:58:59,030 --> 00:58:56,640 we will share it through our audience at 1504 00:59:01,430 --> 00:58:59,040 saginet and with the nasa astrobiology 1505 00:59:02,950 --> 00:59:01,440 audience as well uh for those watching 1506 00:59:04,950 --> 00:59:02,960 if you'd like to do the cool thing and 1507 00:59:07,430 --> 00:59:04,960 jump on twitter and follow professor 1508 00:59:11,109 --> 00:59:07,440 mendez you can do that uh his twitter 1509 00:59:12,549 --> 00:59:11,119 handle is at prof abell mendes or if you 1510 00:59:14,150 --> 00:59:12,559 just type his name into the search he 1511 00:59:15,750 --> 00:59:14,160 comes up right away 1512 00:59:17,990 --> 00:59:15,760 you can also learn more about the 1513 00:59:22,870 --> 00:59:18,000 planetary habitability laboratory by 1514 00:59:26,230 --> 00:59:24,309 and if any of you are interested in 1515 00:59:28,390 --> 00:59:26,240 following along finding out more about 1516 00:59:29,829 --> 00:59:28,400 our show as well as about all the 1517 00:59:32,710 --> 00:59:29,839 incredible things coming through the 1518 00:59:34,549 --> 00:59:32,720 nasa astrobiology program you can tune 1519 00:59:36,630 --> 00:59:34,559 in and join sign up right now for the 1520 00:59:38,069 --> 00:59:36,640 mailing list our producer and director 1521 00:59:39,829 --> 00:59:38,079 mike tuijan is sharing that with you 1522 00:59:42,150 --> 00:59:39,839 right now how to sign up and follow 1523 00:59:43,589 --> 00:59:42,160 along with nasa astrobiology 1524 00:59:46,549 --> 00:59:43,599 thank you to everyone in the audience 1525 00:59:49,770 --> 00:59:46,559 for joining us and until next time keep 1526 01:00:21,430 --> 00:59:49,780 exploring and stay curious