Why This Astronomer Thinks Aliens Are Out There | Laura Kreidberg

Laura Kreidberg believes there is life out there in the universe.

An astrophysicist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, Laura is one of the youngest directors ever appointed to a Max Planck Institute. Her work uses the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes to explore the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. I sat down with Laura to discuss how astronomers study worlds too far away to photograph, why intelligence may not be evolutionarily favorable, and why Laura thinks we'll discover life on other worlds in the next 30 years.

Extended Show Notes: finnmurphyirl.substack.com/p/the-hunt-for-alie…

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
03:10 The Atmospheres of Other Worlds
08:14 In Astronomy, Bigger is Better
10:50 Earth-like Planets
20:04 The Huge Variety of Exoplanets
26:03 Science Communication
27:30 Intelligence is Not Evolutionary Favorable
33:30 Signs of Life on Exoplanets
40:19 Discovering Aliens in 30 Years
45:44 Science as Soft Power

Laura Kreidberg is the Director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, where she studies the atmospheres of exoplanets for signs of life.

Laura on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laura-kreidberg-3a08581b7
Laura on X: x.com/lkreidberg
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy Profile: mpia.de/en/laura-kreidberg

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Finn on X: x.com/FinnMurphy12
Finn on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/finn-murphy-16160465

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