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X-WR-CALNAME:🦠🪐🛰🔭🌎 Sagan Day: The Search for Life Beyond Ear
 th -- Venus
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
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DTSTAMP:20260520T170021Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_34826148493816
DTSTART:20201113T000000Z
DTEND:20201113T013000Z
DESCRIPTION:"While the surface conditions of Venus make the hypothesis of l
 ife there implausible\, the clouds of Venus are a different story altogeth
 er."\n-- Carl Sagan\, Nature\, 1967\n\nIn celebration of Carl Sagan Day 20
 20\, the Secular Society of MIT presents a special talk by MIT professor o
 f physics and planetary science\, Sara Seager. Dr Seager\, a pioneer in th
 e field of exoplanet atmospheres\, works on the search for life by way of 
 exoplanet atmospheric "biosignature" gases\, and on space missions for pla
 netary discovery and exploration. Most recently\, her work towards the dis
 covery of very likely biogenic phosphine gas high in the clouds of Venus h
 as drawn much attention from the scientific community and the press. In th
 is Sagan Day lecture\, she will discuss this discovery and its extreme imp
 lications.\n\nWHEN: Thursday\, 2020/NOV/12\, 7pm~8:30pm\nWHERE: Please reg
 ister at https://mit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkceisrj4rGdSnQsuiD7SIbYPa
 c_k1cqyT to receive a link to the online event\n\nPresentation followed by
  Q&A.\nFree and open to the public. The event will be recorded.\n\nFaceboo
 k event: https://www.facebook.com/events/683321655629218\n\nMore about Sag
 an Day: https://centerforinquiry.org/celebrate-carl-sagan-day-november-9th
 /\n\nTopic: The Search for Life Beyond Earth -- Venus\nAbstract: For thous
 ands of years\, inspired by the star-filled dark night sky\, people have w
 ondered what lies beyond Earth. Today\, the search for signs of life is a 
 key factor in modern-day planetary exploration. Recently we discovered the
  gas phosphine (PH3) in Venus’s atmosphere\, an astonishing finding beca
 use any phosphorus should be bound to oxygen\, not hydrogen in Venus’ en
 vironment. Furthermore\, on Earth phosphine is only associated with life a
 nd not with geochemical processes. Professor Seager will discuss the Venus
  phosphine discovery and its two extreme implications: either unknown chem
 istry or possibly even life in the only temperate location on Venus: the a
 tmospheric clouds. The possibility of life on Venus was first proposed ove
 r half a century ago by Carl Sagan. To follow up we will need to send spec
 ialized space probes to the Venusian atmosphere.\n\nSpeaker: Sara Seager i
 s the class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science at the Massachusetts In
 stitute of Technology and also holds joint appointments in the departments
  of Physics and Aeronautics and Astronautics. She has pioneered many resea
 rch areas of characterizing exoplanets with concepts and methods that now 
 form the foundation of the field of exoplanet atmospheres. Her present res
 earch focuses on the search for life by way of exoplanet atmospheric “bi
 osignature” gases\, which has also led to research in the evolution of l
 ife through chemical space. Professor Seager works on space missions for p
 lanetary discovery and exploration. She was the Deputy Science Director of
  the MIT-led NASA Explorer-class mission TESS\; she was PI of the MIT-JPL 
 CubeSat ASTERIA\; is a lead of the Starshade Rendezvous Mission (a space-b
 ased direct imaging exoplanet discovery concept under technology developme
 nt) to find a true Earth analog orbiting a Sun-like star\; and most recent
 ly is leading a mission concept study to find signs of life or life itself
  in the Venusian atmosphere. Among other accolades\, Professor Seager is a
  member of the US National Academy of Sciences\, a MacArthur Fellow\, a re
 cipient of the Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences\, and has Asteroid 9
 729 named in her honor.\nWebsite: https://www.saraseager.com/\n\n---------
 ---------\nSign up for email event alerts at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailma
 n/listinfo/ssomit-announce\nFacebook: facebook.com/SecularSocietyOfMIT\nTw
 itter: twitter.com/SecularMIT\nWebsite: ssomit.mit.edu\nEmail: ssomit@mit.
 edu
LOCATION:
SUMMARY:🦠🪐🛰🔭🌎 Sagan Day: The Search for Life Beyond Earth --
  Venus
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/ssomit_sagan_day_2020
CATEGORIES:Conferences/Seminars/Lectures
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