Next #SETILive: Baby Moons in the Making?
TODAY, 4 December, 11:00 am PST
On this episode of SETI Live, host Moiya McTier welcomes two leading researchers—Gabriele Cugno (University of Zürich) & Sierra L. Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science)—to dive into an extraordinary discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): a carbon-rich, moon-forming disk around the distant exoplanetary object CT Cha b, some 625 light-years away.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/t1pz56F7f-c
Next #SETILive: When We Find Life
TODAY, 18 September, 11:00 am PDT
What happens after we discover life beyond Earth? The question is no longer “if,” but “when”—and how humanity responds could shape our future. Host and planetary astronomer Franck Marchis welcomes Martin Dominik, one of the authors of a new white paper on the societal, political, and philosophical challenges we’ll face once alien life is confirmed.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/cULB0k2Cb7s
#ICYMI: Are we close to discovering life beyond Earth? Dr. Martin Dominik isn't certain, but he thinks we should be prepared to handle the consequences of finding that life. He spoke with Dr. Franck Marchis in this week's #SETILive. Watch the full interview: https://youtube.com/live/cULB0k2Cb7s
How do we find new trans-Neptunian objects, given that they are small and distant? Astronomer Dr. Rosemary E. Pike explains the necessary observations taken before, during, and after the expected place in the sky. Listen to the latest #SETILive #podcast: https://feeds.libsyn.com/462636/rss
Next #SETILive: Hidden Habitability on Ceres
Thursday, 2 October 2025, 2:30 pm PDT / 5:30 pm EDT
Join host Beth Johnson and guest Dr. Sam Courville, lead author of a new study on Ceres, as they dive into the possibility that the dwarf planet may have had the energy needed to support habitability for much longer than once believed. Could this small world in the asteroid belt have been more habitable than we ever imagined?
WATCH LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/live/AMxbk9foXcw
In our latest #SETILive #podcast, doctoral student Sanne Bloot details some of the characteristics of a white dwarf star that was found to be emitting a strange, repeated radio signal. Listen to the full episode: https://www.seti.org/outreach/seti-live/
Next #SETILive: Do Aliens Speak Physics?
TODAY, 16 October, 2:30 pm PDT
Do Aliens Speak Physics?: And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality is a mind-bending exploration into what it would mean, scientifically and philosophically, for humans to communicate with an extraterrestrial intelligence through the language of physics. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson and co-author Daniel Whiteson for a discussion.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/hwLao7jjFVw
Next #SETILive: Space Weather Alert
TODAY, 7 October 2025, 2:30 pm PDT / 5:30 pm EDT
In this special SETI Live, heliophysicist Dr. Becca Robinson (SETI Institute) joins host Simon Steel (Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute) to explain what coronal holes are, how they form, and what their impacts mean for both our technology and our understanding of the Sun.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/rx0WpKCpbGk
Next #SETILive: Birth of Planets: Caught!
TODAY, 9 October, 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm PDT
How do planets start? Host Simon Steel (SETI Institute) speaks with Melissa McClure (Leiden University), lead author of a new study that caught the earliest spark of planet formation.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/dtoULXg_nfg
Next #SETILive: Earth 2.0? Maybe Not.
TODAY, 8 December, 11 am PST
How common are biological extraterrestrial intelligences in the Milky Way? Host Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research, is joined by Manuel Scherf and Helmut Lammer to explore new research that challenges long-held assumptions about “Earth-like” planets and what it really takes for a world to support complex life.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/qy8spTZpTNI
Next #SETILive: TRAPPIST‑1 e Revealed
Peering Inside an Exoplanet’s Atmosphere
TODAY, 6 November, 10 am PST / 1 pm EDT
Join SETI Live host Moiya McTier with Néstor Espinoza (STScI) and Ana Glidden (MIT) for a deep dive into the latest JWST observations of TRAPPIST‑1 e, one of the most tantalizing Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of a nearby star.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/wQfR7yn82CY
Next #SETILive: Where Water Boils the Sky
TODAY, 13 November, 2:30 pm PST
Today, host Beth Johnson talks with Artem Aguichine (UCSC) about his new research modeling the interiors and atmospheres of steam worlds—a class of water-rich sub-Neptunes that could dominate our galaxy. With data from the JWST revealing steam signatures on distant planets, these models are helping scientists decode what’s really going on beneath the haze.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/nBpyGdXkuXo
#ICYMI: This week on #SETILive, Simon Steel chatted with scientists Manuel Scherf and Helmut Lammer about what makes Earth so special that intelligent life evolved and how those circumstances may lower the chances of similar life developing on another world. Watch the full interview: https://youtube.com/live/qy8spTZpTNI
Next #SETILive: The Moon that Could Support Life
TODAY, 20 November, 11 am PST / 2 pm EST
Join host Beth Johnson for a fascinating episode of SETI Live, featuring planetary scientists Dr Georgina Miles and Dr Carly Howett from the University of Oxford. We’ll be unpacking their groundbreaking study showing that Enceladus — one of Saturn’s icy moons — may harbor a stable subsurface ocean capable of supporting life.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/fDf0VQ_S-Bs
On our latest #SETILive #podcast, Dr Carly Howett from the University of Oxford explains the kinds of Earth analogues that may exist for the subsurface ocean environment of Enceladus. Hydrothermal vents, anyone? Listen to the full episode: https://feeds.libsyn.com/462636/rss
On our latest #SETILive #podcast, Beth asked Dr. Eric Boyd to explain what it means when he says a microbe breathes in two ways. Listen to the full episode at https://feeds.libsyn.com/462636/rss
In a recent #SETILive episode, host Beth Johnson spoke with UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral researcher Dr. Artem Aguichine about his work modeling the interiors and atmospheres of steam worlds, a class of water-rich exoplanets wrapped in thick, high-temperature water vapor. Thanks to new spectra from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), these once-theoretical worlds are rapidly becoming an observational reality.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/news/where-water-boils-the-sky-steam-worlds-and-the-search-for-life/
In our most recent #SETILive #podcast, we met the show's newest host, Dr. Moiya McTier, who gave us the lore on her science and communication background. Listen to the full episode: https://feeds.libsyn.com/462636/rss
Next #SETILive: 3I/ATLAS: Caught in UV
TODAY, 19 December, 2:30 pm PST
Europa Clipper wasn’t supposed to study comets — but it just delivered unique observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS anyway.
Live conversation with Dr. Cynthia Phillips (JPL) on how this happened and what scientists learned from it. 🌌 🔭
WATCH LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/live/cXqwsc2TI6A
And that's a wrap! Our last #SETILive for the year has ended. We'll be back in 2025 with all new shows, guests, and science. Thank you for a wonderful 2024!
#ICYMI: The Kaçar Lab, led by Dr. Betül Kaçar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is challenging the assumptions about life as we know it, its origins, and its future. Beth chatted with Dr. Kaçar in this week's #SETILive, and wow, we all learned a lot! Watch the full interview: https://youtube.com/live/hLw4olNyBng
Next #SETILive: A Cookbook of Life
TODAY, Thursday, May 15, 2025 12:00 PM PDT
Join Beth Johnson as we explore groundbreaking research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Scientists have identified over 270 self-replicating chemical reactions that may have sparked life not just on Earth but potentially anywhere in the universe. Led by astrobiologist Dr. Betül Kaçar, this study reframes our understanding of how life can emerge from simple chemistry.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/hLw4olNyBng
In a new study using #JWST, scientists have discovered a hidden population of tiny asteroids in our solar system. These objects might be a more significant threat than we ever realized.
In a recent #SETILive episode, Senior Planetary Astronomer Dr. Franck Marchis and the study's lead authors, Dr. Artem Y. Burdanov and Dr. Julien de Wit, discussed the role of minor asteroids and what they can reveal about potential threats to Earth.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/tiny-asteroids-big-threats-how-jwst-uncovering-hidden-worlds-our-solar-system
In a recent #SETILive episode hosted by Beth Johnson, Dr. Ben Tutolo, an associate professor at the University of Calgary and a participating scientist on NASA's Curiosity Rover team, unveiled how an unassuming iron carbonate - siderite - is the key to unlocking #Mars's atmospheric secrets.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/marss-ancient-carbon-cycle-how-rocks-mars-tell-story-vanishing-climate
Next #SETILive: Could Aliens See Us?
TODAY, Thursday, Jun 12, 2025 2:30 PM PDT / 5:30 PM PDT
Join senior planetary astronomer Dr. Franck Marchis for a fascinating conversation with Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra, astrobiologist and lead author of a groundbreaking study exploring 10 possible futures for Earth’s technosphere—the global network of our technologies—and what these futures mean for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/aOs7WU8Gd4c
