Astrophysics professor Lisa Kaltenegger is leading the charge in one of humanity’s most captivating endeavors — the search for life beyond Earth.
Ms. Kaltenegger, 47, an acclaimed pioneer in her field, currently spearheads the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University in New York. The institute, which is renowned for its interdisciplinary approach, unites scientists from various backgrounds to explore the possibility of life among the stars.
The professor is excited about four planets found orbiting the red dwarf star Trappist-1, just 40 light-years from Earth, that may support life.
“The James Webb Space Telescope is observing these planets right now,” she told The Telegraph. “We have a chance to find the gases on these worlds and to figure out if there’s biosignatures on them within the next, let’s say, five to 10 years.”
“If life is everywhere, it can be in that system. It may be that we need to observe 100 systems before we find life, or 1,000. But it could also be that we just need to observe one system,” she said. Then, an announcement that we are not alone in the universe “could be just a couple of years from now.”
Ms. Kaltenegger‘s contributions to popular science, particularly through her book “Alien Earths: Planet Hunting in the Cosmos” and her upcoming feature on Radio 4’s Book of the Week, make complex astronomical concepts accessible and engaging to the general public.
However, Ms. Kaltenegger is quick to distance her scientific inquiry from the more speculative claims of UFO sightings and alien visitors. She emphasizes the need for robust data to support any claims of extraterrestrial life, cautioning against the allure of inconclusive evidence.
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