How Mars might hold the secret to the origin of life
Speaker
About this talk
While we like to imagine little green men, it's far more likely that life on other planets will be microbial. Planetary scientist Nathalie Cabrol takes us inside the search for microbes on Mars, a hunt which counterintuitively leads us to the remote lakes of the Andes mountains. This extreme environment — with its thin atmosphere and scorched land — approximates the surface of Mars about 3.5 billion years ago. How microbes adapt to survive here may just show us where to look on Mars — and could help us understand why some microbial pathways lead to civilization while others are a dead end.
More talks to watch
- How too many rules at work keep you from getting things doneYves Morieux
- Why being your true self is the most selfless actKelly Lepley
- How we're priming some kids for college — and others for prisonAlice Goffman
- Could we cure HIV with lasers?Patience Mthunzi
- Why great architecture should tell a storyOle Scheeren
The next outbreak? We're not readyBill Gates