SOON ASTRONOMERS EXPECT TO FIND ALIEN EARTHS by the dozens in orbit around distant suns. Before the decade is out, telltale signs that they harbor life may be found. If they succeed, the ramifications for all areas of human thought and endeavor — from religion and philosophy to art and biology — are breathtaking. Renowned astronomer Ray Jayawardhana brings news from the front lines of the epic quest to find extrasolar planets — and alien life — beyond our solar system, revealing how technology is rapidly advancing to support direct observations of Jupiter-like gas giants and super-Earths — rocky planets several times the mass of our own planet — and how astronomers use biomarkers to seek possible life on other worlds. Order the book on which this lecture is based from Amazon.com.
