Video 7: Looking for Life

The idea that life can exist anywhere apart from Earth is a comparatively recent one, and still unproven. Students hear from two of America's leading "exobiologists"-Chris Chyba from the SETI Institute and Stanford University, and Ken Nealson, Director of the Center for Life Detection at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

  •  "Life Defined." Scientists Chyba and Nealson update the traditional definition of life and describe places in which we might find life on other planets.

  •  "Extreme Survivors" describes how microbiology has been revolutionized by the discovery of organisms known as "extremophiles," which live near 350-degrees Centigrade water spewing out of hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean.

  •  "Habitable Zones?" applies new ideas and discoveries to analyze where else in our solar system we have reasons to look for life.

    • Through the video and related activities your students will:

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