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How spectroscopy could reveal alien life

678,541 views | Garik Israelian • TEDGlobal 2009

Garik Israelian is a spectroscopist, studying the spectrum emitted by a star to figure out what it's made of and how it might behave. It's a rare and accessible look at this discipline, which may be coming close to finding a planet friendly to life.

Garik Israelian is a spectroscopist, studying the spectrum emitted by a star to figure out what it's made of and how it might behave. It's a rare and accessible look at this discipline, which may be coming close to finding a planet friendly to life.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Garik Israelian

Garik Israelian

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Garik Israelian's stargazing on the Canary Islands has led to high-profile discoveries about space's big disasters -- including the first evidence that supernova explosions make black holes.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.