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The marvels and mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope

1,349,697 views | Heidi Hammel and Nadia Drake • TEDWomen Presents

From favorite moons to the search for alien life, astronomer Heidi Hammel discusses the latest in astronomy and the breakthrough innovations behind her work with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. In conversation with science journalist Nadia Drake, Hammel shares how scientists are studying objects that are farther away and older than ever before, searching for answers to how our universe evolved -- and what else might be out there.

From favorite moons to the search for alien life, astronomer Heidi Hammel discusses the latest in astronomy and the breakthrough innovations behind her work with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. In conversation with science journalist Nadia Drake, Hammel shares how scientists are studying objects that are farther away and older than ever before, searching for answers to how our universe evolved -- and what else might be out there.

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

About the speakers

Heidi Hammel

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Dr. Heidi Hammel is an interdisciplinary scientist for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in 2021 to search for the first galaxies or luminous objects formed after the Big Bang.

Nadia Drake

Science journalist

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Fascinated by exploration both on and off this planet, Nadia Drake writes and thinks about both the very big (astronomy) and the very small (spiders).

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