Ideas worth spreading

The galactic recipe for a living planet

459,169 views | Karin Öberg • TED@NAS

Did you know that one of the most notorious poisons is also a key ingredient for life as we know it? Join space chemist Karin Öberg and learn how she scans the universe in search of this paradoxical chemical using ALMA, the world's largest radio telescope, to detect hotbeds of molecular activity and the formation of life-sustaining planets.

Did you know that one of the most notorious poisons is also a key ingredient for life as we know it? Join space chemist Karin Öberg and learn how she scans the universe in search of this paradoxical chemical using ALMA, the world's largest radio telescope, to detect hotbeds of molecular activity and the formation of life-sustaining planets.

About the speaker

Karin Öberg

See speaker profile

Karin Öberg studies how chemistry and physics interact during planet formation to shape the compositions of new planets.

Donald Goldsmith | Harvard University Press, 2018 | Book

Exoplanets: Hidden Worlds and the Quest for Extraterrestrial Life

Donald Goldsmith's book provides a nice introduction to exoplanet research, and Chapter 12 gives a nuanced picture of how astronomers are thinking about extraterrestrial life.

Didier Queloz | The Nobel Prize, 2019 | Watch

Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 lecture

This is great telling of how the first exoplanet was discovered and how we came to know that we are far from the only planetary system in the galaxy.

Learn more

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute