SETI Live – Details, episodes & analysis

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SETI Live

SETI Institute

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/8d. Total Eps: 155

SETI Live is a weekly production of the SETI Institute and is recorded live on stream with viewers on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Twitch. Guests include astronomers, planetary scientists, cosmologists, and more, working on current scientific research. Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the Universe and to share that knowledge with the world.

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Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality

Season 3 · Episode 40

Friday, November 14, 2025 • Duration 43:55

Do Aliens Speak Physics?: And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality (Whiteson & Warner, 2025) is a mind-bending exploration into what it would mean, scientifically and philosophically, for humans to communicate with an extraterrestrial intelligence through the language of physics. Daniel Whiteson, a particle physicist, and Andy Warner tackle deep questions: Are concepts like "number," "space," "time," and "laws of nature" universal, or are they shaped by our biology, culture, and perception? What assumptions do we make that might not translate to a species evolved under utterly different conditions? The book pushes us to examine where physics ends and human perspective begins, to reflect on whether alien minds might think mathematics differently, sense reality differently, or have radically different "basic science." Join us on SETI Live as communications specialist Beth Johnson speaks with co-author Daniel Whiteson about the surprising places he found ambiguity, what assumptions underlie science as we know it, and what our notion of physics might reveal — or blind us to — when grappling with alien intelligence. Learn more about the book: https://sites.uci.edu/alienphysics/ (Recorded live 16 October 2025.)

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Birth of Planets: JWST Spots Hot Mineral Condensation in a Proto-Stellar System

Season 3 · Episode 39

Tuesday, November 11, 2025 • Duration 35:20

How do planets start? Host Simon Steel (SETI Institute) speaks with Melissa McClure (Leiden University), lead author of a new study that caught the earliest spark of planet formation. Using JWST and ALMA, the team detected silicon monoxide (SiO)—both gaseous and likely crystalline—and pinpointed where hot, rock-forming minerals are condensing inside the protoplanetary disk of HOPS-315, ~1300 light-years away in Orion. They also map the action to a belt-like region similar to our Solar System's asteroid belt. What does SiO reveal about shocks, heat, and the first solids that seed planets? Join us to unpack the chemistry, the physics, and the cosmic "baby book" of a solar system in the making. ESO press release: https://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2512/ Nature paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09163-z (Recorded live 9 October 2025.)

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Can We Recognize Alien Life? Ocean Worlds and the Search for Life

Season 3 · Episode 30

Friday, September 26, 2025 • Duration 35:14

Join communications specialist Beth Johnson for a conversation with Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina, Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellow at the SETI Institute, as we explore how life might emerge and/or be mistaken for in environments beyond Earth. Dr. Yanchilla studies abiotic mineral structures, or "chemical gardens," that resemble biological life but form entirely through non-living processes. By recreating these systems under conditions similar to hydrothermal vents on ocean worlds such as Enceladus and Mars, she investigates how to distinguish between life and non-life, and what this means for the origin of life on Earth. We'll discuss how minerals, organics, and even UV light interact in these experiments, and how this research helps us refine the search for biosignatures across the solar system. (Recorded live 21 August 2025.)

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Xenopocene: The First 10,000 Days After First Contact, a conversation with Daedelus

Season 1 · Episode 25

Tuesday, September 26, 2023 • Duration 33:52

SETI Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Daedelus imagines the first 10,000 days after first contact with an alien civilization and puts those imaginings to music. Daedelus calls this post-detection era the 'Xenopocene', which also serves as the title of their newly released album. In this conversation with SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget, discover Daedelus' creative process and what inspired them during their two-year residency with the AIR program, plus listen in on this fascinating album that weaves influences of Gustav Holst, Sun Ra, Alice Deejay, and Amon Tobin. Recorded live 17 August 2023.

Listen to Xenopocene: https://daedelusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/xenopocene

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Moon and Mars on Earth: Preparing for Space Exploration in the Arctic

Season 1 · Episode 24

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 • Duration 48:25

Tune in to this week's SETI Live broadcast, beamed directly from Devon Island in the High Arctic. This exceptional locale serves as a remarkable analog, mirroring key environmental features of both the Moon and Mars to help prepare for their exploration. Dr. Pascal Lee and his team have embarked on their annual expedition to study the local geology and microbiology, and their relevance to the Moon and Mars. Beyond their scientific mission, they're putting spacesuits, drills, and cutting-edge technologies through rigorous trials, all destined for potential deployment in the human quest to explore the Moon and Mars.

Join SETI Institute CEO Bill Diamond as he discusses this exciting research and fascinating location with Dr. Lee, live via Starlink from the Arctic.

Recorded live on 10 August 2023.

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Frontier Development Lab

Season 1 · Episode 23

Tuesday, September 12, 2023 • Duration 37:50

Frontier Development Lab (FDL) is an applied artificial intelligence (AI) research accelerator fostering collaboration among researchers, scientists, and engineers across diverse fields. FDL aims to address paramount challenges in space and Earth science through cutting-edge AI and Machine Learning applications. FDL is a collaborative effort of the SETI Institute, NASA, the Department of Energy (DoE), and prominent private sector partners.

Discover the immense potential of AI for space exploration, Earth sciences, and humanity as SETI Institute CEO, Bill Diamond, engages in a compelling conversation with Jason Talley from the DoE's Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office. Together, they delve into the transformative possibilities that AI brings to these critical domains, pushing the boundaries of innovation and exploration.

Recorded live 3 August 2023.

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Citizen Science and SN 2023ixf

Season 1 · Episode 22

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 • Duration 33:08

In an unprecedented achievement, citizen scientists have set a new record for the SETI Institute and Unistellar, comprising the highest number of observers providing data on a single event. Amateur astronomers participating in the SETI Institute's and Unistellar's Cosmic Cataclysms program conducted a groundbreaking observation of supernova (SN) 2023ixf. The observations, which began just one hour after the supernova's first known appearance, have generated the longest continuous light curve of this supernova gathered by citizen scientists that has been published to date.

Join Simon Steel, Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research, as he discusses this record-breaking citizen science project with researcher Lauren Sgro.

Press release: https://www.seti.org/press-release/record-breaking-team-citizen-scientists-contribute-data-pinwheel-galaxy-supernova

Research note: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ace41f

Recorded live 27 July 2023.

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Introducing FIRST: A Game-Changer in Telescope Technology!

Season 1 · Episode 21

Tuesday, August 29, 2023 • Duration 32:59

We will present the first on-sky demonstration of the Fibered Imager foR a Single Telescope (FIRST) instrument at the Subaru Telescope. Using techniques of aperture masking and spatial filtering, FIRST combines the power of spectro-interferometry to deliver high contrast capabilities and spatial resolutions beyond the reach of traditional coronagraphic instruments.

We will explain the 'pupil remapping' technique - the heart of the FIRST instrument - and its practical applications. This process divides the telescope pupil into sub-pupils, enabling simultaneous measurements of all baseline fringe patterns. Our researchers tested this instrument on two types of targets: a point source (Keho'oea - α Lyrae) and a binary system (Hokulei - α Aurigae), achieving a contrast and stability sufficient to study the close surroundings of those stars.

The successful demonstration of FIRST signifies a significant step forward for future interferometric instrumentation on extremely large telescopes, opening new observing capabilities in the visible wavelength range at the Subaru Telescope.

With the SETI Institute's Franck Marchis and Sebastien Vievard, exoplanet instrumentation scientist on SCExAO.

Recorded live 20 July 2023

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Searching for ET at the Heart of the Milky Way

Season 1 · Episode 20

Tuesday, August 22, 2023 • Duration 28:25

If an alien civilization wanted to communicate with other civilizations throughout the Milky Way, the galaxy's core holds potential as a strategic site for a beacon. Until now, radio SETI has primarily dedicated its efforts to the search for continuous signals. A new study sheds light on the remarkable energy efficiency of a train of pulses as a means of interstellar communication across vast distances. This marks the first-ever comprehensive endeavor to conduct in-depth searches for these signals. Join us in discussion with Dr. Vishal Gajjar, a SETI Institute astronomer working at the Allen Telescope Array.

Paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/acccf0

Recorded live 13 July 2023.

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Xenology, Alienness, and Trans Futures: A conversation with Adriana Knouf

Season 1 · Episode 19

Tuesday, August 15, 2023 • Duration 32:29

Meet Adriana Knouf, our newest artist in residence! Adriana engages with topics such as wet media, space art, satellites, radio transmission, non-human encounters, queer and trans futurities, and machine learning. Join SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget and Adriana as they talk about her project TX-1, which has flown on the International Space Station, TX-2, an experiment in speculative satellite construction, and how space travel can be made more accessible to those marked as transgender.

Recorded live 6 July 2023.

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SETI Live – Details, episodes & analysis

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SETI Live – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other84

Nature10

Youtube2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other84

Nature10

Youtube2