SETI Live

• Where Water Boils the Sky: Steam Worlds and the Search for Life

  What happens when a planet is full of water—but too hot for oceans? Meet the "steam worlds," exotic exoplanets wrapped in thick water vapor and boiling at thousands of degrees. These strange worlds may be far from habitable, but they're reshaping how scientists think about planets, water, and where life might exist. In this episode of SETI Live, host Beth Johnson talks with Artem Aguichine of the University of California, Santa Cruz, about his new research modeling the interiors and atmospheres of steam worlds—a class of water-rich sub-Neptunes that could dominate our galaxy. With data from the JWST revealing steam signatures on distant planets, these models are helping scientists decode what's really going on beneath the haze. Join us as we explore: • What defines a "steam world" and how it forms • How water behaves under crushing pressure and searing heat • Why JWST's new observations are changing the game • What these discoveries mean for the future search for life beyond Earth 🔗 Learn more: UCSC Press Release – https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/08/new-model-steam-worlds  Research Paper – https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/add935 (Recorded live 13 November 2025.)

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• TRAPPIST‑1 e Revealed: Peering Inside an Exoplanet's Atmosphere

  Join SETI Live host Moiya McTier with Néstor Espinoza (STScI) and Ana Glidden (MIT) for a deep dive into the latest JWST observations of TRAPPIST‑1 e, one of the most tantalizing Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of a nearby star. In this episode, we explore: 🛰 How JWST is peering into TRAPPIST-1 e's atmosphere (or lack thereof). 🔵 Why the planet almost certainly doesn't have a thick hydrogen envelope, ruling out a mini-Neptune-like world. 🪨 The emerging hints of a secondary, heavier atmosphere — or the possibility that it's a bare rock. ⭐️ The challenges posed by stellar activity and their implications for habitability. Get ready for a conversation about exoplanet atmospheres, habitability, and the next steps in characterizing worlds beyond our Solar System. Press release: http://webbtelescope.org/news-2025-109  Papers: Espinoza et al., https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf42e  Glidden et al., https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf62e (Recorded live 6 November 2025.)

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• Welcome Moiya! A New Host Joins SETI Live

  Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator in New York City who loves planets, galaxy evolution, her cat named Cosmo, and old stories about space. She is also the latest addition to our rotating cast of hosts for SETI Live! Join communications specialist Beth Johnson for an interview to introduce Moiya to the community. So please bring your questions and help us welcome her to the team! (Recorded live 3 November 2025.)

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• Comet 3I/ATLAS Perihelion Update

  What happens when a visitor from another star system drops by? Join planetary astronomers Franck Marchis and Ariel Graykowski for a special SETI Live all about Comet 3I/ATLAS — only the third known interstellar object ever detected! Astronomers around the world, including citizen scientists in the Unistellar Network, are racing to learn as much as possible about this rare cosmic traveler. 3I/ATLAS is swinging through our neighborhood, reaching perihelion on October 30, 2025, just inside the orbit of Mars — a front-row seat for spacecraft like Lucy and Psyche. While it's currently hidden behind the Sun, it won't stay that way for long. By December 2025, 3I/ATLAS will reappear, ready for a fresh round of observations from Earth and its Lagrange-point observatories. We'll dive into what scientists have discovered so far, how they're studying this interstellar visitor, and what it might reveal about the chemistry and dynamics of other star systems. Don't miss it — interstellar comets don't come around every day! (Recorded live 31 October 2025.)

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• This Microbe Breathes Two Ways! The Bacteria That Challenge Biochemistry

  Join host Beth Johnson on SETI Live as she talks with Dr. Eric Boyd from the University of Montana about a groundbreaking discovery: microbes that can breathe in two ways at once! These extraordinary bacteria simultaneously perform both aerobic (oxygen-based) and anaerobic (sulfur-based) respiration, challenging everything we thought we knew about cellular life. Discover how this incredible metabolic flexibility reshapes our understanding of life on Earth, inspires biotechnology innovations, and even informs the search for extraterrestrial life. 🔬 Featured Research: Quanta Magazine overview: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-cells-that-breathe-two-ways-20250723/  Original study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56418-4  Dr. Boyd's website: http://geoboydology.com/  💡 Learn how microbes survive extreme environments and why this discovery matters for science and space exploration. (Recorded live 30 October 2025.)

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