Are We Alone? | Ellen Stofan | TEDxBinghamtonUniversity

NASA is seeking to answer the fundamental question: Are we alone? With our increasingly advanced telescopes, we are identifying potentially habitable worlds around other stars. At the same time, we are looking to destinations in our own solar system – Mars, Europa, the moons of Saturn – to understand how common life might be, and how similar to life on Earth. We are on the cusp of knowing if life is something unique to our planet, or something ubiquitous in our solar system and beyond.

Ellen Stofan, chief scientist of NASA, serves as principal advisor to the NASA administrator on the agency's science programs, and science-related strategic planning and investments. Her research has focused on the geology of Venus; Mars; Saturn's moon, Titan; and Earth. Stofan has a bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary and a PhD from Brown University. She has published extensively, and received many awards and honors including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She is an associate member of the Cassini Mission to Saturn Radar Team, and has proposed a mission to NASA to land a boat on a sea on Titan.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx