The Universe: Its Structure And Its Support of Life

The Universe: Its Structure And Its Support of Life

Date & Time: Wednesday, October 23, 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Location: Room 1013, Earth Sciences Building, 2207 Main Mall

Description: How did the Universe originate, and why is it the way it is? Is it a coincidence that the Universe seems to be just right for us to live in? Are there other intelligent civilzations out there, or are we alone in our Galaxy? Can we ever achieve interstellar travel?

Join Dr. Graca Rocha, Staff Research Scientist Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and Dr. Pascal Lee, Senior planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, the chairman of the Mars Institute, and the director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center, in an exploration of how we learn about the structure of the Universe and its support of life.

Public Lecture – The Universe: Its Structure And Its Support of Life

The public talk for Time and Life in the Universe will be on Wednesday, October 23rd, from 7:30 to 9:00pm. It will be held in the UBC Earth Sciences Building (2207 Main Mall V6T 1Z4, Vancouver) Room 1013. There will be two talks for the evening:

“What We Know about The Structure of The Universe”
Speaker: Graca Rocha – Staff Research Scientist Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California and Member of the Planck Satellite Collaboration

Our current understanding of the Universe on the largest scales has improved dramatically, and we now know many of its detailed properties: the overall energy budget, how fast it is expanding, and a description of the density variations which grew into all the structure we observe today. However, there are some basic mysteries remaining: how the Universe originated, why it is the way that it is, and whether it is a coincidence that it seems just right for us to live in.

“Home Alone: Why Microbial Worlds Might Be Common
But Intelligent Civilizations Exceedingly Rare”
Speaker: Pascal Lee – Senior planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, the chairman of the Mars Institute, and the director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center

Are we alone in the Universe? Are there other intelligent civilizations in our galaxy? Science fiction often portrays space as populated by many other intelligent species. But is there truly a myriad of alien societies out there? A pragmatic analysis of lessons learned from a wide range of scientific fields, from astrophysics to planetary sciences, geology to microbiology, anthropology to archaeology, suggests that an outcome such as us, an intelligent civilization, while the result of natural processes, might be exceedingly rare. Could we possibly be alone in our Galaxy? If so, what might be our cosmic future? Will we achieve interplanetary travel? What about interstellar travel? And where would we (boldly) go?

Dr. Pascal Lee is a senior planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, the chairman of the Mars Institute, and the director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project at NASA Ames Research Center. He has led, or participated in, over 30 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, viewing them as stand-ins for Mars. He is a helicopter pilot and flight instructor, and was scientist-pilot of the first field test of NASAís Space Exploration Vehicle, a concept spacecraft designed for future asteroid, Moon, and Mars exploration. He recently led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition, a record-setting rover trek on sea-ice along the fabled Northwest Passage. He is a recipient of the United States Antarctic Service Medal, and an advisor to NASA. He just authored a childrenís book titled MISSION: MARS. It will be out on Nov 1.

Ticketing Information: This is a FREE event. For more information, visit http://timeandlife.pwias.ubc.ca/public-events

Open to Public, Recommended for All