For thousands of years, humans have wondered whether we are alone in the cosmos. Now, for the first time, we have the technology to investigate. But how do you find life over cosmic distances? What is life, actually? And where are we the aliens?
In a live Chats in the Stacks book talk presented at Mann Library in April 2024, Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor in Astronomy and founding director of Cornell University's Carl Sagan Institute, addresses these questions in discussing her new book “Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos" (Macmillan Publishers, 2024).