#195 – Clara Sousa-Silva: Searching for Signs of Life on Venus and Other Planets

Clara Sousa-Silva is a quantum astrochemist at Harvard. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Clara’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/drphosphine
Clara’s Website: https://clarasousasilva.com

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00)– Introduction
(07:57)– Discovery of phosphine on Venus
(20:34)– Phosphine gas
(30:47)– Searching for molecular fingerprints
(41:44)– What does a quantum astrochemist do?
(56:48)– Spectroscopic networks
(1:01:13)– Biosignature gases
(1:04:06)– UFOs and aliens
(1:17:24)– Alien civilizations
(1:34:59)– Programming
(1:42:15)– Why science is beautiful
(1:46:07)– How to be productive
(1:56:27)– Books
(1:57:59)– Meaning of life