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

Lex Fridman Podcast

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