Gist of talk:
Astronomer Dimitar Sasselov and his colleagues search for Earth-like planets that may, someday, help us answer centuries-old questions about the origin and existence of biological life elsewhere (and on Earth). Preliminary results show that they have found 706 "candidates" -- some of which further research may prove to be planets with Earth-like geochemical characteristics.
Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/dimitar_sasselov_how_we_found_hundreds_of_potential_earth_like_planets.html
My review:
The talk is basically about the results of the man, Dimitar Sasselov, and his collegues' research with a telescope that uses the transit method to discover planets and infer their composition. Their research is a very meaningful one, as it has resulted in the discovery of many Earth-like planets, and possibly one of those planets is able to support life. His research has given us a new perspective to life as we know it, whether the biochemistry on Earth is universal, and happens on all life-sustaining planets. They found out that a membrane similar to a cell membrane is formed on the surface of bubbles which form naturally when there are small puddles of water. On a whole, the talk is very informative and helps us to get a better understanding of the universe, and life as we know it.
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