Thursday 4 June 2026 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Sainsbury Laboratory Auditorium or online via Zoom
47 Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LRAre we alone in the universe? This ancient and deeply human question continues to fascinate. In this public talk, astrophysicist and exoplanet expert Professor Nikku Madhusudhan will take you on a journey into the search for worlds beyond our solar system and what they might reveal about life.
About
The search for life beyond the solar system
Speaker: Professor Nikku Madhusudhan (Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge)
When: 1pm on Thursday 4 June 2026
Venue: Sainsbury Laboratory, 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LR
Online attendance: Join remotely via Zoom
The search for life elsewhere is one of the major frontiers of modern science.
Numerous efforts are underway to detect habitable exoplanets orbiting nearby stars and to characterise their atmospheres using current and upcoming large telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The detection of atmospheric signatures of habitable Earth-like exoplanets is challenging due to their small planet-star size contrast and thin atmospheres with high mean molecular weight. A new class of habitable exoplanets, called Hycean worlds, promises to expand and accelerate the search for planetary habitability and life elsewhere. Hycean planets are expected to be temperate ocean-covered worlds with H2-rich atmospheres.
Their large sizes and extended atmospheres, compared to rocky planets of similar mass, make Hycean worlds significantly more accessible to atmospheric spectroscopy.
Several candidate Hycean worlds have been identified orbiting nearby M dwarf stars, making them highly conducive for transmission spectroscopy with JWST. Recently, the first JWST spectra have been reported for several Hycean candidates, leading to detections of multiple carbon-bearing molecules in their atmospheres, with important implications for their atmospheric, interior and surface conditions.
These results are opening a promising new avenue in the search for life elsewhere.
We will discuss recent observational and theoretical developments in the exploration of habitable exoplanets, including candidate Hycean worlds, as well as future prospects in the search for habitability and life beyond the solar system.
Branching Out public talk series
We are 100% dedicated to plants at the Sainsbury Laboratory, but we also enjoy the chance to “branch out” and explore the exciting research taking place across other scientific disciplines.
Branching Out is a free lunchtime talk series held once a month during term time. Rather than traditional scientific seminars aimed at specialists, these talks are designed to be engaging, accessible and thought-provoking for the wider Cambridge community.
The series was originally conceived by Emilio Aldorino and is now organised by a committee of researchers at the Sainsbury Laboratory: Alexandra Shelest, Dario D'Asora, Darius Kosmützky, Jivin Anish and Joshua Yarrow.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
If you are interested in attending a future talk, giving a talk, or contacting the organisers, please get in touch.