Franck Marchis is a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) senior planetary astronomer and chair of the exoplanet group at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute.
Prior to this, his work has involved the discovery and characterisation of numerous asteroids, study of the volcanism on Io (one of Jupiter's moons) and the enhancement of adaptive optics. He is also the co-founder of Unistellar, a company that develops extremely high quality telescopes. To find out more, visit http://franckmarchis.com/ or https://unistellaroptics.com/.
"We are a young technological intelligent civilization and we are like teenagers. We’ve only recently learned what we can do and how great life can be."
To start off today, Konner and Franck chat about his origins, his studies of Io, the aversion of physical activity within academia, as well as the importance of branching out into other fields and travel for all of us.
But around 30 minutes in, the guys begin talking about what all good discussions around astronomy eventually get to, which is aliens. They discuss some actual SETI findings, such as the staggering number of planets out there that could be harbouring life. We talk about the philosophy of alien life, how that might affect humanity, and finally, what it could be like if humanity became a space faring civilization.