ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aomawa Shields - Astronomer, astrobiologist, actor, writer
Aomawa Shields studies the climate and habitability of planets outside of the Solar System.

Why you should listen

Dr. Aomawa Shields received her PhD in Astronomy and Astrobiology from the University of Washington in 2014. She also received an MFA in Acting from UCLA in 2001, and a Bachelor's degree in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from MIT in 1997. She is currently an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, a UC President's Postdoctoral Program Fellow, and a 2015 TED Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Dr. Shields is the founder of Rising Stargirls, an organization dedicated to encouraging girls of all colors and backgrounds to explore and discover the universe using theater, writing, and visual art. She uses her theater and writing background to communicate science to the public in engaging, innovative ways.

More profile about the speaker
Aomawa Shields | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

Aomawa Shields: How we'll find life on other planets

Aomawa Shields: Como imos atopar vida noutros planetas

Filmed:
1,734,106 views

A astrónoma Aomawa Shields busca pistas sobre a vida que podería existir noutros lugares del universo examinando las atmosferas de exoplanetas afastados. Cando non está explorando o ceo, esta actriz de formación clásica (e bolseira TED) busca o xeito de implicar ás mozas nas ciencias por medio do teatro, a escrita e a arte visual. " Se cadra, algún día hanse sumar ás filas de astrónomos que están cheos de contradicións " di ela, "e han usar as súas experiencias para descubrir, dunha vez por todas, que realmente non estamos sós no universo."
- Astronomer, astrobiologist, actor, writer
Aomawa Shields studies the climate and habitability of planets outside of the Solar System. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I am in search of another planet
in the universe where life exists.
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Ando á procura doutro planeta
no universo onde haxa vida.
Non podo ver ese planeta só a ollo ceibe
00:18
I can't see this planet
with my naked eyes
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00:21
or even with the most powerful telescopes
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nin co telescopio máis poderoso
00:23
we currently possess.
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que temos hoxe en día.
00:25
But I know that it's there.
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Pero eu sei que está aí.
E entender as contradicións
que ocorren na natureza
00:27
And understanding contradictions
that occur in nature
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00:31
will help us find it.
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axudaranos a atopalo.
00:33
On our planet,
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No noso planeta,
00:34
where there's water, there's life.
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onde hai auga, hai vida.
00:36
So we look for planets that orbit
at just the right distance
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Por iso, buscamos planetas
que orbiten á distancia xusta
00:39
from their stars.
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das súas estrelas.
00:42
At this distance,
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A esa distancia,
00:43
shown in blue on this diagram
for stars of different temperatures,
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en azul neste diagrama para estrelas
de distintas temperaturas,
00:47
planets could be warm enough
for water to flow on their surfaces
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os planetas poden ser quentes abondo
para teren auga na súa superficie
00:50
as lakes and oceans
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e lagos e océanos
00:52
where life might reside.
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onde pode residir a vida.
00:54
Some astronomers focus their time
and energy on finding planets
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Algúns astrónomos invisten tempo
e enerxía en atopar planetas
00:58
at these distances from their stars.
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a esa distancia das súas estrelas.
01:00
What I do picks up where their job ends.
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O que eu fago comeza
onde remata o seu traballo.
01:03
I model the possible
climates of exoplanets.
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Eu modelo os posibles
climas de exoplanetas.
01:07
And here's why that's important:
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E velaquí por que é importante:
01:09
there are many factors
besides distance from its star
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hai moitos factores alén
da distancia coa súa estrela
01:12
that control whether
a planet can support life.
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que inflúen en que un planeta
poida permitir vida.
01:16
Take the planet Venus.
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Collamos o planeta Venus.
01:18
It's named after the Roman goddess
of love and beauty,
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Chámase así pola deusa romana
do amor e a beleza,
01:22
because of its benign,
ethereal appearance in the sky.
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a causa da súa benévola e etérea
aparencia no ceo.
01:26
But spacecraft measurements
revealed a different story.
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Pero as medicións espaciais
amosaron outra cousa.
01:30
The surface temperature is close
to 900 degrees Fahrenheit,
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A temperatura da superficie anda
polos 900 graos Fahrenheit,
01:34
500 Celsius.
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500 graos Celsius.
01:36
That's hot enough to melt lead.
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Iso é quente dabondo para fundir chumbo.
01:39
Its thick atmosphere, not its distance
from the sun, is the reason.
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A súa densa atmosfera,
non a distancia ao Sol, é a razón.
01:42
It causes a greenhouse effect on steroids,
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Isto causa un fortísimo
efecto invernadoiro,
01:46
trapping heat from the sun
and scorching the planet's surface.
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atrapando a calor do Sol
e abrasando a superficie do planeta.
01:50
The reality totally contradicted
initial perceptions of this planet.
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A realidade contradixo totalmente
a percepción inicial sobre este planeta.
Destas leccións
do noso propio sistema solar
01:55
From these lessons
from our own solar system,
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01:58
we've learned that a planet's atmosphere
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aprendemos que a atmosfera
dun planeta
02:00
is crucial to its climate
and potential to host life.
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é clave para o seu clima
e potencial para acoller vida.
Non sabemos como son
as atmosferas destes planetas
02:04
We don't know what the atmospheres
of these planets are like
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porque son moi pequenos e borrosos
comparados coas súas estrelas
02:07
because the planets are so small
and dim compared to their stars
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e están moi lonxe de nós.
02:12
and so far away from us.
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Por exemplo, un dos planetas cercanos
que podería ter auga na superficie
02:14
For example, one of the closest planets
that could support surface water --
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02:18
it's called Gliese 667 Cc --
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chámase Gliese 667 CC
02:22
such a glamorous name, right,
nice phone number for a name --
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--que nome máis glamuroso, eh?,
parece un número de teléfono--
Está a 23 anos luz.
02:26
it's 23 light years away.
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A máis de 160 billóns de quilómetros.
02:29
So that's more than 100 trillion miles.
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Intentar medir a composición atmosférica
02:32
Trying to measure
the atmospheric composition
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02:35
of an exoplanet passing
in front of its host star is hard.
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dun exoplaneta ao pasar
por diante da súa estrela nai é duro.
É como intentar ver unha mosca da froita
02:39
It's like trying to see a fruit fly
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02:41
passing in front of a car's headlight.
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pasando por diante do faro dun coche.
Vale, agora imaxinade que ese coche
está a 160 billóns de quilómetros,
02:44
OK, now imagine that car
is 100 trillion miles away,
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02:47
and you want to know
the precise color of that fly.
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e queredes saber a cor precisa desa mosca.
Entón, eu uso modelos informáticos
02:52
So I use computer models
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para calcular o tipo de atmosfera
que un planeta precisaría
02:54
to calculate the kind of atmosphere
a planet would need
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para ter un clima axeitado
para a auga e a vida.
02:57
to have a suitable climate
for water and life.
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Isto é unha representación artística
do planeta Kepler-62f,
03:01
Here's an artist's concept
of the planet Kepler-62f,
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03:05
with the Earth for reference.
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tomando a Terra como referencia.
03:07
It's 1,200 light years away,
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Está a 1200 anos luz
03:09
and just 40 percent larger than Earth.
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e só é un 40 por cento
máis grande que a Terra.
Nunha investigación financiada pola NSF
03:12
Our NSF-funded work found that it
could be warm enough for open water
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atopamos que podería ser cálido abondo
para ter auga con diferentes atmosferas
e orientacións da súa órbita.
03:16
from many types of atmospheres
and orientations of its orbit.
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03:20
So I'd like future telescopes
to follow up on this planet
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Gustaríame que os telescopios futuros
vixiasen este planeta
para buscar sinais de vida.
03:23
to look for signs of life.
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O xeo na superficie dun planeta
tamén é importante para o clima.
03:26
Ice on a planet's surface
is also important for climate.
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Absorbe as ondas de luz de maior lonxitude
e máis próximas ao vermello,
03:29
Ice absorbs longer,
redder wavelengths of light,
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03:33
and reflects shorter, bluer light.
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e reflicte as máis curtas
e achegadas ao azul.
03:35
That's why the iceberg
in this photo looks so blue.
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Por iso, o iceberg
se ve tan azul nesta foto.
03:39
The redder light from the sun
is absorbed on its way through the ice.
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A luz vermella do Sol é absorbida
ao pasar polo xeo.
03:42
Only the blue light
makes it all the way to the bottom.
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Só a azul chega ata o fondo.
03:45
Then it gets reflected
back to up to our eyes
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Entón reflíctese outra vez
cara aos nosos ollos
e vemos o xeo azul.
03:48
and we see blue ice.
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Os meus modelos amosan que os planetas
que orbitan estrelas máis frías
03:50
My models show that planets
orbiting cooler stars
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03:53
could actually be warmer
than planets orbiting hotter stars.
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poderían ser máis cálidos
que os que orbitan estrelas máis quentes.
03:56
There's another contradiction --
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Hai outra contradición,
03:58
that ice absorbs the longer
wavelength light from cooler stars,
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o xeo absorbe as ondas de luz
de máis lonxitude das estrelas máis frías,
04:02
and that light, that energy,
heats the ice.
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e esa luz, esa enerxía, quenta o xeo.
04:06
Using climate models to explore
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Usar modelos climáticos para explorar
04:09
how these contradictions
can affect planetary climate
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como estas contradicións poden
afectar o clima dun planeta
04:12
is vital to the search for life elsewhere.
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é vital para a busca de vida
noutros lugares.
04:16
And it's no surprise
that this is my specialty.
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E non é de estrañar que
esa sexa a miña especialidade.
Son unha astrónoma negra dos EE. UU.
04:19
I'm an African-American female astronomer
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e unha actriz con formación clásica
04:22
and a classically trained actor
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04:24
who loves to wear makeup
and read fashion magazines,
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á que lle encanta usar maquillaxe
e ler revistas de moda,
04:28
so I am uniquely positioned to appreciate
contradictions in nature --
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estou, pois, nunha posición única para
apreciar as contradicións na natureza.
04:33
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
04:34
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
04:38
... and how they can inform our search
for the next planet where life exists.
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... e como estas poden darnos información
na busca do próximo planeta que teña vida.
A miña organización
Rising Stargirls,
04:42
My organization, Rising Stargirls,
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04:45
teaches astronomy
to middle-school girls of color,
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ensínalles astronomía
a nenas negras de secundaria,
04:48
using theater, writing and visual art.
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usando o teatro, a escritura
e as artes visuais.
04:52
That's another contradiction --
science and art don't often go together,
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Esa é outra contradición, a ciencia
e a arte raramente van xuntas,
04:56
but interweaving them can help
these girls bring their whole selves
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pero unilas pode axudar estas nenas
a achegar os seus propios "eus"
a aquilo que aprenden,
05:00
to what they learn,
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05:01
and maybe one day join
the ranks of astronomers
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e, se cadra, algún día a sumarse
ás filas de astrónomos
05:05
who are full of contradictions,
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que están cheos de contradicións,
05:06
and use their backgrounds
to discover, once and for all,
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e a usar as súas experiencias
para descubrir, dunha vez por todas,
05:10
that we are truly not alone
in the universe.
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que realmente non
estamos sós no universo.
Grazas.
05:14
Thank you.
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05:15
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Carme Paz
Reviewed by Xusto Rodriguez

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aomawa Shields - Astronomer, astrobiologist, actor, writer
Aomawa Shields studies the climate and habitability of planets outside of the Solar System.

Why you should listen

Dr. Aomawa Shields received her PhD in Astronomy and Astrobiology from the University of Washington in 2014. She also received an MFA in Acting from UCLA in 2001, and a Bachelor's degree in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from MIT in 1997. She is currently an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, a UC President's Postdoctoral Program Fellow, and a 2015 TED Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Dr. Shields is the founder of Rising Stargirls, an organization dedicated to encouraging girls of all colors and backgrounds to explore and discover the universe using theater, writing, and visual art. She uses her theater and writing background to communicate science to the public in engaging, innovative ways.

More profile about the speaker
Aomawa Shields | Speaker | TED.com