We Are Stardust

We’re closer than ever before to discovering if we’re not alone in the universe. The host for this episode of Transistor, astrophysicist Michelle Thaller, visits the NASA lab that discovered that meteorites contain some of the very same chemical elements that we contain. Then, Michelle talks to a Vatican planetary scientist about how science and religion can meet on the topic of life beyond Earth. Inside the Episode: Astrobiologist Danny Glavin works at the NASA Goddard Center for Astrobiology. Here are some of those “mad scientist machines” from the lab. This nanoelectrospray emitter is used by the lab to analyze very small samples. It gives sample molecules an electric charge, then transfers them to a mass spectrometer, which identifies the molecules by their mass. Mass spectrometer instrument used to detect amino acids in meteorite sample extracts. Learn more about Vatican planetary scientist Br. Guy Consolmagno and his most recent book. This episode was produced by Lauren Ober and edited by Katie Davis. Mix and sound design by Whitney Jones. Photos courtesy of NASA.