The universe is too big for us to think we’re alone, says astronomer

Where are we? Is there life outside of Earth? How did the universe come about? Questions like these have influenced humanity’s interest in space, from the launch of the first rockets to, this year, the James Webb telescope, the most advanced in the world.

To discuss the next steps of space exploration and its impacts, the CNN Our World this Saturday (8) receives Catarina Aydar, a scientist with a degree in physics, a master’s degree in astronomy from the University of São Paulo (USP) and currently a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, in Germany.

“The James Webb telescope helps us answer fundamental questions for humanity, such as “where are we”, “at what moment are we”, “is there life outside Earth”, “how did the universe come about”. It is very important work,” he highlights.

“I think the universe is too big for us to have the arrogance to think we are alone”, he pointed out.

“The form of life as we know it is very much based on the type of energy we receive from the Sun, on the configuration of our atmosphere. If we think of other conditions, maybe there are other forms of life other than ours,” he explained.

However, as Aydar warned, it is necessary, in his view, to take a careful look at the objectives of space exploration and, for example, space tourism. In addition, understand the needs for investments in science, especially in Brazil.

The scientist also warned of the need to make astronomy an increasingly inclusive, diverse and accessible field.

To learn more about it, watch this Saturday’s program (8) on channel 577 and on YouTube CNN Brazil .

O CNN Our World is shown on Saturdays from 11:45 pm.

(published by Tiago Tortella, from CNN )