If there is some form of life elsewhere in the universe, how will we recognize it? How will we find it? Astrobiologist Dr. Pamela Conrad of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will discuss these topics in a pair of free lectures titled "Extraterrestrial Life: Imagining Colors You've Never Seen."
As part of a monthly JPL lecture series, the first lecture on this topic will be held at JPL on Thursday, September 20, and the second at Pasadena City College on Friday, September 21. Both lectures are open to the public and will start at 7 p.m. The JPL lecture will be webcast live. Information on the webcast will be available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures/sep01.html.
Although Hollywood seems to have a fixed idea of what extraterrestrial life might be like, scientists at the JPL Center for Life Detection have been studying this topic, in earnest, for several years. They have some ideas about what universal features of life might enable us to recognize it elsewhere, even if it's in a completely unexpected form.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The lecture at JPL will be held in von Karman Auditorium, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., off the Oak Grove Drive exit of the 210 (Foothill) Freeway. For directions, see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/about_JPL/directions.html.
On Friday, the lecture will be held in Pasadena City College's Forum at 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. Additional information on this lecture and other von Karman lectures is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.html, or from JPL's Public Services Office at (818) 354-0112.
JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.