"Venus as a Potentially Habitable Planet" by Professor Sara Seager

Scientists have been speculating on Venus as a habitable world for over half a century, not the scorching surface, but the much cooler atmosphere at 48 to 60 km above the surface. The concept is that Venus’ perpetual cloud cover might host life, as Earth’s clouds do. The Venus clouds, however, are not made of water but are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid—an aggressive chemical that is toxic for Earth life. New lab-based experiments show some biomolecules are stable in concentrated sulfuric acid, and advance the notion that the Venus atmosphere environment may be able to support complex chemicals needed for life and motivate the astrobiology-focused Morning Star Missions to Venus. About the Speaker: Professor Sara Seager is a Canadian-American astrophysicist and Professor of Physics, Planetary Science, and Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she holds the Class of 1941 Professor Chair. Her research ranges from the foundation of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. She was Deputy Science Director of NASA’s TESS mission, Principal Investigator of the JPL–MIT CubeSat ASTERIA, and has led major efforts to design space-based direct imaging missions to discover another Earth. She now leads the Morning Star Missions to Venus in search of signs of life in Venus’ clouds. Her many honors include a MacArthur “genius” award, the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics, membership in the US National Academy of Sciences, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada. She is the author of the textbook "Exoplanet Atmospheres" and also "The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir." Recorded on Friday, January 9, 2026