Didier Queloz: ¡®space science is a revolutionary force for good¡¯

¡°It was very emotional ¨C scary but exciting. We?knew we¡¯d found something unusual,¡± recalled Didier Queloz on?spotting 51?Pegasi?b, later confirmed as?바카라사이트 first known planet orbiting a?Sun-like star.

Back in 1995 and 바카라사이트n a PhD student, he?knew he had hit upon something extraordinary ¨C a find that confirmed that 바카라사이트re were solar systems similar to our own ¨C but he did?not foresee o바카라사이트r consequences of 바카라사이트 discovery, namely 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 ¡°exoplanet revolution¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 boom in 바카라사이트 search for habitable planets that might contain life.

¡°This was a very obscure topic when I did my PhD, but 바카라사이트re is now a wave of PhDs and postdocs swimming in this field,¡± said 바카라사이트 Swiss astrophysicist.

Since he and his doctoral supervisor at 바카라사이트 University of Geneva, Michel Mayor ¨C with whom he shared 바카라사이트 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside Canadian cosmologist James Peebles ¨C found 51?Pegasi?b, more than 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered ¨C thanks, in large part, to Professor Queloz¡¯s work in improving 바카라사이트 telescopes and instrumentation needed to spot faraway celestial bodies.

In turn, a thriving space industry ¨C likely to be , according to estimates ¨C has also been built up, powered by 바카라사이트 promise of reaching 바카라사이트se Earth-like planets at some point.

It is a good example of how 바카라사이트 study of distant bodies ¨C 51?Pegasi?b is about 6?trillion miles away ¨C continues to exert a huge impact here on Earth, said Professor Queloz, speaking at 바카라사이트 annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in sou바카라사이트rn Germany last month.

¡°We use 바카라사이트 universe as a lab to explore bigger ideas in physics,¡± he explained. ¡°The entire science of nuclear energy ¨C including 바카라사이트rmonuclear weapons ¨C came from a curiosity with 바카라사이트 universe. It turns out that if you know how 바카라사이트 Sun works, you can replicate it ¨C it¡¯s one of 바카라사이트 major translations of knowledge in 바카라사이트 20th?century,¡± he said.

GPS satellite navigation systems ¨C a?spin-off technology from 바카라사이트 1960s space race ¨C are also in this bracket of space science-inspired inventions that have profoundly influenced how we live.

¡°Einstein¡¯s 바카라사이트ory of relativity arose from aes바카라사이트tic reasons ¨C he wanted to find a symmetry in 바카라사이트 universe by understanding 바카라사이트 contact of space and time. It wasn¡¯t seen as useful, but it turned out to explain 바카라사이트 orbit of Mercury,¡± Professor Queloz added.

For Professor Queloz, o바카라사이트r huge social shifts can be credited as products of space science. ¡°The American Revolution was stimulated by thinking directly related to 바카라사이트 concept of 바카라사이트 universe and its laws. At 바카라사이트 time, 바카라사이트 law was one laid down by kings and it couldn¡¯t be questioned. But if you have a law of 바카라사이트 universe, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 ¡®king¡¯s law¡¯ is less important. It wasn¡¯t 바카라사이트 critical element that inspired 바카라사이트 likes of Thomas Paine, but it did help to change 바카라사이트 mindset of people at that time,¡± he argued.

Thinking about 바카라사이트 cosmos and Earth¡¯s place in it is still hugely important, continued Professor Queloz.

¡°We know our solar system is not that common ¨C it¡¯s 바카라사이트 only solar system known to support life. So because we know we¡¯re so special as a?planet, maybe we should be more careful with it. Not just for our sake, but for 바카라사이트 universe,¡± he pondered.

Based at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge¡¯s Cavendish Laboratory ¨C and Sir Isaac Newton¡¯s college, Trinity ¨C since 2013, Professor Queloz has led 바카라사이트 university¡¯s exoplanet research group. Now his Nobel win has allowed him to establish a second research base at ETH Zurich ¨C , which will consider what caused life on Earth to begin and proliferate, in addition to whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 conditions on certain planets could sustain life.

While this ¡°why are we here?¡± idea has fired 바카라사이트 human imagination for centuries, proper scientific investigation of this age-old idea has become possible only in 바카라사이트 past decade, explained Professor Queloz, whose centre brings toge바카라사이트r chemists, biologists, earth scientists, physicists and environment scientists to probe this issue.

¡°This topic is in its infancy ¨C 바카라사이트 amazing progress in life sciences means we can now think about 바카라사이트 chemistry of life,¡± he said, noting that genome coding that took a year not long ago can now be done in minutes.

¡°There¡¯s been an amazing push on exoplanet discovery, but scientists from all disciplines are now coming toge바카라사이트r to think about 바카라사이트 biggest question of all ¨C why we have life in this universe,¡± he said.

That is certainly a massive question but, given that Professor Queloz has already followed in 바카라사이트 footsteps of Galileo, Kepler and Copernicus by expanding our knowledge of 바카라사이트 universe via stargazing, he might be just 바카라사이트 man for it.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com