Is there life beyond earth? - with Nikku Madhusudhan
Could there be alien life out there? Explore new exoplanets, JWST discoveries, and the future of finding life beyond Earth.Watch the Q&A for this lecture here (exclusively available to our Science Supporters): https://youtu.be/WSaayJ1pp5g
Join this channel as a Science Supporter to get early access to lectures and other perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 27 October 2025.
Are we alone in the universe? This is one of the oldest and most primal questions of humankind.
But we may be closer to finding an answer, thanks to a recently-proposed new class of habitable exoplanets called Hycean worlds. Hycean planets are expected to be temperate ocean-covered worlds with H2-rich atmospheres, and thanks to their larger sizes and more extended atmospheres, compared to rocky planets of similar mass, Hycean worlds are significantly more accessible to atmospheric spectroscopy. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently observed the atmospheric spectrum of a possible Hycean world for the first time, named K2-18 b, which led to inferences of multiple carbon-bearing molecules in its atmosphere with hints of a potential biomarker.
Astrophysicist and exoplanet expert Nikku Madhusudhan will present the observations from K2-18b, and what they’ve taught us about the atmospheric composition and physical processes, along with the possibility of a habitable ocean underneath the atmosphere. Discover the latest future prospects in the search for habitable environments, and life beyond the solar system in the next decade.
---
Nikku Madhusudhan is a Professor of Astrophysics and Exoplanetary Science at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. He is credited with pioneering atmospheric retrieval methods for determining the atmospheric properties of exoplanets using spectroscopic observations with large telescopes, besides other important developments in the understanding of the atmospheres, interiors, formation conditions, and habitability of exoplanets.
Most recently, his work led to the identification of a new class of habitable planets, called hycean worlds, and to the first detections of carbon-bearing molecules in a possible hycean world using the James Webb Space Telescope. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including the Young Scientist Medal in Astrophysics from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, the MERAC Prize in Theoretical Astrophysics from the European Astronomical Society and the Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching at Cambridge.
---
The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https://www.rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link. Receive SMS online on sms24.me
TubeReader video aggregator is a website that collects and organizes online videos from the YouTube source. Video aggregation is done for different purposes, and TubeReader take different approaches to achieve their purpose.
Our try to collect videos of high quality or interest for visitors to view; the collection may be made by editors or may be based on community votes.
Another method is to base the collection on those videos most viewed, either at the aggregator site or at various popular video hosting sites.
TubeReader site exists to allow users to collect their own sets of videos, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others; TubeReader can develop online communities around video sharing.
Our site allow users to create a personalized video playlist, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others.
@YouTubeReaderBot allows you to subscribe to Youtube channels.
By using @YouTubeReaderBot Bot you agree with YouTube Terms of Service.
Use the @YouTubeReaderBot telegram bot to be the first to be notified when new videos are released on your favorite channels.
Look for new videos or channels and share them with your friends.
You can start using our bot from this video, subscribe now to Is there life beyond earth? - with Nikku Madhusudhan
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others. Originally created in 2005, YouTube is now one of the most popular sites on the Web, with visitors watching around 6 billion hours of video every month.
