Dimitar Sasselov on the Kepler Project

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Dimitar Sasselov on the Kepler Project

21 Aug 2010

Speakers: Jack Klaff, Dimitar Sasselov

Summary

Dimitar Sasselov, the Harvard astrophysicist, caused a stir at the last series of TED talks when he announced, prior to NASA’s official declaration, that new planets had indeed been discovered by the Kepler project. He now admits that this breach of procedure wasn’t quite the correct thing to do.

Speaking about his start in science, Sasselov describes growing up in Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast, which provided excellent opportunities for star gazing after his parents bought him his first telescope at the age of 12. He recalls how his ambition of studying at Toronto University, where the foremost experts of a type of star that fascinated Sasselov resided, was initially thwarted when the totalitarian regime at the time forbade him to leave. It was only later that he was able to travel to Canada and work on a second PHD.

Sasselov says that though “discoveries” in the traditional sense of the word have happened in his career, he is more of a theorist than a discoverer. It was his theories on using stars as evidence for the presence of planets that got him involved in the Kepler project.

In his lifetime he hopes to see science gain a true understanding of biochemistry, as he believes understanding the working of molecules as a living system will be key in the study of extraterrestrial life, should it exist. He points out that as we currently don’t have a definition as such for life, how can we hope to look for it?