The Search for a New Earth: Exoplanets, Habitable Zones & Life Signs | SPACETIME Full Documentary

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Technology Weird Science SPACETIME Science Show Ulrich Walter exoplanet documentary Kepler-452b Kepler TESS JWST habitable zone biosignature

Are there other Earths—and how close are we to finding life?
In this SPACETIME special, astronaut Prof. Ulrich Walter unpacks the hunt for Earth-like exoplanets: from 2015’s headline discoveries (e.g., Kepler-452b) to today’s TESS surveys and JWST atmosphere readings. Learn how scientists separate hype from hard evidence—and what would truly count as a biosignature.

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What You’ll See

How we find exoplanets: transit, radial velocity, direct imaging & microlensing

Habitability 101: what “habitable zone” really means (and its limits)

Super-Earths & mini-Neptunes: why most “Earth-size” worlds aren’t Earth twins

2015 milestone: why finds like Kepler-452b mattered—and what we learned since

M-dwarf systems (e.g., TRAPPIST-1): tidal locking, flares & atmosphere loss

JWST spectroscopy: detecting H₂O, CO₂, CH₄ and false positives

Biosignatures: oxygen–methane imbalance, surface clues & what would convince scientists

What’s next: TESS follow-ups, ELTs, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Chapters
0:00 The Big Question: Another Earth
3:05 Detection Methods: Transit, RV, Imaging, Lensing
7:20 Habitable Zones vs Real Habitability
11:10 Super-Earths, Mini-Neptunes & Classification
15:00 2015 Headlines: From Kepler to TESS
19:10 TRAPPIST-1 & M-Dwarf Challenges
23:30 Reading Atmospheres with JWST
28:10 Biosignatures: Signals We’d Trust
32:00 The Road Ahead: Telescopes & Missions

Details & Keywords
SPACETIME Science Show, Ulrich Walter, exoplanet documentary, Kepler-452b, Kepler, TESS, JWST, habitable zone, biosignature, exoplanet atmosphere, TRAPPIST-1, super-Earth, mini-Neptune, radial velocity, transit method, direct imaging, microlensing, habitability, life beyond Earth, astronomy documentary

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