What do deep-sea microbes and Martian “leopard spots” have in common? Marine biologist Peter Girguis thinks they might both hold clues to finding life beyond Earth. In this episode, he joins Hakeem for a journey from the ocean floor to outer space, sharing stories from his dives aboard the Alvin submersible and exploring how Earth’s most extreme lifeforms could help us find the first ETs. Along the way, he explains how Earth is truly a microbial planet — teeming with enough microbes to stretch across the galaxy –  reshaping how we think about life, both here and out there. 

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Guest Bio: 

Peter Girguis is a professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on marine organisms, and how they adapt to extreme environments. He also works on developing novel technologies like deep sea autonomous laboratories and microbial fuel cells. Girguis appears in NOVA’s Ancient Earth series

Timestamps

(00:00:00) Microbes Rule the Planet

(00:13:45) Deep Ocean Exploration

(00:36:30) Signs of Life on Mars

(00:54:18) Other Life in Outer Space

(01:01:23) Two Truths and a Lie: Science Headlines

(01:07:00) The Future of Working With Microbes

(01:11:22) Credits