Podcast: Habitabily Metrics for Astrobiology
Our “Beer with BMSIS” podcast for July features a conversation with Dr. Abel Méndez of the University of Puerto Rico about his research on “Habitabily Metrics for Astrobiology“.
Habitability is often defined as the ability of a planet to have liquid water on its surface, but can one planet be “more habitable” than another? Is Earth at optimal habitable conditions? Dr. Abel Méndez raises such questions in his efforts to quantify habitability using analytical tools borrowed from ecology. He describes how complex systems can be quantified using simple metrics that allow for comparison between environments, which may be useful in the search for habitable exoplanets.