Can a Star Make a Cookie? (And How We Search for Alien Tech) with Dr. Chenoa Tremblay

Can a star make a cookie and searching for techno- and bio-signatures to find signs of extraterrestrial life.

What do cosmic cookies, giant space spectrometers, and artificial intelligence in deep space have in common? They're all part of the daily work of Dr. Chenoa Tremblay, project scientist with the SETI Institute, Breakthrough Listen, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).

In this episode of The Star River Podcast, host Eric Loyd sits down with Dr. Tremblay to explore the cutting edge of astrochemistry and the modern search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). From her unconventional journey starting out in laboratory chemistry testing dirt samples to hunting for complex molecules and technosignatures with world-class radio telescopes, Chenoa shares a mind-bending look at how we listen to the universe.

In this episode, we explore:

• Cosmic Chemistry: How stars bake the ingredients for life - and cookies!
• Physics in the Vacuum: Why atoms actually grow bigger in the near-vacuum of interstellar space.
• Technosignatures vs. Biosignatures: Why SETI is looking for cosmic "Wall-E" robots and technological waste rather than little green men.
• The Power of Radio Astronomy: How arrays like the VLA, MeerKAT, and more process massive streams of data to hunt for artificial signals.
• The Human Side of Science: Transitioning from lab tech to lead scientist, and making space science accessible to everyone.

With a quick detour to the Wow! signal, and a fast jaunt to Asteroid (514107) 2015 BZ509, grab your favorite drink, join us for the Ritual, and take a trip down Dr. Tremblay's tributary of the Star River!

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