Finding Life Beyond our Solar System

Is there life beyond planet Earth, is one of the great questions of all time.  In the last twenty years we have coma a long way towards answering this question.  We find living organisms in extreme environments on Earth, evidence for possible habitats in unexpected places in our solar system and over 5000 planets orbiting other stars.  By careful observation we know something about the physical properties of these planets, whether they are dense and rocky like our Earth or gas giants like Jupiter.  The James Webb Telescope is opening a new dimension of research as it enables us to detect molecules in the atmosphere of some of these planets.  This talk will bring us up to date wth the latest findings.