Harvard University is offering free online course on Super-Earths and Life. This course is intended for students with basic knowledge of algebra.
Super-Earths And Life is a course about alien life, how we search for it, and what this teaches us about our place in the universe. The course will start on October 19, 2016.
Course At A Glance
Length: 6 weeks
Effort: 3-5 hours per week
Subject: Science
Institution: Harvard University and edX
Price: Free
Certificate Available: Yes. Add a Verified Certificate for $49
Session: Course starts on October 19, 2016
Providers' Details
Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. Harvard faculty are engaged with teaching and research to push the boundaries of human knowledge. The University has twelve degree-granting Schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
About This Course
Super-Earths And Life is a course about alien life, how we search for it, and what this teaches us about our place in the universe.
In the past decade astronomers have made incredible advances in the discovery of planets outside our solar system. Thirty years ago, we knew only of the planets in our own solar system. Now we know of thousands circling nearby stars.
Meanwhile, biologists have gained a strong understanding of how life evolved on our own planet, all the way back to the earliest cells. University can describe how simple molecules can assemble themselves into the building blocks of life, and how those building blocks might have become the cells that make up our bodies today.
Why Take This Course?
Learning Outcomes
- How we discover planets around other stars
- What makes a planet favorable for life
- How we search for life in our universe
How life may have arisen on Earth
Requirements
Basic algebra
Instructors
Dimitar Sasselov
Professor Sasselov is a professor of astronomy at Harvard. He is the Director of the Origins of Life Initiative, a new interdisciplinary institute that joins biologists, chemists, planetary scientists and astronomers in searching for the starting points of life on Earth (and possibly elsewhere).
Colin Fredericks
Dr. Fredericks is a Senior Project Lead at HarvardX, and is also the course coordinator for this class.
Alessandro Massarotti
Dr. Alessandro Massarotti is an Associate Professor at Stonehill College and an Associate at the Harvard College Observatory.
How To Join This Course
- Go to the course website link
- Create an edX account to SignUp
- Choose “Register Now” to get started.
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