Are we alone?... Well... How did we get here?

Abstract: 35 years ago, we knew of only one planetary system. Now we know almost 6000. We have good evidence that all stars have some kind of planetary system and that about 10% are roughly Earth-like. Earth-like planets seem to be common.  Life on Earth is made out of the most abundant elements in the universe. With so many Earths most people believe we are not alone.  But then, where is everybody?  I will explain this “Fermi Paradox” and describe how understanding how WE got here is currently the best way to guesstimate whether we are alone in the universe.

Bio: Astrobiologist, Charles H. Lineweaver is an honorary associate professor at the Australian National University’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics ( www.mso.anu.edu.au/~charley ).  His research areas include exoplanetology (the statistical analysis of exoplanets and their habitability), cosmobiology (using our new knowledge of cosmology to constrain life in the Universe) and cancer (developing a new atavistic model of oncogenesis). He recently completed an online video MOOC at:  arewealone.us.   Dr. Lineweaver earned a BA in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton, an MA in English from Brown University, a BS is physics from Ludwig Maximillian's University in Munich, and a PhD in physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1994.  He is the son of a high school biology teacher and has lived in or travelled through 85 countries, has spoken 4 languages semi-fluently at one time or another, and was a semi-professional soccer player in New England and Germany.