What is carbon—and how can this element, born in dying stars billions of years ago, be responsible for all life as we know it, while also driving the instability of Earth’s climate system? In this episode of Ignition Sequence, host Dylan Bohbot is joined by Prof. Raymond Thomas Pierrehumbert, FRS, Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, to unpack the cosmic and planetary journey of carbon—from the heart of exploding stars to its pivotal role in shaping life and climate on Earth.
A leading voice in climate physics and planetary atmospheres, Prof. Pierrehumbert shares how carbon became the backbone of biology, why Earth’s climate is uniquely stable (for now), and what alien worlds with exotic atmospheres can teach us about our own. They dive into everything from exoplanet discoveries and Mars microbes to solar-powered spacecraft, beer carbonation, and what the future might hold if we don’t change our carbon trajectory.
This is science at its most expansive—connecting astrophysics, climate change, and everyday life into one thought-provoking conversation.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
1. How carbon formed in stars and became the backbone of life on Earth
2. Why Earth’s carbon cycle is so stable—and how this balance is changing
3. How scientists “read” exoplanet atmospheres across light-years
4. What kinds of life might survive on Mars—and whether we should bring microbes home
5. A physicist’s take on beer, solar-powered space probes, and planetary stewardship
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Timestamps
00:00:27 – Meet Prof. Raymond Pierrehumbert: climate physicist and Oxford professor
00:01:58 – His early inspiration and journey into science
00:03:41 – Exoplanets with crystal rain and alien chemistry
00:06:49 – How we detect chemical signatures in other worlds’ atmospheres
00:08:22 – The origin of carbon and the building blocks of life
00:18:42 – Could life exist without carbon? The search for chemical precursors
00:27:47 – Should we bring extraterrestrial microbes back to Earth?
00:31:41 – What life might survive on Mars today
00:35:57 – Hubble, James Webb, and the future of space observation
00:41:24 – Solar power in space: how probes run off starlight
00:44:48 – Earth as a self-regulating system—and what carbon is doing to it
00:46:10 – What makes naturally carbonated beer so different?
00:54:08 – The problem with burning ancient carbon
01:02:50 – What keeps Prof. Pierrehumbert curious outside of science
01:07:43 – Final reflections on life, the universe, and a bubbling pint
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🔗 Helpful Links
🔹 Raymond Pierrehumbert at Oxford: https://physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/pierrehumbert
🔹 Principles of Planetary Climate (among his books): https://amazon.com/Principles-Planetary-Climate-Raymond-Pierrehumbert-ebook/dp/B00CF0K3D2?ref_=ast_author_dp
🔹 Accelerator Media: https://acceleratormedia.org
