Welcome to Earth, a spherical rock on an orbit around a mediocre star on the outskirts of an average galaxy. No significant, universe-shattering deeds are to be expected to come from it. Yet its inhabitants have succeeded in collecting, storing and interpreting information from billions of light-years away, resulting in knowledge about the past, present and future of the universe – on small and large scales. In the last decade, efforts have been focused on discovering life on another planet, somewhere around some other insignificant star. Recent results and future prospects in this new field of research are copious and baffling to a degree that science fiction writers have never even dared to dream about. We are not alone; E.T.’s home is about to be found. Lucas Ellerbroek pursues his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. He researches the birth of stars. His words: “I would love to go back in time and see how the sun came into existence.” Since that is impossible he studies other, younger stars. By researching the first stages that all stars go through, he hopes to unravel the mysteries surrounding the genesis of the sun and the planets in our solar system.

He performs his research in Chile. This is where the VLT resides, also know as The Very Large telescope. This is not just a clever name, since it is, in fact, the largest telescope in the world. Lucas Ellerbroek (1984) was actually born in Haarlem. Upon graduating from the Stedelijk Gymnasium, he spent a year teaching maths and science in a jungle village in Guyana, South America. He went on to study theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam, from which he graduated with honors in 2009. He co-organised and participated as a violinist in the national student orchestra (NSO), and is the host of the Amsterdam Nerd Nite.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Bron: YouTube TEDx Talks