QMUL academic makes TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list

An academic from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has been named as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. Dr Guillem Anglada-Escudé from QMUL's School of Physics and Astronomy was featured on the list's 'pioneers' section, for leading a study that discovered an Earth-size planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, our closest neighbouring star. The list, now in its fourteenth year, recognises the world's most influential individuals. TIME's editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs said: 'Each year our TIME 100 list lets us step back and measure the forces that move us. One way or another they each embody a breakthrough: they broke the rules, broke the record, broke the silence, broke the boundaries to reveal what we're capable of.' Dr Anglada-Escudé was featured along with scientists Michaël Gillon of Belgium's University of Liège and Natalie Batalha, the current lead scientist for NASA's Kepler space telescope, for their research into exoplanets - planets orbiting other starsthat could be home to life. Pale Red Dot. The discovery, in August 2016, was the culmination of an inspiring astronomy outreach project called Pale Red Dot named in homage to Pale Blue Dot, a term coined by Carl Sagan in reference to a photograph of planet Earth taken by the Voyager 1 space probe.