The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Robert Hazen from the Carnegie Institution for Science. We talk about the theory behind the second arrow of time and how it relates to astrobiology, Bob's serendipitous path into becoming a prominent science communicator, what it meant to be a professional trumpet player while being a scientist, and his...

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Paul Rimmer from the University of Cambridge. We talk about what "Experimental Astrophysics" is, what happened after the discovery of phosphene on Venus, and where we might find alien life first (Venus? In our solar system? On exoplanets?).

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Frances Westall, leader of the Exobiology Group of the CNRS in Orléans (France). We talk about Frances's diverse and inspiring path, the dramatic and divisive period after a Martian meteorite found (ALH84001) in Antarctica in 1984, and the politic motivations behind false pretences of the discovery of e...

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Nick Lane, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at the University College London. We talk about Nick's motivation to dethrone the primordial soup theory, what is directed panspermia, and the connection between the origin of life and consciousness.

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Christopher Cowie, philosopher and associate professor at the University of Durham. We talk about Chris's interesting work in the intersection between philosophy and astrobiology, what's behind some claims of alien spacecraft in recent news, and how astrobiologists should adopt a different framework for the...

In this  special  Tartan Tardigrade episode, Mia Belle Parkinson, PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, interviews 5 MSc students currently in the Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences MSc at Edinburgh. We will learn about their individual interest in astrobiology, what astrobiology question they are working on, and how the programme has benefitted their long term career goals...

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Graeme Ackland, professor of computer science at the University of Edinburgh. We talk about Dr Ackland's unusual path to astrobiology in regards to hypermolecules, how it feels to see your experiment produce something cooler than you expected, and his work in various fields and projects (including COVID-19)...

This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Katherine Baxter from the University of Glasgow. We talk Dr Baxter's innovation in bio-imaging, the impact of microgravity on skin microorganisms, and what the biggest challenges we might face in maintaining astronaut health in future missions.

This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Andrew Bissette, the Editor in Chief of Cell Reports Physical Science. We talk about what a "recovering chemist" means, what to expect when submitting a paper and publishing in a journal, and how Dr Bissette sees the discoveries in astrobiology impact the work in chemistry.

This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Dr Ralph Lorenz from the University of Arizona and Johns Hopkins University. We talk about the Dragonfly mission, Dr Lorenz’s role as mission architect, why Titan is so fascinating, and an out-of-this-world keyring souvenir!

This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Parkinson chats with Professor David Deamer from the University of California Santa Cruz. We talk about Deamer’s exciting career path, what to consider when becoming a scientist, and future missions in the search for life!

This episode University of Edinburgh MScR student Mia Frothingham speaks to PhD candidate Caprice Phillips from The Ohio State University. We talk about her exciting research on gas dwarf planets and the fact that scientists are people, too!

Episode 10 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. In this episode we talk to Peter Vickers from Durham University, a philosopher who approaches astrobiology from a fresh perspective. We discuss how astrobiology...

Episode 9 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. In this episode we talk to Roberto Orosei from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, who told us about his recent discovery of a subsurface lake on Mars and...

Episode 8 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. In this episode we talk to Ernesto di Mauro from Sapienza University of Rome, who discussed how biological molecules can be formed from different pre-biotic chemistry,...

Episode 7 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. In this episode we talk to Mohit Melwani from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who told us about the possibility for life and geochemical limits of habitability&nbs...

Episode 6 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. In this episode we talk to Mark Van Zuilen from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, who told us about their work on determining whether biosignatures we observ...

Episode 5 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. In this episode we talk to Kathryn Harriss from the University of Kent, who studies impacts in the solar system, and tells us about their effects on life.

Episode 4 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. This episode features Rosaly Lopes, an interplanetary volcanologist who works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Episode 3 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. This episode features Axel Hagermann from the University of Stirling, who investigates ices on other worlds in the solar system and works on a number of space missions...

Episode 2 of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. This we were talking with Magnus Ivarrson from the Natural History Museum of Stockholm. Magnus told us about his work on the deep biosphere, how he ende...

The first episode of the Tartan Tardigrade, a podcast where scientists from the UK Centre for Astrobiology talk to guests from around the world about their research in astrobiology, their careers, and the prospects for life in the universe. This episode features a chat with Susannah Porter from the University of California Santa Barbara about her work on fossil evidence for early eukaryotes, and s...