Why the search for life on Mars is far from over

Why the search for life on Mars is far from over

Way back in 1976, NASA’s Viking landers touched down on Mars to search for potential signs of microbial life that could currently exist on the planet’s surface. Despite the mission making a number of promising discoveries, so far, no further landers have returned to the surface of the Red Planet with the aim of repeating these fascinating experiments. As such, many questions still remain as to what organisms, if any, could potentially be living within the Martian soil. In this episode, we’re joined by astrobiochemist and author Steven A. Benner to talk about his latest book, Meet the Neighbours – Life on Mars and How to Find it. He talks us through some of the scientific debates surrounding the Viking data that continue to this day, tells us how our knowledge of the evolution of life on Earth informs our search for life elsewhere in the Solar System, and explains how recent innovations in the democratisation of spacecraft technology may reignite our search for life on Mars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(668)

The latest breakthroughs in Parkinson’s research

The latest breakthroughs in Parkinson’s research

Parkinson’s disease currently affects more than 160,000 people in the UK. It’s a complex, progressive condition that typically develops slowly over many years and causes issues with movement, balance,...

13 Aug 29min

How to harness your brain’s underused superpowers

How to harness your brain’s underused superpowers

For a large proportion of our lives, our brains seemingly work on autopilot – the many processes the brain controls hum away behind the scenes, helping us to carry out our daily tasks. But in certain ...

9 Aug 35min

How we define intelligent life

How we define intelligent life

What does it mean to be a living organism? What are the driving forces that motivate our thoughts and actions? Are we all simply acting the way we do thanks to the instructions built into our genes an...

6 Aug 28min

Exploring Darwin’s ideas through a queer lens

Exploring Darwin’s ideas through a queer lens

When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in the mid-nineteenth century, his theory of evolution by natural selection turned many of the scientific ideas of the day on their heads. The in...

2 Aug 35min

On the frontlines of our fight against dementia

On the frontlines of our fight against dementia

Currently there are around one million people in the UK living with dementia. Despite significant advances in our understanding of the disease over the past several decades an effective cure is yet to...

30 Juli 29min

Why rediscovering simple pleasures may be the key to happiness

Why rediscovering simple pleasures may be the key to happiness

Every single day of our lives, we’re exposed to a vast multitude of experiences and interactions with the various people, objects and technologies in the wider world that surrounds us. The chances are...

23 Juli 32min

Why human urine may be our most untapped natural resource

Why human urine may be our most untapped natural resource

While largely viewed as a toxic waste product with no practical use, our urine is actually rich in all manner of valuable nutrients that, with a little effort, can be extracted, recycled and converted...

19 Juli 26min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

p3-dystopia
dumma-manniskor
allt-du-velat-veta
hacka-livet
bildningspodden
ufo-sverige
rss-vetenskapsradion
rss-ufobortom-rimligt-tvivel
sexet
medicinvetarna
halsorevolutionen
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
det-morka-psyket
svd-nyhetsartiklar
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
ufo-sverige-2
rss-kriminologerna
vetenskapsradion
rss-spraket
rss-tidslinjen-podcast