A strong turnout tonight to see Dr Lewis Dartnell present is ‘Astrobiology – the hunt for alien life’ talk.

A fascinating insight in to a subject that’s only been able to get going in the last couple of decades, since the technology has been developed to allow for the sensing in extreme conditions.

What is Astrobiology?
Lewis opened with an introduction to Astrobiology as a subject – the study of life, or the potential of life, on other planets beyond Earth.

Without a definition of ‘life’ it’s impossible to search for it, so he gave a simple three-step test for ‘life’.

Extremophiles
Extremophiles exists on Earth, with life-forms living in extreme conditions here on Earth – be that very high acidity or alkaline conditions, or the extremes of temperature. He gave examples and equated them to the condition on other planets where the conditions are similar.

Lewis introduced the next Mars explorer, ExoMars, being designed by the European Space Agency (ESA). Of particular not will be the 2m drill, capable of pulling sample from the depths of the planet, so far unattainable, that will give clues as to how life may exist below the surface of the planet.

Great Q&A too
The Island’s audience did themselves proud, coming up with informed, interesting questions that pulled out further details form Lewis.

It’s highly-recommended that you have a listen … to both of the recordings.

Presentation

Slides

Q&A with the audience