The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

The Tartan Tardigrade is 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.

Episodes

July 8, 2025 35 mins
This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham 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) and what it taught him....
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This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham 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.

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This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham 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.
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This episode, The University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham 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!
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This episode, University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Mia Belle Frothingham 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!
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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!
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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 fits in with the philos...
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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 his research of...
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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 on Icy Moons (and a lit...
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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 observe in the environment are ...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 ended up working in palaeon...
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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 signs that vampire-like preda...
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