Alien life in the news

9 December 2010

Origins' resident astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell comments on recent NASA findings that have energised both the web and exobiology community alike. Discovery of an extremophile isolated from Mono Lake, California, which substitutes arsenic for phosphorus to sustain its growth, had spurred a week-long internet frenzy of doubts and hopeful speculations. Read more for Dr Dartnell's commentary and behind-the-scenes news story:

• Arsenic, bacteria and alien life: Lessons from an internet frenzy - Lewis Dartnell - The Guardian Science blog (3rd December 2010)
• A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus - Felisa Wolfe-Simon et al - Science research article (2nd December 2010)
• Arsenic life-forms in Yosemite: evidence of alien life? Wait and see - Tom Chivers - The Telegraph Culture blog (1st December 2010)
• 'Life as we don't know it' discovery could prove existence of aliens - Richard Alleyne - The Telegraph Science news (1st December 2010)
• It's life, but not as we know it - Paul Sutherland - The Sun news (1st December 2010)

Neutrino makes headlines again

A team of three UCL Institute of Origins based researchers made headlines on 22nd & 23rd June 2010 in international press following their announcement of the most accurate measurement yet of the mass of neutrino particle. Read more...

Astrobiology: the new science of life in the Universe

On Thursday 17 June Lewis Dartnell gave a full-dome show on astrobiology at the planetarium in the Royal Observatory. Astrobiology is a brand new field of science, bringing together biologists, astronomers and planetary scientists to investigate the origins and limits of life on our planet and discover where life might exist beyond the Earth. Read more...

Lewis Dartnell on Mars

The possibility of life on Mars has long fascinated scientists, science fiction writers and David Bowie. Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiologist at UCL, is going one step further and developing ways to look for signs of life on the Red Planet. Join him as we explore one of the most enduring questions of humanity: are we alone in the universe? Listen to the podcast here.

Wellcome to Physics: Jonathan Butterworth on CERN

Jonathan Butterworth, Professor of Physics at UCL, is a leading member of the British team working at CERN on the hunt for the Higgs boson. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Dan Glaser about the unique pleasures and frustrations of working on the most powerful physics experiment ever conceived.

Listen to the podcast here and then read the behind-the-scenes feature on Jonathan Butterworth's blog.

THE COSMIC ENIGMA: Cosmology & Particle Astrophysics

This two-day Symposium provided an opportunity for leading scientists from Weizmann Institute and other UK research institutes (including the UCL Institute of Origins) to present new research in the fields of Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics. Read more...

Promises of Astrobiology

Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiology researcher in the UCL Institute of Origins, commented on future of this new science in an article In the heavens, as it is on Earth published on 19th November 2009 in The Times Higher Education magazine. Read the article here...

Institute of Origins Launch Event

UCL Institute of Origins has announced the beginning of its operations. To celebrate this we held a Launch Event in the afternoon of 27th February 2009 at UCL. Read more...

'Quiet Sun' in BBC News

Prof. Louise Harra commented on the quietest part of a complicated solar cycle of activity. "There's no sign of us coming out of it yet," she told BBC News. Read more...

The first Origins meeting

The first Origins town meet held on the 29th August 2007. This meeting was well attended, and was a good brain-storming event in how to progress such an Institute.