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The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats

The University of Edinburgh · Media Services

22 episodesEN

Show overview

The Tartan Tardigrade - Astrobiology Chats has been publishing since 2019, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 22 episodes. That works out to roughly 10 hours of audio in total. Releases follow an irregular cadence.

Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 20 min and 33 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Science & Medicine show.

The show is still active — the most recent episode landed 2 months ago, though releases have slowed compared with earlier in the run. The busiest year was 2025, with 8 episodes published. Published by Media Services.

Episodes
22
Running
2019–2026 · 7y
Median length
25 min
Cadence
Irregular

From the publisher

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.

Latest Episodes

View all 22 episodes

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 22: Robert Hazen

<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>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 awesome trilobite collection.</div><div></div></div><div></div></div><div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div>

Mar 12, 202630 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 21: Paul Rimmer

<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>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?).</div><div></div></div><div></div></div><div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div>

Dec 15, 202544 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 20: Frances Westall

<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>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 extraterrestrial life.</div><div></div></div><div></div></div><div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div>

Nov 18, 202525 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 19: Nick Lane

<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>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.</div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Nov 3, 202545 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 18: Christopher Cowie

<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>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 search for life.</div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div></div></div>

Oct 18, 202527 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - SPECIAL Episode 17: Astrobio & Planetary Sci MSc

<div><div><div><div><div><div>In this <b>special</b> 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.</div></div></div></div></div></div>

Jul 23, 202553 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 16: Graeme Ackland

<div><div><div><div>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) and what it taught him.</div></div></div></div>

Jul 8, 202535 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 15: Katherine Baxter

<div><div><div><div><div>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.</div><div><br></div></div></div></div><div></div></div>

Mar 5, 202522 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 14: Andrew Bissette

<div><div><div><div><div>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.</div></div></div></div><div></div></div>

Feb 7, 202524 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 13: Ralph Lorenz

<div><div>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!</div></div>

Nov 14, 202425 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 12: David Deamer

<div><div>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!</div></div>

Oct 24, 202443 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 11: Caprice Phillips

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!<br>

Sep 5, 202329 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 10 - Peter Vickers

<div>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.<br><br>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 philosophy of science, and easy questions such as the nature of truth.</div>

Aug 19, 202034 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 9 - Roberto Orosei

<div><span>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. <br><br>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 radar applications on other planets.</span></div>

Apr 8, 202016 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 8 - Ernesto Di Mauro

<div>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, and the definitions of life that play such a big part of astrobiology.</div>

Dec 5, 201922 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 6 - Mohit Melwani Daswani

<div><div>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 little bit of Mars).</div></div>

Sep 30, 201916 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 6 - Mark Van Zuilen

<div><div>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 truly produced by biology.</div></div>

Aug 12, 201929 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 5 - Kathryn Harriss

<div>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.<br><br>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.</div>

May 22, 201918 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 4 - Rosaly Lopes

<div><div>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.<br><br>This episode features Rosaly Lopes, an interplanetary volcanologist who works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.</div></div>

Apr 8, 201924 min

The Tartan Tardigrade - Episode 3 - Axel Hagermann

<div><div><div>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.<br><br>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.</div><div><br></div><div></div></div></div>

Mar 3, 201914 min
University of Edinburgh - Prod