Guests
Barrie Jones is head of astronomy in the Planetary Sciences Institute at the Open University. He has a wide range of interests within planetary sciences, including the atmospheric phenomena associated with solar eclipses, and the orbits of planetary and smaller bodies.

He's also interested in the detection of extraterrestrial life (of course!) and in aspects of the design of space telescopes for imaging exoplanets.

He's a keen proponent of SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.

Monica Grady is an expert on meteorites and is curator of meteorites at the Natural History Museum. She was one of the scientists involved in the study of the Martian meteorite (ALH 84001), which in the 1990s was thought to contain evidence of life.

Monica is also a member of the UK Exobiology Network, a collaboration between individuals from different scientific disciplines who are interested in the search for extra-terrestrial life.

Julian Hiscox is an RNA virologist at the School of Animal and Microbial Sciences at the University of Reading. That means he's an expert in the genetic material (RNA) of viruses, including how it replicates.

This is relevant because he's interested in looking at the factors involved in the earliest stages of the evolution of life - what is the smallest, simplest possible unit that replicates and can be described as life? If we can understand these processes on Earth, we might be able to apply them to other parts of the universe.

Julian is a member of the UK Exobiology Network, and is particularly interested in the search for life on Mars, and on Jupiter's moon, Europa.

Bob Lambourne is an astronomer in the department of Physics and Astronomy at the Open University. He's an expert in astronomy, particle physics, relativity and cosmology.

He's also a keen sci-fi enthusiast. His mixture of expertise enables him to draw parallels and comparisons between the science fact and the science fiction involved in the search for extra-terrestrial life.

And your host...Colin Blakemore

Colin is Waynflete Professor of Physiology at Oxford University, and Director of the Oxford Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience.

A renowned neuroscientist, he's also a TV and radio regular and an enthusiastic promoter of science.

Further Reading

Life On Other Worlds and How To Find It
Stuart Clark
Springer-Verlag

Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon In The Universe'
Peter Douglas Ward, Donald Brownlee
Springer-Verlag

Extraterrestrial Intelligence'
Jean Heidmann, Storm Dunlop
Cambridge University Press

'SETI Pioneers: Scientists Talk About Their Search For Extra-terrestrial Intelligence
David W. Swift
University of Arizona Press

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