UK Centre for Astrobiology

Congratulations to our 2025 Essay Competition Winner! We had many great applicants this year and wish to thank all that submitted an essay! Ruby's essay can be read here: astrobiology.ac.uk/opportunities/… Keep a look out for next year's theme!

Signs of ancient life may have been found in Martian rock – new study theconversation.com/signs-of-ancie… via @ConversationUK

⏰ LAST CHANCE to submit your essay for this year's Harding Essay Competition! ⏰ Send entries to: UKCA-info@ed.ac.uk ✉️for your chance to win £500 🪙

⏳Less than 1 MONTH left to enter the UKCA Harding Essay Competition 2025! UK students — share your boldest ideas on science, engineering & society. 🏆A £500 Prize awaits the winner 📅Deadline: 31 July 2025 📩Send entries to: UKCA-info@ed.ac.uk #EssayCompetition #astrobiology

✨Calling all UK students! ✨ The UKCA Harding Essay Competition is awaiting your essay! Submit your take on life in the cold and icy universe to: UKCA-info@ed.ac.uk ⏰Deadline for essays is the 31st of July 2025 #studentvoices #essaycompetition #astrobiology

After a fantastic week in Iceland with @TheUKCA @CharlesCockell @PamelaKnoll @TAstrobiologist @what_the_felton it is time to head home

🚨!New paper alert!🚨 From UKCA’s Planetary Paleobiology group: Troubles With Tubules: How Do Iron‐Mineral Chemical Gardens Differ From Iron‐Mineralized Sheaths of Iron Oxidizing Bacteria? 📃Access the published article here: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gbi.70…

Intrepid UKCA scientists head off in search of extremophiles in Iceland's most extreme locations.

The UKCA is delighted to announce that the Harding Essay Competition 2025 is now open! This year's theme is: Ice, Ice, Maybe? Life in the Cold Universe. visit astrobiology.ac.uk/opportunities/… for more details or email UKCA-info@ed.ac.uk

🚨 Job Alert! Join Naturalis as a Postdoctoral Fellow on the exciting PROTOS project exploring the evolution & preservation of biomolecules under early Earth conditions🧬🔬 📍Leiden and Utrecht 🕒 Fulltime 📅 Apply by May 19! 🔗 naturalis.nl/en/about-us/jo…

Can methanogens fossilize? New research from the UKCA's Sean McMahon explores the preservation potential of Methanobacterium in carbonate, phosphate, and silicate solutions—offering insights into early Earth & Mars! 🔗 Read more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gb… #Astrobiology #Fossils

The UKCA’s Dr. @V_Erastova journeyed through space and time at the virtual Winter School, exploring Computational Chemistry as the ultimate tool in exploration! Watch the talk here: zenodo.org/records/149381… Learn more about the winter school here: winterschool.cc

Congratulations to Dr Corentin Loron! Who has received an RSE Award Grant from @RoyalSocEd to look into "Constraining the source of Martian sedimentary organic matter". Read more about the RSE awardees here: rse.org.uk/scotlands-vibr…

UKCA students explore new depths in Astrobiology! To ~literally~ deepen their knowledge, our students traveled over 1 km underground to Boulby mine... Read more about the adventure here: ph.ed.ac.uk/news/2025/stud… Read more about @iclboulby here: boulby.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/Overview…

Here's the link: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candidat…

🚨Job opportunity! 🚨 The Planetary Palaeobiology Group led by UKCA co-director @SeanHMcMahon is looking for a postdoc with skills and interests in microbiology and palaeontology. Advert in the reply to this tweet! Application deadline = 7th March 2025

'Biological #mining, or #biomining, is the use of #microorganisms to extract economically or industrially useful elements from rocks. On Earth, it is used to extract #gold and #copper...' Read more about @TheUKCA @EdinburghUni #biomining in #Space at bit.ly/4277Azv

#ICYMI, @NASA_Astronauts ventured outside the @Space_Station to complete maintenance and science tasks. Butch Wilmore collected samples near vents in search of microbes that may survive and reproduce on the exterior of the orbiting lab.

"Surveys of the scientific community on the existence of extraterrestrial life" — New paper with UKCA co-director @SeanHMcMahon: nature.com/articles/s4155…

Please check out my latest publication in Nature Astronomy: "We may be looking for Martian life in the wrong place." Weblink to the paper: rdcu.be/dVhB5