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Self-Sustaining Living Habitats in Extraterrestrial EnvironmentsAuthors: R. Wordsworth and C. CockellStandard definitions of habitability assume that life requires the presence of planetary gravity wells to stabilize liquid water and regulate surface temperature. Here, the consequences of relaxing this assumption are evaluated. Temperature, pressur…

Several billion years ago, geological evidence indicates that Mars was warmer and wetter, with flowing rivers and lakes on its surface. This is hard to explain because the Sun was fainter then, and Mars's orbit is more distant than Earth's. The atmosphere of early Mars was probably thicker, but additional greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide are…

A new multi-million fund established by Trinity and the University of Cambridge seeks the brightest minds from across the world to conduct ground-breaking research at the University, creating the next generation of pioneering treatments, technology and services.The Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships (TCRS) have been created to respond to decli…

The second edition of the Origins Federation Conference brought together in Cambridge its diverse and ever more consolidated scientific community. Researchers from the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich share their impressions. News article shared by ETH Zurich, Centre for Origins and Prevalence of Life (issue: September 2024)To…

The NOMIS Foundation ETH Fellowship Programme supports postdoctoral researchers at ETH Zurich within the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life. The programme is intended to foster the development of young interdisciplinary researchers in the field of the origin and prevalence of life who have demonstrated scientific excellence in the early stage…

On Friday 15th March, researchers  from across nine university departments gathered at King’s College for the LCLU’s Annual Science Day. Over half the attendees were students, and represented fields ranging from theoretical physics and astronomy to philosophy and divinity, and everything in between. The event celebrated the multidisciplinary resear…

Image: © Zbynek Burival / Mineralexpert.orgGraphite —- better known as ordinary pencil lead —- likely triggered the onset of the first prebiotic molecules here on earth. But there was nothing simple about it. The creation of enough graphite to push along the needed chemical complexity to vector towards life was arguably due to a series of giant imp…

Cosmic dust fertilization of glacial prebiotic chemistry on early EarthCraig R. Walton, Jessica K. Rigley, Alexander Lipp, Robert Law, Martin D. Suttle, Maria Schönbächler, Mark Wyatt & Oliver Shorttle Image Credit: Dr Jonny Itcovitz (IOA, University of Cambridge)AbstractEarth’s surface is deficient in available forms of many elements considered l…

The Joint Collaborative Programme is aimed at enabling collaboration between research groups within the University of Cambridge and partner institutes on origins of life research.We are happy to announce that this year we awarded funding for seven more projects:A theoretical underpinning of chiral selectivity on magnetic surfacesPI: Alex Thom, Yusu…

The Institute of Astronomy and Queens' College, at the University of Cambridge, are seeking to appoint a University Assistant Professor. The successful applicant will lead research in the area of planetary and exoplanet science, support teaching of the MPhil in "Planetary Science and Life in the Universe" and deliver small group physics teaching an…

The LCLU is pleased to offer financial support to Centre members wishing to host visitors on topics relevant to the Centre. The visitor programme offers financial support of up to £2,000 per visitor to cover travel and accommodation costs for visits ranging from 1-2 weeks. Visitors are expected to interact with members of the Centre, including part…

An international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge has used data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to discover methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b, an exoplanet in the ‘Goldilocks zone’. This is the first time that carbon-based molecules have been discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet i…

You are cordially invited for the Exoplanets 5 conference in Leiden, The Netherlands, 16-21 June 2024. The Exoplanets Conference Series (Davos 2016; Cambridge 2018, Heidelberg 2020, Las Vegas 2022) has developed into one of the most important and largest meetings in the field, with 750 participants expected in Leiden.The conference covers all aspec…

Join author and LCLU Member, Andrew Davison for the launch of his latest book 'Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine'Andrew Davison is the Starbridge Associate Professor in Theology and Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. Before he moved into theology, he was a scientist (a chemist, then a biochemist), going on to teach Christian doctrin…

A recent article by Oliver Morton in The Economist on "How to search for life beyond Earth"