Science Of The Times

OSIRIS-REx is a space craft that visited the asteroid Bennu, returning samples to Earth in late 2023. The first exciting results from the analyses of these samples are just being published. In the first part of the Podcast we talk to Sara Russell about the mission and her recently published results, and then in the second Part we talk to Addy Pross on what the insights mean for the emergence of life elsewhere in the cosmos.

Link to Sara's paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08495-6
Link to Addy's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Life-Chemistry-Becomes-Landmark/dp/0199687773

Creators and Guests

Host
Syma Khalid
Professor of Computational Microbiology at University of Oxford
Host
Tim Coulson
Author of The Universal History of Us published by Penguin 2024 Professor of Zoology, University of Oxford EcologyEvolution, Existence, Science
Guest
Addy Pross
Addy is an Emeritus Professor at the department of Chemistry: Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel.
Guest
Sara Russell
Sara is a professor of planetary sciences and leader of the Planetary Materials Group at the Natural History Museum, London. She is a Fellow of the Meteoritical Society and of the Royal Astronomical Society.

What is Science Of The Times?

Do you want to learn a little more about topical science findings? Do many of the science stories you hear leave you with unanswered questions? Syma and Tim will discuss in non-technical language and in a fun and engaging style, recently published science findings. Guests will be authors of these papers and will include some of the world’s most exciting scientists who are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge. Covering, among other things, artificial intelligence, the search for alien life, the latest treatments for diseases, quantum computers, the science of football and topics requested by listeners, the half hour episodes will leave listeners feeling a little more knowledgeable about cutting-edge science and how scientists make discoveries.