{"id":7080,"date":"2016-09-23T11:34:39","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T11:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/per\/?page_id=7080"},"modified":"2017-01-04T10:12:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T10:12:10","slug":"school-university-lectures-2016","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/per\/?page_id=7080","title":{"rendered":"School-University Lectures 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The 2016 lecturing team: l-r Professor Uwe Grimm, Eleni Wood, Dr Karen Olsson-Francis, Dr Trevor Collins and Professor Richard Holliman. Photo: Kate Bradshaw.<\/p><\/div>\n

In this programme of school lectures, jointly organised with the Denbigh Teaching School Alliance<\/a> as part of the Engaging Opportunities<\/a> project, school students from Milton Keynes and the surrounding region heard from four Open University academics working in the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Videos and summaries of talks are listed below. Each talk is around ten minutes long.<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/a>

Dr Karen Olsson-Francis, Earth, Environment and Ecosystem Sciences.<\/p><\/div>\n

Extremophiles: living life on the edge, and beyond.<\/strong>
\nDr Karen Olsson-Francis<\/a><\/p>\n

The enduring question of whether Earth is a unique location for life in the Solar System remains unanswered. The central element of theories about when, where, and under what conditions life may have existed elsewhere in the Solar System is dependent on the presence of liquid water. <\/p>\n

Promising targets include Mars, and the sub-surface oceans of the icy moons. Although there is liquid water the environmental conditions are extremely harsh and would not support human life.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The International Space Station. Source: European Space Agency.<\/p><\/div>\n

On Earth, microorganisms have been found in some of the most extreme environments. These microorganisms are called extremophiles and can thrive in environments that were deemed inhospitable for life. For example, hydrothermal vents, acidic lakes and permafrost environments. If microorganisms can live within these environments can they survive and live elsewhere in the Solar System? <\/p>\n

In my talk, I discussed some of the possible habitable environments in our Solar System and the work I have been involved in looking at microbial survival in Space, on-board the International Space Station.<\/p>\n