The Evolution of the Search for Life on Earth

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Astronomers are trying to find anywhere in the solar system where there's large bodies of water. In order to be absolutely certain that you've got a life form, you could look for its metabolic gases. They tried this on Mars in the 1970s to see if there were microbes in the Martian soil. Most people believe that those results that came back indicated that there weren't.

The European Space Agency’s long-awaited Juice Mission is about to blast off for Jupiter’s moons. Its goal: to find out whether the oceans below their icy surfaces could be capable of supporting life. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Stuart Clark about why moons are the new Mars for scientists seeking life, how magnetic fields can help us understand these mysterious lunar oceans, and what Juice might mean for our understanding of life beyond the solar system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod