Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

Not all bacterial cells replicate themselves by the same process – the usual ‘cell division’ into two cells of equal size. Some, by contrast, do so by means of a process called ‘sporulation’, in which the cell divides into ‘mother’ and ‘daughter’ cells, with the former containing and nourishing the latter until it’s ready to be released into the world. Jonathan speaks with the Slovak Academy of Science’s Imrich Barák – a molecular biologist and finalist for the 2021 ESET Science Award – about his research into this fascinating process of bacterial reproduction. – Repeat: The discovery that some of the moons of the larger planets in our solar system have liquid water under the surface, and hence the potential to support life, came as a big surpise to scientists. The question then was, where did these moons, far outside the solar system’s so-called “habitable zone”, get their warmth? Jonathan speaks with astrobiologist Tomas Paulech about just this question.