Science Weekly: What would an alien look like?

Astrobiologist Dr Lewis Dartnell from University College London joins us in the studio to speculate about what form life might take elsewhere in the Solar System and beyond. What is life anyway? Are we all Martians?

Lewis will deliver one of a series of public lectures about cosmology at UCL this week as part of the Your Universe festival.

On the panel we have the Guardian's Nell Boase and environment correspondent David Adam.

In the newsjam, we look at why mountains closer to the equator are bigger, how the humble leaf could provide the answer to the planet's energy problems, how the "love hormone" oxytocin may determine how sociable we are, and research suggesting that having a sunny outlook on life is good for your health.

Steven Cowley, director of the UK fusion lab, tells the Guardian's Kevin Anderson what obstacles lie in the way of clean, plentiful energy from nuclear fusion.

The panel also discusses an article on the Guardian's website by Chris French, editor of the Skeptic magazine in the UK, in which he explains why he thinks teaching teenagers anomalistic psychology – spoon bending, telekinesis, faith healing and suchlike – is a good thing.
WARNING: contains strong language (right at the end).
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