Outreach, blog and press
Our work made accessible through news media and blog posts
Selected outreach
July 2024: Has Nasa found evidence of life on Mars? - Sean McMahon in The Conversation
April 2023: Sean and Mia featured in the BBC's Sky at Night television programme: The Search for Alien Life.
March 2022: Sean speaks at the Oxford Union
Selected recent press
March 2023: Press release: "Fossil site is 'Rosetta Stone' for understanding early life".
Coverage: Express, Sciences Avenir, The National, Yahoo! News
January 2022: Sean quoted in New Scientist: "Bacteria survive extremes that may have existed in ancient Mars lakes" by Chen Ly.
November 2021: Press release: "Life on Mars search could be misled by false fossils".
Coverage: The Independent, Forbes, MSN, Cosmos Magazine, Daily Mail, The Register
May 2021: Sean quoted in: "Signs of Ancient Microbial Life Abundant in Earth's Crust: Study" by Catherine Offord @ The Scientist.
February 2021: Sean quoted in New Scientist: "Deepest land-dwelling microbes found at bottom of 5km hole in China" by Colin Barras [paywall].
February 2021: Sean quoted in: "Fossil mimics may be more common in ancient rocks than actual fossils" by Carolyn Gramling @ Science News.
January 2021: Press release: "Fossils shed light on puzzle that vexed Darwin".
Coverage: IFLScience
January 2020: Press release: "A new target in the search for life on Mars?".
November 2019: Press release: "Solving fossil mystery could aid Mars life quest".
Coverage: Daily Mail, The Conversation
October 2018: Sean quoted in "Life thrives within Earth's crust" by Catherine Offord @ The Scientist.
May 2018: Press release: "Mars rocks may harbour signs of life".
Coverage: Newsweek, MSN News, Air & Space Magazine
Sean's blog
3rd August 2022: New work: origins, habitability, false biosignatures
13th July 2021: New collaboration: philosophy of astrobiology
28th October 2020: Astrobiology before astrobiologists
18th October 2020: New paper: could we find life's fingerprints in mineral veins on Mars?