The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030910484X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030910484X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Get Book

Book Description
The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.

The Nature of Life

The Nature of Life PDF Author: Mark A. Bedau
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108722067
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 443

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Book Description
Introduces a broad range of scientific and philosophical issues about life through the original historical and contemporary sources.

Imagining Outer Space

Imagining Outer Space PDF Author: Alexander C.T. Geppert
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349953393
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 443

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Book Description
Imagining Outer Space makes a captivating advance into the cultural history of outer space and extraterrestrial life in the European imagination. How was outer space conceived and communicated? What promises of interplanetary expansion and cosmic colonization propelled the project of human spaceflight to the forefront of twentieth-century modernity? In what way has West-European astroculture been affected by the continuous exploration of outer space? Tracing the thriving interest in spatiality to early attempts at exploring imaginary worlds beyond our own, the book analyzes contact points between science and fiction from a transdisciplinary perspective and examines sites and situations where utopian images and futuristic technologies contributed to the omnipresence of fantasmatic thought. Bringing together state-of-the-art work in this emerging field of historical research, the volume breaks new ground in the historicization of the Space Age.

Planetary Astrobiology

Planetary Astrobiology PDF Author: Victoria Meadows
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816540659
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 593

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Book Description
Are we alone in the universe? How did life arise on our planet? How do we search for life beyond Earth? These profound questions excite and intrigue broad cross sections of science and society. Answering these questions is the province of the emerging, strongly interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. Life is inextricably tied to the formation, chemistry, and evolution of its host world, and multidisciplinary studies of solar system worlds can provide key insights into processes that govern planetary habitability, informing the search for life in our solar system and beyond. Planetary Astrobiology brings together current knowledge across astronomy, biology, geology, physics, chemistry, and related fields, and considers the synergies between studies of solar systems and exoplanets to identify the path needed to advance the exploration of these profound questions. Planetary Astrobiology represents the combined efforts of more than seventy-five international experts consolidated into twenty chapters and provides an accessible, interdisciplinary gateway for new students and seasoned researchers who wish to learn more about this expanding field. Readers are brought to the frontiers of knowledge in astrobiology via results from the exploration of our own solar system and exoplanetary systems. The overarching goal of Planetary Astrobiology is to enhance and broaden the development of an interdisciplinary approach across the astrobiology, planetary science, and exoplanet communities, enabling a new era of comparative planetology that encompasses conditions and processes for the emergence, evolution, and detection of life.

Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies

Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies PDF Author: Arnold Hanslmeier
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 940074966X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 518

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Book Description
A trio of editors [Professors from Austria, Germany and Israel] present Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies. The contributors are from twenty various countries and present their research on life here as well as the possibility for extraterrestrial life. This volume covers concepts such as life’s origin, hypothesis of Panspermia and of life possibility in the Cosmos. The topic of extraterrestrial life is currently ‘hot’ and the object of several congresses and conferences. While the diversity of “normal” biota is well known, life on the edge of the extremophiles is more limited and less distributed. Other subjects discussed are Astrobiology with the frozen worlds of Mars, Europa and Titan where extant or extinct microbial life may exist in subsurface oceans; conditions on icy Mars with its saline, alkaline, and liquid water which has been recently discovered; chances of habitable Earth-like [or the terrestrial analogues] exoplanets; and SETI’s search for extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System

Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System PDF Author: National Research Council (U.S.). Task Group on Organic Environments in the Solar System
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789789789788
Category : Organic compounds
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description


The Search for Life's Origins

The Search for Life's Origins PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309042461
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
The field of planetary biology and chemical evolution draws together experts in astronomy, paleobiology, biochemistry, and space science who work together to understand the evolution of living systems. This field has made exciting discoveries that shed light on how organic compounds came together to form self-replicating molecules-the origin of life. This volume updates that progress and offers recommendations on research programs-including an ambitious effort centered on Mars-to advance the field over the next 10 to 15 years. The book presents a wide range of data and research results on these and other issues: The biogenic elements and their interaction in the interstellar clouds and in solar nebulae. Early planetary environments and the conditions that lead to the origin of life. The evolution of cellular and multicellular life. The search for life outside the solar system. This volume will become required reading for anyone involved in the search for life's beginnings-including exobiologists, geoscientists, planetary scientists, and U.S. space and science policymakers.

Deep Life

Deep Life PDF Author: Tullis C. Onstott
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691096449
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
APPENDIX A: Chronology of the Exploration of Subsurface Life -- APPENDIX B: Chronology of the Meeting of the U.S. DOE's SSP Meetings -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX

Loose-leaf Version for Scientific American: Biology for a Changing World with Core Physiology

Loose-leaf Version for Scientific American: Biology for a Changing World with Core Physiology PDF Author: Michele Shuster
Publisher: Macmillan Higher Education
ISBN: 1464161577
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 812

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Book Description
From the groundbreaking partnership of W. H. Freeman and Scientific American comes this one-of-a-kind introduction to the science of biology and its impact on the way we live. In Biology for a Changing World, two experienced educators and a science journalist explore the core ideas of biology through a series of chapters written and illustrated in the style of a Scientific American article. Chapters don’t just feature compelling stories of real people—each chapter is a newsworthy story that serves as a context for covering the standard curriculum for the non-majors biology course. Updated throughout, the new edition offers new stories, additional physiology chapters, a new Electronic Teachers’ Edition, and new pedagogy.

Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System

Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309102359
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
The sources, distributions, and transformation of organic compounds in the solar system are active study areas as a means to provide information about the evolution of the solar system and the possibilities of life elsewhere in the universe. There are many organic synthesis processes, however, and ambiguity surrounds the relative effectiveness of these processes in explaining the distribution of organic compounds in the solar system. As a consequence, NASA directed the NRC to determine what processes account for the reduced carbon compounds found throughout the solar system and to examine how planetary exploration can advance understanding of this central issue. This report presents a discussion of the chemistry of carbon; an analysis of the formation, modification, and preservation of organic compounds in the solar system; and an assessment of research opportunities and strategies for enhancing our understanding of organic material in the solar system.