Advances in Astrobiology and Biogeophysics – serie

This book aims at providing a brief but broad overview of biosignatures. The topics addressed range from prebiotic signatures in extraterrestrial materials to the signatures characterising extant life as well as fossilised life, biosignatures related to space, and space flight instrumentation to detect biosignatures either in situ or from orbit. The book ends with philosophical reflections on the implications of life elsewhere. In the 15 chapters written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, it provides both detailed explanations on the nature of biosignatures as well as useful case studies showing how they are used and identified in ancient rocks, for example. One case study addresses the controversial finding of traces of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars. The book will be of interest not only to astrobiologists but also to terrestrial paleontologists as well as any reader interested in the prospects of finding a second example of life on anotherplanet.

This book presents an overview of current views on the origin of life and its earliest evolution. Each chapter describes key processes, environments and transition on the long road from geochemistry and astrochemistry to biochemistry and finally to the ancestors of today´s organisms. This book combines the bottom-up and the top-down approaches to life including the origin of key chemical and structural features of living cells and the nature of abiotic factors that shaped these features in primordial environments. The book provides an overview of the topic as well as its state of the art for graduate students and newcomers to the field. It also serves as a reference for researchers in origins of life on Earth and beyond.

This book presents an overview of current views on the origin of life and its earliest evolution. Each chapter describes key processes, environments and transition on the long road from geochemistry and astrochemistry to biochemistry and finally to the ancestors of today´s organisms. This book combines the bottom-up and the top-down approaches to life including the origin of key chemical and structural features of living cells and the nature of abiotic factors that shaped these features in primordial environments. The book provides an overview of the topic as well as its state of the art for graduate students and newcomers to the field. It also serves as a reference for researchers in origins of life on Earth and beyond.

This book aims at providing a brief but broad overview of biosignatures. The topics addressed range from prebiotic signatures in extraterrestrial materials to the signatures characterising extant life as well as fossilised life, biosignatures related to space, and space flight instrumentation to detect biosignatures either in situ or from orbit. The book ends with philosophical reflections on the implications of life elsewhere. In the 15 chapters written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, it provides both detailed explanations on the nature of biosignatures as well as useful case studies showing how they are used and identified in ancient rocks, for example. One case study addresses the controversial finding of traces of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars. The book will be of interest not only to astrobiologists but also to terrestrial paleontologists as well as any reader interested in the prospects of finding a second example of life on anotherplanet.

This study investigates the major theories of the origins of life in the light of modern research with the aim of distinguishing between the necessary and the optional and between deterministic and random influences in the emergence of what we call ‘life.’ Life is treated as a cosmic phenomenon whose emergence and driving force should be viewed independently from its Earth-bound natural history. The author synthesizes all the fundamental life-related developments in a comprehensive scenario, and makes the argument that understanding life in its broadest context requires a material-independent perspective that identifies its essential fingerprints.

Growing evidence, based on observations from orbiters, landers and telescopes, indicates that Mars may still have numerous hidden water reservoirs. Moreover, from the point of view of habitability, Mars is a prime target for astrobiologists in search of extant or extinct microbial life because we know that life exists in earth’s permafrost regions, such as parts of Siberia and the Antarctic, which are the closest terrestrial analogues to Mars. Water on Mars and Life surveys recent advances made in research into water on Mars together with its astrobiological implications. This volume addresses not only scientists working in the field but also nonspecialists and students in search of a high-level but accessible introduction to this exciting field of research.

Micrometeorites played an essential role in the formation of the atmosphere of the Early Earth and also served as a significant source of activation for organic prebiotic chemistry on mineral surfaces. The present book gives a coherent account of this scenario, embedding the more specific results within a broader framework that considers the creation and evolution of the Early Earth. It thus addresses students and nonspecialist researchers in the fields of planetary atmospheres, biogeophysics and astrobiology. The experienced researcher will find this volume to be a modern and compact reference, as well as a source of material for lectures in this field.

This is the second of a divided two-part softcover edition of  the "Lectures in Astrobiology Volume I" containing the sections "General Introduction", "From Prebiotic Chemistry to the Origin of Life on Earth" and "Appendices" including an extensive glossary on Astrobiology. "Lectures in Astrobiology" is the first comprehensive textbook at graduate level encompassing all aspects of the emerging field of astrobiology. Volume I of the Lectures in Astrobiology gathers a first set of extensive lectures that cover a broad range of topics, from the formation of solar systems to the quest for the most primitive life forms that  emerged on the Early Earth.

This book addresses all scientists and others interested in the origins, development and fate of intelligent species in the observable part of our universe. In particular, the author scrutinizes what kind of information about extraterrestrial intelligent life can be inferred from our own biological, cultural and scientific evolution and the likely future of mankind. The first part of the book provides the necessary background information from space and life sciences, thus making the book also accessible to students and the scientifically educated public.In this second edition of Peter Ulmschneider's successful and highly interesting book the author is putting even stronger emphasis on the geological conditions and consequences of life's conquest of land as the pre-condition for the emergence of life with our type of technical intelligence.

Nine years after the publication of Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life, one of the pioneering books in Astrobiology, this second edition revisits the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. Recent analyses of Antarctic micrometeorites and ancient rocks in Australia and South Africa, the continuing progress in discovering complex organic macromolecules in comets, protostars and interstellar clouds, new insights into organic synthesis in comets, and numerical simulations of comet impacts on the Earth and other members of the solar system yield a spectacular wealth of new results.This second edition is thus actually a new book. As the first edition it is intended as a comprehensive review of current research, accessible to graduate students and others new to the field. Each chapter was prepared by experts to give an overview of an aspect of the field, and carefully revised by the editors for uniformity in style and presentation.

Based on material delivered at several summer schools, this book is the first comprehensive textbook at the graduate level encompassing all aspects associated with the emerging field of astrobiology.Volume II gathers another set of extensive lectures covering topics so diverse as the formation and the distribution of elements in the universe, the concept of habitability from both the planetologists' and the biologists' point of view and artificial life. The contributions are held together by the common goal to understand better the origin of life, its evolution and possible existence outside the Earth's realm.The volume ends with 120 pages of a very useful appendix comprising "Some Astrophysical Reminders", "Useful Astrobiological Data" and "An Astrobiological Glossary".

Written by two of the best US researchers in the field, this text investigates issues of astrobiological relevance in the context of cold aqueous planetary geochemistry. At the core of the technical chapters is the Frezchem model, initially developed over many years by one of the authors to quantify aqueous electrolyte properties and chemical thermodynamics at subzero temperatures. Frezchem is of huge relevance to scientists in a number of fields, including biogeochemists.

Energy, chemistry, solvents, and habitats - the basic elements of living systems - define the opportunities and limitations for life on other worlds. This class-tested text examines each of these parameters in crucial depth and makes the argument that life forms we would recognize may be more common in our solar system than many assume. It also considers, however, exotic forms of life that would not have to rely on carbon as basic chemical element, solar energy as a main energy source, or water as primary solvent. Finally the question of detecting bio- and geosignature of such life forms is discussed, ranging from Earth environments to deep space. While speculative considerations in this emerging field of science cannot be avoided, the authors have tried to present their study with the breadth and seriousness that a scientific approach to this issue requires. They seek an operational definition of life and investigate the realm of possibilities that nature offers to realize this very special state of matter and avoid scientific jargon wherever possible to make this intrinsically interdisciplinary subject understandable to a broad range of readers.The second edition thoroughly updates this text in view of the rapid progress in the field and a substantial amount of new material has been added, in particular sections and chapters on adaptation to extreme environments, the future and fate of living systems, life detection concepts based on the thorough analysis of the Viking missions and the issue around the meteorite ALH 84001, and - last but not least - recommendations for the optimization of future space exploration missions.From the reviews of the first edition:"[...] I know of no other book that reassesses the fundamentals of astrobiology in such way. This book is a tacit lesson in open-mindedness tempered with thorough scientific analysis. This is a very important book for all professional astrobiologists." A Ellery, International Journal of Astrobiology, 6 (2007) 182-183

"How did life originate and why were left-handed molecules selected for its architecture?" This question of high public and interdisciplinary scientific interest is the central theme of this book. It is widely known that in processes triggering the origin of life on Earth, the equal occurrence, the parity between left-handed amino acids and their right-handed mirror images, was violated. The balance was inevitably tipped to the left – as a result of which life's proteins today exclusively implement the left form of amino acids. Written in an engaging style, this book describes how the basic building blocks of life, the amino acids, formed. After a comprehensible introduction to stereochemistry, the author addresses the inherent property of amino acids in living organisms, namely the preference for left-handedness. What was the cause for the violation of parity of amino acids in the emergence of life on Earth? All the fascinating models proposed by physicists, chemists and biologist are vividly presented including the scientific conflicts. The author describes the attempt to verify any of those models with the chirality module of the ROSETTA mission, a probe built and launched with the mission to land on a comet and analyse whether there are chiral organic compounds that could have been brought to the Earth by cometary impacts.A truly interdisciplinary astrobiology book, "Amino Acids and the Asymmetry of Life" will fascinate students, researchers and all readers with backgrounds in natural sciences.With a foreword by Henri B. Kagan.

The search for life in the universe is one of the most challenging topics of science. It is not a modern topic at all, since more than 100 years ago, it was speculated that on the Moon, there are oceans and seas; on Venus, there are swamps and also Mars is inhabitated. However, now we have the scienti?c background and the scienti?c tools to answer this question and it is also certain that the answer would have deep imp- cations for our culture, philosophy, and religions. If we ?nd that life has developed on other planets or satellites of giant planets, then this would be the ?nal breakdown of our central position in the universe. But is life a widespread phenomenon? How vulnerable is it to changing conditions and even catastrophic events? These topics will be discussed in this book. If life is in the extreme case a unique phenomenon found only on planet Earth, which seems to be highly unrealistic, then also it is important to discuss how it is adaptable to changing external conditions. Can we survive a cosmic catastrophe? How do these catastrophes change habitability? Which forms of life are more v- nerable? It was mentioned that now science has made great progress to answer such qu- tions. Let us give some examples. In modern biology, in connection with organic chemistry, the origin of life is studied.

This study investigates the major theories of the origins of life in the light of modern research with the aim of distinguishing between the necessary and the optional and between deterministic and random influences in the emergence of what we call ‘life.’ Life is treated as a cosmic phenomenon whose emergence and driving force should be viewed independently from its Earth-bound natural history. The author synthesizes all the fundamental life-related developments in a comprehensive scenario, and makes the argument that understanding life in its broadest context requires a material-independent perspective that identifies its essential fingerprints.

Micrometeorites played an essential role in the formation of the atmosphere of the Early Earth and also served as a significant source of activation for organic prebiotic chemistry on mineral surfaces. The present book gives a coherent account of this scenario, embedding the more specific results within a broader framework that considers the creation and evolution of the Early Earth. It thus addresses students and nonspecialist researchers in the fields of planetary atmospheres, biogeophysics and astrobiology. The experienced researcher will find this volume to be a modern and compact reference, as well as a source of material for lectures in this field.

This book addresses all scientists and others interested in the origins, development and fate of intelligent species in the observable part of our universe. In particular, the author scrutinizes what kind of information about extraterrestrial intelligent life can be inferred from our own biological, cultural and scientific evolution and the likely future of mankind. The first part of the book provides the necessary background information from space and life sciences, thus making the book also accessible to students and the scientifically educated public.In this second edition of Peter Ulmschneider's successful and highly interesting book the author is putting even stronger emphasis on the geological conditions and consequences of life's conquest of land as the pre-condition for the emergence of life with our type of technical intelligence.

Nine years after the publication of Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life, one of the pioneering books in Astrobiology, this second edition revisits the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. Recent analyses of Antarctic micrometeorites and ancient rocks in Australia and South Africa, the continuing progress in discovering complex organic macromolecules in comets, protostars and interstellar clouds, new insights into organic synthesis in comets, and numerical simulations of comet impacts on the Earth and other members of the solar system yield a spectacular wealth of new results.This second edition is thus actually a new book. As the first edition it is intended as a comprehensive review of current research, accessible to graduate students and others new to the field. Each chapter was prepared by experts to give an overview of an aspect of the field, and carefully revised by the editors for uniformity in style and presentation.

Based on material delivered at several summer schools, this book is the first comprehensive textbook at the graduate level encompassing all aspects associated with the emerging field of astrobiology.Volume II gathers another set of extensive lectures covering topics so diverse as the formation and the distribution of elements in the universe, the concept of habitability from both the planetologists' and the biologists' point of view and artificial life. The contributions are held together by the common goal to understand better the origin of life, its evolution and possible existence outside the Earth's realm.The volume ends with 120 pages of a very useful appendix comprising "Some Astrophysical Reminders", "Useful Astrobiological Data" and "An Astrobiological Glossary".

Written by two of the best US researchers in the field, this text investigates issues of astrobiological relevance in the context of cold aqueous planetary geochemistry. At the core of the technical chapters is the FREZCHEM model, initially developed over many years by one of the authors to quantify aqueous electrolyte properties and chemical thermodynamics at subzero temperatures. FREZCHEM is of huge relevance to scientists in a number of fields, including biogeochemists.

"How did life originate and why were left-handed molecules selected for its architecture?" This question of high public and interdisciplinary scientific interest is the central theme of this book. It is widely known that in processes triggering the origin of life on Earth, the equal occurrence, the parity between left-handed amino acids and their right-handed mirror images, was violated. The balance was inevitably tipped to the left – as a result of which life's proteins today exclusively implement the left form of amino acids. Written in an engaging style, this book describes how the basic building blocks of life, the amino acids, formed. After a comprehensible introduction to stereochemistry, the author addresses the inherent property of amino acids in living organisms, namely the preference for left-handedness. What was the cause for the violation of parity of amino acids in the emergence of life on Earth? All the fascinating models proposed by physicists, chemists and biologist are vividly presented including the scientific conflicts. The author describes the attempt to verify any of those models with the chirality module of the ROSETTA mission, a probe built and launched with the mission to land on a comet and analyse whether there are chiral organic compounds that could have been brought to the Earth by cometary impacts.A truly interdisciplinary astrobiology book, "Amino Acids and the Asymmetry of Life" will fascinate students, researchers and all readers with backgrounds in natural sciences.With a foreword by Henri B. Kagan.

The search for life in the universe is one of the most challenging topics of science. It is not a modern topic at all, since more than 100 years ago, it was speculated that on the Moon, there are oceans and seas; on Venus, there are swamps and also Mars is inhabitated. However, now we have the scienti?c background and the scienti?c tools to answer this question and it is also certain that the answer would have deep imp- cations for our culture, philosophy, and religions. If we ?nd that life has developed on other planets or satellites of giant planets, then this would be the ?nal breakdown of our central position in the universe. But is life a widespread phenomenon? How vulnerable is it to changing conditions and even catastrophic events? These topics will be discussed in this book. If life is in the extreme case a unique phenomenon found only on planet Earth, which seems to be highly unrealistic, then also it is important to discuss how it is adaptable to changing external conditions. Can we survive a cosmic catastrophe? How do these catastrophes change habitability? Which forms of life are more v- nerable? It was mentioned that now science has made great progress to answer such qu- tions. Let us give some examples. In modern biology, in connection with organic chemistry, the origin of life is studied.

This book addresses important current and historical topics in astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth, including the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The first section covers the plurality of worlds debate from antiquity through the nineteenth century, while section two covers the extraterrestrial life debate from the twentieth century to the present. The final section examines the societal impact of discovering life beyond Earth, including both cultural and religious dimensions. Throughout the book, authors draw links between their own chapters and those of other contributors, emphasizing the interconnections between the various strands of the history and societal impact of the search for extraterrestrial life.The chapters are all written by internationally recognized experts and are carefully edited by Douglas Vakoch, professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute.This interdisciplinary book will benefit everybody trying to understand the meaning of astrobiology and SETI for our human society.