Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies

ISBN-13: 9789400749658 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 534 str.

Arnold Hanslmeier;Stephan Kempe;Joseph Seckbach

Opis

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."

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"A collection of articles about life, habitability and astrobiology, that should find a place on everyone's reading-list who's interested in the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the quickly evolving field of astrobiology and search for exoplanets and naturally also SETI. ... it's definitely a fascinating book. The best part about the book might be that you get to know some of the objects of the Solar system a lot more from the habitability aspect." (Kadri Tinn, AstroMadness.com, March, 2014)

"Rich in subject matter, this book is exceptionally broad in its coverage of the evolutionary boundary between inorganic and organic matter. ... Figures, diagrams, and color photos are well chosen. ... Extensive references follow each chapter. This book will appeal to astronomers, chemists, and biologists as well as practicing astrobiologists who wish to explore the current extent of research and thinking in this new field. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." (W. E. Howard III, Choice, Vol. 50 (9), May, 2013)

Spis treści

List of Contributors
Pathways to Life on Earth and Other Planetary Bodies; Joseph Seckbach
Introduction; Emeritus Giora Shaviv
Terestrial Halophylies, Evaporite Environments and The Search for Life on Mars; Roberto Barbieri and Nunzia Stivaletta
Vescicular Basalts as a Niche for Microbial Life; Barbara Cavalazzi, Frances Westall and Sherry L. Cady
Seti: Assessing Imaginative Proposals; Stephen P. Cook
Molecules Between the Stars; Nick Cox
Prokaryotic Communities Below Planetary Surfaces and Their Involvement In The Nitrogen Cycle; Friedrich W. Gerbl, Gerhard W. Weidler, Angelika Breitfuss, Marion Dornmayr-Pfaffenhuemer and Helga Stan-Lotter
Extrasolar Planets; Eike W. Guenther
Life Without Water: The Sleeping Chironomid and Other Anhydrobiotic Invertebrates and Their Utilization in Astrobiology; Oleg Gusev And Takashi Okuda
Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes; Arnold Hanslmeier
Glaciopanspermia: Seeding the Terrestrial Planets with Life? Joop M. Houtkooper
Chemical Evolution In Primeval Seas; Kamaluddin
Terrestiral Analogues for Early Planetary Oceans: Niuafo‘Ou Caldera Lakes (Tonga) and their Geology, Water Chemistry and Stromatolites; Stephan Kempe and Józef Kazmierczak
Comparison of Environment Types with Liquid Water on Mars; Akos Kereszturi
Criteria of Possible Habitability of Earth-Like Exoplanets; Leonid V. Ksanfomality
Origin of the Genetic Code and Abiotic Synthesis of Organic Compounds; Zita Martins
Dynamical Aspects for the Earth’s Habitability; Elke Pilat-Lohinger
A Dynamic Scheme to Assess Habitability of Exoplanets; Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Abel Méndez, Alberto G. Fairén, Philip Von Paris, Carol Turse, Grayson Boyer, Alfonso F. Davila, And Marina Resendes De Sousa António
Astrobiology of Titan; Michael Simakov
The Likelihood of Halophilic Life in the Universe; Helga Stan-Lotter, Sergiu Fendrihan, Marion Dorn-Mayr-Pfaffenhuemer, Tatjana K. Polacsek, Andrea Legat, Anita K. Holzinger, Michael Grösbacher And Andreas Weigl
Production of Dormant Stages and Stress Resistance of Polar Cyanobacteria; Daria Tashyreva and Josef Elster
Can the Evolution of Multicellularity be Anticipated in the Exoploration of the Solar System? H. P. De Vladar and J. Chela-Flores
Antarctica as Model for the Possible Emergence of Life on Europa; Suman Dudeja, Aranya B. Bhattacherjee and Julian Chela Flores
The Likelihood of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life; Rob Hengeveld
The Astrobiological Potential of Polar Dunes on Mars; Ákos Kereszturi, Szaniszló Bérczi, András Horváth, Tamás Pócs, András Sik And Szathmáry Eörs
Life in Earth’s Lava Caves: Implications for Life Detection on Other Planets; Diana E. Northup, Jennifer J.M. Hathaway, Jessica R. Snider, Monica Moya, Matthew G. Garcia, Maria L.N. Enes Dapkevicius, Cristina Riquelme Gabriel, Fred D. Stone, Michael N. Spilde, And Penelope J. Boston
Life in the Saturnian Neighborhood; Athena Coustenis, F. Raulin, Georgios Bampasidis And Anezina Solomonidou

O autorze

Arnold Hanslmeier ist Professor für Astronomie an der Universität Graz, wo er neben seinen Forschungsarbeiten zur Himmelsmechanik und Sonnenphysik seit vielen Jahren die Grundvorlesung für Astronomie hält. Forschungsaufenthalte an internationalen Instituten in Europa und USA dokumentieren sich in den mehr als hundert Fachpublikationen und seinen Büchern.

Blurb

This volume covers aspects of life on Earth with all its diversity and the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. It presents contributions by experts from 20 countries who discuss astrobiology emphasizing life “as we know it” to extraterrestrial places. In the chapters on life in the Cosmos, the authors emphasized in particular certain planets and satellites within the Solar System.

On Earth, life also exists at the edge with harsh limitations (such as extremophiles growing in severe environments). Some chapters address the extremophiles in niches of microbial life in terrestrial halo-environments, the local life without water, and the dormancy of polar cyanobacteria, while others focus on microorganisms dwelling in severe conditions such as lava caves. All those conditions of harsh environments, including the Antarctic biota, could serve as analogues for other planets.

Special stress is given to the frozen worlds of Mars; Europa, the satellite of Jupiter; and life in the Saturn neighborhood with its moon Titan. The subsurface under the icy layers of these celestial bodies may contain large oceans that have extant or extinct microbial life. Other chapters discuss the habitability of exoplanets, Galacticpanspermia, molecules, and prokaryotes below the planetary surface, halophile life in the Universe, and the SETI search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the Cosmos.