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Presentation by SL
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The Study of Astrobiology
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Habitable Zones
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Drake’s Equation
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Current Research
No-not ‘Alien hunting’
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Astrobiology: the study of the origin, evolution,
distribution, and future of life in the universe
◦ Includes searching for habitable environments in our Solar
System, and planets outside of it, evidence of prebiotic chemistry
and life on Mars, laboratory and field research into the origins and
early evolution of life on Earth, and studies of the potential for life
to adapt to challenges on Earth and in space
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NASA has a program that was founded in 1996,but
previously had studies in exobiology
Exobiology: The branch of science that deals with the
possibility and likely nature of life on other planets or in
space
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Life: that which distinguishes animals and plants from
inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth,
reproduction, functional activity, and continual change
preceding death
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Alien life- does NOT mean humanoid
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There are several conditions that make a planet
‘habitable’:
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Temperature
Water
Atmosphere
Energy
Nutrients
These signs are critical when distinguishing the likelihood
of alien life
Factors that Make for a habitable
Planet
Reasons
Temperature
Low temperatures cause chemicals
to react slowly, interfering with
necessary reactions
Low temperatures freeze water,
making liquid water unavailable.
Water
Chemicals a cell needs would be
unable to dissolve or transport to
the cell
Atmosphere
Insufficient gravity would be
unable to hold an atmosphere,
leaving the planet or moon without
Energy
A lack of sunlight or too few of
necessary chemicals that provide
energy to cells, will cause
organisms to die
Nutrients
Without chemicals to make proteins
& carbohydrates, organisms cannot
grow.
Our Solar Systems Habitable Zone
Habitable zone: the distance/range of distances from a star from which an orbiting
planet can have liquid water on its surface. These distances may vary depending on
the extent of the star’s size, mass and luminosity.
Probability of sentient life
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Frank Drake of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
(NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia undertakes the first
attempt to find extraterrestrial civilizations in 1960
Project Ozma had him listening for radio signals of
intelligent life, for a period of 6 hours a day for four
months,using the NRAO radio telescope-unsuccessfully
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Within a year Green Bank hosts a meeting to explore the
issue of extraterrestrial intelligence
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Frank Drake is meant to come up with an agenda for the
meeting-and thus devises the Drake Equation.
Drake’s Equation
This equation is used to give the probability of intelligent life forms within the
universe.
Letter Meanings
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N = The number of broadcasting
civilizations.
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R = Average rate of formation of suitable
stars (stars/year) in the Milky Way galaxy
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fp = Fraction of stars that form planets
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ne = Average number of habitable planets
per star
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fl = Fraction of habitable planets (ne)
where life emerges
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fi = Fraction of habitable planets with life
where intelligent evolves
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fc = Fraction of planets with intelligent
life capable of interstellar communication
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L = Years a civilization remains detectable
We’ve got a good track record…right?
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Microbes in Arctic ice sheets have been helping
researchers pinpoint evidence for similar
microorganisms that could have evolved on
Mars, the Jovian moon Europa, or Saturn’s
moon Enceladus
With support from the NASA ASTEP program, a
team of scientists recently investigated the
western edge of the Greenland ice sheet in
order to study the release of methane as the ice
sheet recedes
Careful isotopic analysis are helping them
determine if the methane comes directly or
indirectly from methanogenic microbes
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European countries have also combined scientific and financial resources to
form the 18-nation European Space Agency (ESA), which has some
collaborative initiatives with NASA focused on astrobiology
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In 2016, they expect to launch the NASA/ESA ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter
(EMTGO) mission, part of the ExoMars Rover Project.
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The objective is to characterize the chemical composition of the Martian
atmosphere, particularly trace species
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Scientists are developing newer, better technology for research that involves
cheap, compact, rugged instruments that can survive and function in unearthlike environments ,along with utilizing solar energy
The next generation of Mars rovers will likely use mass spectrometers to
search for signs of life
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
developed total ion control (TIC), the method makes it easier to direct ions
along specified paths.
Current systems require airflow maintained by heavy, energy-gobbling
pumps.
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Researchers at Harvard and MIT have initiated a project to study
whether life on Earth might have descended from Martian
organisms carried here by flying objects like meteors, called
Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes (SETG)
As an example of the adaptability of microbial organisms, the
team pointed to the discovery of the first known organism that
can thrive and reproduce using arsenic instead of phosphorus in
its cells.
December 2011, a NASA team isolated the bacteria from Mono
Lake, CA, chosen because of its high salinity, alkalinity, and
arsenic levels.
The NASA investigators said their data showed evidence for
arsenate in macromolecules that normally contain phosphate,
“most notably nucleic acids and proteins.”
Should we be spending time
on astrobiology?
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http://www.dailycollage.com/2004/09/11/alien-vs-predator/
http://www.veronicabelmont.com/tag/star-trek/
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http://www.legitreviews.com/article/628/1/
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http://www.jokeroo.com/pictures/other/milky-way-galaxy.html
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7972538/Are-we-living-in-a-designeruniverse.html
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http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligenceand153/biotechnology-instrumentsbeing-used-to-detect-alien-life/77899415/
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http://leilabattison.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/intelligent-life-apply-elsewhere/
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http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24793/
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http://worldofweirdthings.com/2010/09/27/why-youre-most-probably-not-part-alien/
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http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/online/3384/qa-with-frank-drake
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Ford, Steve. "What Is The Drake Equation?" What Is The Drake Equation? SETI
League. Web. 30 May 2012. http://www.setileague.org/general/drake.htm
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Habitable Zones Planets in the Solar System. Planet Facts. Web. 31 May 2012.
<http://planetfacts.org/habitable-zone.
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Plaxco, Jim. "The Drake Equation." Astronomical Adventures. N.p., 2007. Web. 30
May 2012. http://www.astrodigital.org/astronomy/drake_equation.html.
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"What Makes a World Habitable?" Www.lpi.usra.edu. Web.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/our_place/hab_ref_table.pdf
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Voytek, Mary May. "Astrobiology." Astrobiology: Life in the Universe. NASA, 29
May 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://astrobiology.nasa.gov>.
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Dimond, Patricia F. "Biotechnology Instruments Being Used to Detect Alien Life."
GEN. Gentetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, 7 June 2007. Web. 30 May
2012. <http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and
intelligenceand153/biotechnology-instruments-being-used-to-detect-alienlife/77899415/>.