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.
Author(s): Joseph Seckbach (auth.), Arnold Hanslmeier, Stephan Kempe, Joseph Seckbach (eds.)
Series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology 24
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 534
Tags: Astrobiology; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Pathways to Life on Earth and Other Planetary Bodies....Pages 1-8
Introduction....Pages 9-12
Halophiles, Continental Evaporites and the Search for Biosignatures in Environmental Analogues for Mars....Pages 13-26
Vesicular Basalts as a Niche for Microbial Life....Pages 27-43
SETI: Assessing Imaginative Proposals....Pages 45-62
Molecules Between the Stars....Pages 63-79
Prokaryotic Communities Below Planetary Surfaces and Their Involvement in the Nitrogen Cycle....Pages 81-99
Extrasolar Planets....Pages 101-120
“Life Without Water”: The Sleeping Chironomid and Other Anhydrobiotic Invertebrates and Their Utilization in Astrobiology....Pages 121-138
Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes....Pages 139-157
Glaciopanspermia: Seeding the Terrestrial Planets with Life?....Pages 159-170
Chemical Evolution in Primeval Seas....Pages 171-193
Terrestrial Analogues for Early Planetary Oceans: NIUAFO‘OU CALDERA LAKES (Tonga) and Their Geology, Water Chemistry, and Stromatolites....Pages 195-234
Comparison of Environment Types with Liquid Water on Mars....Pages 235-250
Criteria of Possible Habitability of Earthlike Exoplanets....Pages 251-270
Origin of the Genetic Code and Abiotic Synthesis of Organic Compounds....Pages 271-289
Dynamical Aspects for the Earth’s Habitability....Pages 291-306
A Dynamic Scheme to Assess Habitability of Exoplanets....Pages 307-321
Astrobiology of Titan....Pages 323-344
The Likelihood of Halophilic Life in the Universe....Pages 345-365
Production of Dormant Stages and Stress Resistance of Polar Cyanobacteria....Pages 367-386
Can the Evolution of Multicellularity Be Anticipated in the Exploration of the Solar System?....Pages 387-405
Antarctica as Model for the Possible Emergence of Life on Europa....Pages 407-419
The Likelihood of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life....Pages 421-438
The Astrobiological Potential of Polar Dunes on Mars....Pages 439-457
Life in Earth’s Lava Caves: Implications for Life Detection on Other Planets....Pages 459-484
Life in the Saturnian Neighborhood....Pages 485-522
Back Matter....Pages 523-534
