Astrobiology: Life Across the Universe
Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter is a candidate for supporting life. Credit: NASA/JPL
"We can't help it. Life looks for life." - Carl Sagan
NASA defines Astrobiology as: "...the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This multidisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry and life on Mars and other bodies in our Solar System, 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."
How does life evolve? How can we detect life on other worlds? What might it look like? Will life on a distant planet or moon require the same basic materials as life on Earth (water and the elements C, H, N, O, P, S)?
With a group of fellow students from the 2014 NASA Santander Astrobiology Summer School, I am working on a project to describe, in a biogeochemical and physiological context, what life on worlds with thin atmospheres and resulting high levels of radiation, might look like, how it might harness energy, and how it might combat radiation damage. This work has been accepted for publication in the journal Astrobiology.
NASA funded me as a Santander Summer School Scholar.
NASA defines Astrobiology as: "...the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This multidisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry and life on Mars and other bodies in our Solar System, 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."
How does life evolve? How can we detect life on other worlds? What might it look like? Will life on a distant planet or moon require the same basic materials as life on Earth (water and the elements C, H, N, O, P, S)?
With a group of fellow students from the 2014 NASA Santander Astrobiology Summer School, I am working on a project to describe, in a biogeochemical and physiological context, what life on worlds with thin atmospheres and resulting high levels of radiation, might look like, how it might harness energy, and how it might combat radiation damage. This work has been accepted for publication in the journal Astrobiology.
NASA funded me as a Santander Summer School Scholar.
NASA's infographic on possible ocean worlds in the solar system is a great resource.
