ASTRO
& EXOBIOLOGY
By: Matt DeBow
mdebow@mdebow.com
Exobiology is the origin and evolution of life, including the processes
of cosmic, planetary and biological factors that create life. It is the
evolutionary study of planets with suitable conditions such as water,
nutrients and sources of energy and is the interaction of various substances
and energy that yield an auto-catalytic system capable of passing genetic
information from one generation to the next. Extreme environments should
not be ruled out as having life supporting potential.
Life on Earth have been found thriving at volcanic sea vents called black
smokers,10,000 feet below the ocean's surface. Not only is there no light,
but the pressure and heat is enormous, not to mention the drastic water
chemistry. Not only does life exist in these locations, but life may very
well have begun in places like these. Life has also been discovered in
solid rock and in ice cores over 100,000 years old that can be cultured
and grown. Life on Earth has managed to survive in inhospitable ecological
environments, giving us ideas of what is not impossible on other worlds.
Another interesting fact about life on Earth that is dumfounding scientists
is how Earth's biological evolution did not occur gradually as believed.
Apparently it occurred in giant leaps, plateau to plateau-sudden bizarre
leaps in diversity and the emergence of life out of nowhere. Scientists
have discovered provocative evidence that prove life may well be a common
phenomena in the universe. Complex organic chemistry has been discovered
within interstellar clouds. Water is everywhere in space, if in fact comets
are primarily ice. Life is constantly hailing down on planets everywhere.
Complex organic substances are constantly found in meteors. Earth is continually
being bombarded with foreign or "alien" DNA. The idea that life floats
through space and rains down on anywhere where gravity brings it is called
"panspermia." It is not that hard for me to believe that meteors are the
seed of the universe. I've herd that the Venus Flytrap, a carnivorous
plant, has been discovered growing in a radius around areas where meteors
have landed. The century plant cactus blooms every 10 years. My guess
is that it evolved on a planet that had a seasonal rotation much larger
that Earth's.
Once water flowed across the surface of Mars, and it is now suspected
that Jupiter's moon, Europa, has oceans of water under its icy exterior.
Saturns's moon, Titan, is also thought to have water vapor in its atmosphere.
Currently NASA's exobiology program is working to understand the origin,
evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. Program manager Michael
A. Meyer states, "The goal is to study the evolution of advanced life."
The study seeks approaches to investigate the distribution of life elsewhere
in the universe, searching for answers in non-terrestrial settings. The
exobiology mission objective is the study of evolution and distribution
of life in the universe.
NASA's Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) trains young
scientists, students and the general public about the field of exobiology.
The birth of the term "astrobiology" came out as a book in 1959 from a
Russian scientist named Gabriel Tikhov, then was officially coined in
a USAF lunar and planetary exploration colloquium by Hubertus Strughold.
Now the term astrobiology is commonly used at NASA Ames Research Center
to describe specific research activities.
Astrobiology seeks to understand the origin of the building blocks of
life, the compounds that create life, and how it is affected by the environment
from which it arouse. The goal of the astrobiologist is to provide a philosophical
and systematic understanding of life's place in the universe. One of the
studies at the Astrobiology Institute will be the careful study of life
growing under severe conditions on Earth.
The Space Science Program at the Ames Research Center has formed a private
research consortium. This consortium consists of NASA, San Francisco Bay
Area universities, and local industries. The primary goal of this project
will be to find out and understand the origin and distribution of life
in the universe. This consortium is the NASA center for astrobiology,
astrochemistry and cosmochemistry, and is now developing an astrobiology
Institute (NABI) that will provide training and certification for the
Astrobiology Academy Program. According to Keith Cowing, "Life is an inevitable
consequence of the organization of matter, at all levels of organization
in this universe." Institute members include universities at Harvard,
Penn State, Los Angles, Boulder and Arizona. Other organizations include
Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center
and The Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. All new discoveries and
developing information will become part of a virtual common consciousness
of digital data able to be instantly accessed from anywhere in the world.
This kind of approach needs to become common place and should occur in
all scientific fields. Hopefully this will initiate and set precedents
for other scientist and research facilities to follow.
Please contact me if you are interested in getting more information on
my research. Recent releases are:
• Healing with Light - Advanced Medical Technology
(DVD)
• LIGHT - Effects on Health and Uses in Medicine
(Book)
Copyright
© MDeBow 1999
mdebow@mdebow.com
www.MDeBow.com
It is permissible to post this article on the internet under the condition that my contact information and name remain intact.
