Astrobiology : The Quest for the Conditions of Life

How Did Life Originate In The Universe? How Did It All Start After The Creation Of Matter And The Formation Of Elements In The Stars? What Are The Pathways From The First Organic Molecules In Space To The Evolution Of Complex Life Forms On Earth And Perhaps Elsewhere? And How Will It All End? The Universe Itself Sets The Stage For The Very Interdisciplinary Field Of Astrobiology That Attempts To Answer Such Questions, The Central One Being: What Is The (cosmic) Recipe For Life? Currently There Are Only Very Few Known Elements In This Vast Mosaic. This Book Bridges A Gap In The Literature By Bringing Together Leading Specialists From Different Backgrounds Who Lecture On Their Fields, With Close Relevance To Astrobiology, Providing Tutorial Accounts That Lead All The Way To The Forefront Of Research. The Book Will Thus Be Useful For Students, Lecturers And Reseachers Alike. Organic Material In Space And Habitable Zones -- Water And Life -- Electromagnetic Fields, Radiation And Life -- Gravity And Life -- Complexity And Life -- Forthcoming Space Missions Relevant For Astrobiology. Edited By Gerda Horneck, Christa Baumstark-khan. Front Matter....Pages I-XV Introduction....Pages 1-4 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 From Molecular Clouds to the Origin of Life....Pages 7-23 The Diversity of Extrasolar Planets Around Solar Type Stars....Pages 25-46 Habitable Zones in Extrasolar Planetary Systems....Pages 47-56 Viable Transfer of Microorganisms in the Solar System and Beyond....Pages 57-76 Front Matter....Pages 77-77 Water, the Spring of Life....Pages 79-88 Geomorphological Record of Water-Related Erosion on Mars....Pages 89-109 Europa’s Crust and Ocean: How Tides Create a Potentially Habitable Physical Setting....Pages 111-124 Permafrost Model of Extraterrestrial Habitat....Pages 125-142 Microbial Life in Terrestrial Permafrost: Methanogenesis and Nitrification in Gelisols as Potentials for Exobiological Process....Pages 143-159 Life in Cold Lakes....Pages 161-168 Hyperthermophilic Microorganisms....Pages 169-184 Halophilic Microorganisms....Pages 185-200 Front Matter....Pages 201-201 Martian Atmospheric Evolution: Implications of an Ancient Intrinsic Magnetic Field....Pages 203-217 The Ultraviolet Radiation Environment of Earth and Mars: Past and Present....Pages 219-232 Ultraviolet Radiation in Planetary Atmospheres and Biological Implications....Pages 233-243 Environmental UV Radiation: Biological Strategies for Protection and Avoidance....Pages 245-260 Life under Conditions of Ionizing Radiation....Pages 261-284 Front Matter....Pages 285-285 Graviperception and Graviresponse at the Cellular Level....Pages 287-296 Gravistimulated Effects in Plants....Pages 297-313 Front Matter....Pages 285-285 Gravitational Zoology: How Animals Use and Cope with Gravity....Pages 315-333 Front Matter....Pages 335-335 Scaling Phenomena and the Emergence of Complexity in Astrobiology....Pages 337-360 Molecular Self-Assembly and the Origin of Life....Pages 361-372 Search for Morphological and Biogeochemical Vestiges of Fossil Life in Extraterrestrial Settings: Utility of Terrestrial Evidence....Pages 373-386 Front Matter....Pages 387-387 Space Activities in Exo-Astrobiology....Pages 389-398 Back Matter....Pages 399-411