FLNP SEMINAR

On Thursday, 6 October 2016 at 11.00 am in the Conference hall (3rd floor) of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics a seminar “Perspectives in astrobiology: life in the cosmos” will be held.

Speaker: Richard B. Hoover

Abstract:

Is Life Restricted to the Planet Earth or more widely distributed throughout the Cosmos? This is the fundamental question of Astrobiology. Recent discoveries by expeditions to Earth’s Polar Regions, Volcanoes and Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents have established that extremophiles inhabit the most extreme environments on Earth. Life is found wherever water (or ice), biogenic elements and energy sources co-exist. High resolution images and spectroscopic data obtained by Space Missions, Probes, Rovers and Orbiting Observatories have shown these life-critical conditions are present in giant molecular clouds and on virtually every planet (from Mercury to Pluto), icy moon, comet and water-bearing asteroid of our Solar System.

Keywords: Astrobiology, water, minerals, C:N:P Redfield ratio, biogenic elements, biomolecules, planets, icy moons, comets, microfossils, meteorites, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, mummies, mammoths, extraterrestrial life, cosmos