Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "biochemistry"

Louis Neal Irwin and Dirk Schulze-Makuch do a thorough job of reviewing the environments of the planets and their moons in our solar system. Are any of them friendly enough to harbor life? What kind of life? How many probably house internal oceans under a cap of ice? Those are the most likely candidates for microbes, maybe even swimmers or crawlers on three types of environment--an internal ice ceiling, an ocean floor over a warm core, and the internal ocean itself. The authors consider all the chemical ifs, ands and buts of such environments.

I'm most eager to see what the flybys that will pick up samples from the leaking moon Enceladus in 2030? Actually, it's spurting icy water and organics several hundred kilometers into space from its south pole. It there is an internal ocean there, it could be very interesting--and we won't even have to drill through kilometers of ice.
Meanwhile, come visit my blogs on astronaut.com. Here's the latest-- http://astronaut.com/whos-good-news-l...

Astrobiology—a Very Short Introduction by David C. Catling, Oxford University Press, 2013
I hesitate to review this extraordinary book because it is so good. Somehow, David Catling, Professor in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences and the Astrobiology Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, has written a beautifully written, clear summary of all the basic biology and astronomy you need to now to understand current findings in astrobiology—“…a branch of science concerned with the study of the origin and evolution of life on Earth and the possible variety of life elsewhere.” (his definition.)

After a short review of other definitions and the earliest history (Thales C.600 B.C.) questioning whether “…we’re alone in the universe,” Catling discusses attempts to define life, then leads us gently into what we know about planets, stars, biochemistry, genetics and energy required for life. In the end he brings us up to date on exoplanets and possibilities for life beyond Earth.

Here’s the spoiler: Europa is his choice as “…the best prospect for life” in our solar system. Why? Read this wonderful book to review or get acquainted with the science involved in the search for the nature of our existence. He has convinced us that “Astrobiology is here to stay.”

For readers of my blog “Who’s Out there on astronaut.com: In coming blogs, I will be updating and reviewing the various topics he covers.