The Universe: A Cryogenic Habitat for Microbial Life (original) (raw)
Related papers
2011
Darwin’s allegorical “warm little pond” was most probably located outside the Earth and Darwinian evolution, including genetic transfers occurred over a vast galactic scale. How did life arise? Not just on the Earth, but anywhere in the Universe? Does life emerge readily on every Earth-like planet by spontaneous processes involving well attested laws of physics and chemistry, or did it involve an extraordinary, even miraculous intervention? Science must necessarily exclude a miraculous option of course, but the other questions continue to be asked.
2013 – Life is a Cosmic Phenomenon : The “Search for Water” evolves into the “Search for Life”
The 2013 data from the Kepler Mission gives a current estimate of the number of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, as 144 billion. We propose that this estimate has caused a consciousness change in human belief in the probability of life off Earth. This seems to have affected NASA's public statements which are now leaning to the more visionary mission goal of the " Search for Life " rather than the 1975-2012 focus of the " Search for Water ". We propose that the first confirmed Earth-like planet, expected to be announced later this year, be called " BORUCKI " in honour of the visionary USA scientist Bill Borucki, the father of the Kepler Mission. We explore the 2013 status of the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe Model of Panspermia, its hypothesis, propositions, experiments and evidence. We use the Karl Popper model for scientific hypotheses(1). Finally we explore Sir Fred Hoyle's vision of a planetary microbe defense system we call the Hoyle Shield. We explore the subsystem components of the shield and assess some options for these components using breakthrough technologies already available.
Life from space: Astrobiology and panspermia
The Biochemist
Darwin's allegorical ‘warm little pond’ was most probably located outside the Earth and Darwinian evolution, including genetic exchanges and transfers, occurred over a vast galactic scale.