First Contact (31 page)

clouds, microbes in,
25

Coal Oil Point, California,
83

Colbert, Stephen,
182
–83

Columbus, Christopher,
177

Conrad, Pan,
96
–100

Consolmagno, Brother Guy,
182
–83

Copernicus,
1
,
14
,
154
,
179
,
181

cosmic natural selection,
152
–54

Cosmic Water Hole,
171

Coyne, Father George,
182

creation, spontaneous,
155

Creator,
55
,
56
,
59
,
149
,
154

Crick, Francis,
59
–60

CRIRES (cryogenic high-resolution infrared echelle spectograph),
85
–86,
88
,
93

Cronin, John,
71

Crowe, Michael,
183

cryosphere,
25

Crysdale, Cynthia,
181

cyanobacterium,
115
–16

Darwin, Charles,
1
,
181

and “little warm ponds,”
8

On the Origin of Species
,
59

Darwinian evolution,
12
,
35
–36,
46
,
53
,
122
,
153
,
154

Darwinism, cosmic,
152
–54

Davies, Paul,
154
,
157
,
180

Death Valley,
49
,
96
,
99
–100

Deming, Jody,
121

Descartes, René,
183

desert varnish,
7
,
46
–51

Desulforudis audaxviator
,
16
,
17

deuterium (“heavy water”),
93
,
94

diatoms,
115

Dick, Steven J.,
14
,
183

divine intervention,
55
,
56
,
59

DNA,
56
,
60

Doppler, Christian,
134

Doppler shifts,
134
–35,
138
,
162

Doran, Peter,
31

Drake, Frank,
166
,
172
–73,
184

Drake Equation,
172

Driefontein gold mine,
23

Dworkin, Jason:

and chirality,
68
–69,
71
,
110

isovaline experiments of,
72

meteorite studies of,
72
–74,
77
,
110

and Miller-Urey,
62
,
68
,
74

Dyson, Freeman,
174

Dyson spheres,
174

Earth:

methane on,
4
,
8
,
80
,
81
–82

and moon,
9

origin of,
11

plate tectonics of,
91
,
92

Ehrenfreund, Pascale,
77
–78

electromagnetic spectrum,
86

Ellington, Andrew,
38
,
44

Ellis, George,
154
–55

energy,
174

entropy,
36

Epicurus,
183

ethane,
90

Europa,
11
,
13
,
32

European ExoMars,
83
,
101

European Organisation for Astronomical Research (ESO),
83
–85

European Space Agency (ESA),
13
,
76
,
83
,
143
,
146

evolution:

Darwinian,
12
,
35
–36,
46
,
53
,
122
,
153
,
154

divine intervention vs.,
55
,
59

of the universe,
153
–54

exobiology,
60

exoplanets,
3
,
5
–6,
10

searching for,
127
,
129
,
132
–33,
142
–43

suns of,
143

extremophiles,
3
,
4
,
5
,
18
,
24
–26,
90

fear of the “other,”
175
,
177

Fermi, Enrico,
188
,
189

fine-tuning,
149
–56

and cosmic natural selection,
152
–54

examples,
150

and multiverse theory,
151
–53,
154
,
155

first contact:

debate over likelihood,
195
–90

preparation for,
179

and religion,
179
–85

formaldehyde,
76

Forster, Rick,
171

fossae,
92

Franklin, Benjamin,
183

Fujishita, Mitsumi,
164

Funes, José Gabriel, S.J.,
181
–82

Galileo Galilei,
1
,
14
,
137
,
179
,
181

genetic engineering,
61

genetics,
54
,
60
,
61

geomicrobiology,
98

Gibson, Everett,
108

Glaciers,
25
–30,
91
–92

Glavin, Danny:

and chirality,
68
–69,
110

isovaline experiments of,
72

meteorite studies of,
72
–74,
77
,
110

and Miller-Urey,
62
,
68
,
74

Gliese 581G,
139
,
140
,
165
,
175

Goddard Space Flight Center,
68
,
80
,
99
,
144

gravity,
150
,
153

green flash,
87

habitable zones,
11

Hat Creek Radio Observatory,
166
–71

Hawaii, W. M. Keck Observatory,
89
,
128

Hawking, Stephen,
155
,
176
–77

Heerden, Esta van,
16
–17,
21

helium, discovery of,
86

homochirality,
71

Hoover, Richard,
90
,
114
–20,
124

Horowitz, Paul,
161
–62,
163
,
176

Howard, Andrew,
140
,
187

Hoyle, Fred,
150

Hubble Space Telescope,
87
,
133
,
141
,
143
,
145

Huggins, Margaret Lindsay Murray,
86

Huggins, Sir William,
86

hydrochloric acid,
37

hydrogen sulfide,
66
,
67
–68

hydrothermal activity,
103

hyperthermophiles,
24

ice:

as habitat for life,
25
–33,
90

on Mars,
93
,
95
,
109

ICIBASE,
27
–30

iddingsite,
114

infrared band,
81

Inquisition,
137
,
179

International Space Station (ISS),
76
,
78

interplanetary dust,
72
,
77

iodine absorption cell,
138

iron,
46
–48

isovaline,
71
–72

Ivuna meteorite,
118

James, William,
151

Japan, SETI observations in,
161
–66

Jesus of Nazareth,
180
,
183

Joyce, Gerald,
55
–56

Jupiter,
10
,
131
,
135

Kant, Immanuel,
183

Käufl, Hans-Ulrich,
85

Keck Observatory, Hawaii,
89
,
128

Kepler, Johannes,
137

Kepler spacecraft,
10
–11,
142

Labeled Release,
40
–43,
45
,
122
–24

Lamprecht, Werner,
22

Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA),
54
,
57

Latham, David,
141

Lavoisier, Antoine,
37

Lazcano, Antonio,
61
–62,
67
,
68

Leakey, Louis and Mary,
1

Lechuguilla limestone cave,
47
–48

left-handed formation,
8
,
71
,
72

Léna, Pierre,
180

Leslie, John,
151

Levin, Gilbert V.,
39
–45,
122
–24

life:

alternate forms of,
156

attempts to define,
see
life, definitions of

beyond Earth,
98
,
188
–90

dividing and creating,
28

from divine creation,
55
,
56
,
59

in early solar system,
78

essentials for,
4
,
45
–46,
129
–30,
143
,
172
,
189

inevitability of,
12

interaction with nonlife forms,
51

lighter chemical forms of,
94

Miller-Urey experiments,
59
–65,
74

from nonlife,
75
,
186

null hypothesis on,
112
–13

origin of,
1
,
8
,
11
,
52
–56,
59
–61,
68
,
74
–78,
157

spontaneous generation of,
59

synthesis in labs,
3
,
55
–56,
186
–87

undersea,
75

“weird life” panel,
52
,
53
,
57

life, definitions of,
7
,
35
–57

and desert varnish,
46
–51

extraterrestrial,
56
–57

impossibility of,
37
–39

NASA,
35
–39,
46

and origin of life,
52
–56

and shadow biosphere,
159

and Viking missions,
39
–45

Lincoln, Tracey,
55

Litthauer, Derek,
21

Lockheed Martin,
145

Lockyer, Norman,
86

lunar eclipse,
146
–47

magma,
90
,
91

magnetites,
108
,
109

Mahaffy, Paul,
101
–2

manganese,
46
–49

Marcy, Geoff,
129
,
137
–38,
140
,
187

Mars:

Arsia Mons,
91

Beagle 2 probe to,
44
–45,
101

fossae of,
92

glacier on,
91
–92

habitability of,
101
,
103

hydrothermal activity on,
103

ice on,
93
,
95
,
109

life on,
3
–4,
9
–10

liquid water on,
43
,
81
,
88
–90,
93
–95,
97
,
102
–3,
109
,
123

magnetic field on,
89
,
108
,
123

meteorites from,
93
–94,
106
–7

methane on,
4
,
6
,
8
–9,
13
,
79
–83,
88
–95,
96
,
102
,
123
,
144

Noachian age of,
81

Olympus Mons,
91

Phoenix mission to,
43

and SAM,
97
,
102

sample return mission to,
13
,
101
–2

search for biology on,
83
,
97

Syrtis Major volcano,
90

Viking missions to,
39
–45

and volcanoes,
90
,
91
–92

Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C),
101

Mars Global Surveyor,
89
,
108

Marshall Space Flight Center,
114
–15

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,
90

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL),
13
,
42
–43,
96
–100,
101
–2

Mather, John,
146

McKay, Christopher,
42
,
48
,
124

McKay, David,
106
–14,
117
,
119
,
124

McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica,
27
,
96

McNutt, Steven,
64
–66

M dwarf stars,
132

META (Megachannel Extra-Terrestrial Assay),
162

metabolism,
40
,
44
,
45
,
54

meteorites:

Allan Hills 84001 (Mars),
93
–94,
106
–14,
124
–25

Allende,
69
,
115

amino acids in,
74

carbonaceous,
72
,
77
,
109
,
115
,
118
–19