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Author: Dimitar Sasselov
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
Published: 2012-01-24
Total Pages: 226
ISBN-13: 046502193X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn astronomy professor at Harvard University discusses the possibilities of finding other worlds that sustain alien life forms, citing recent breakthroughs in biology and exoplanetary astronomy, including the recent discovery of arsenic-based bacteria in a California lake.
Author: Michael E. Summers
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
Published: 2017-03-14
Total Pages: 225
ISBN-13: 1588345955
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe past few years have seen an incredible explosion in our knowledge of the universe. Since its 2009 launch, the Kepler satellite has discovered more than two thousand exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. More exoplanets are being discovered all the time, and even more remarkable than the sheer number of exoplanets is their variety. In Exoplanets, astronomer Michael Summers and physicist James Trefil explore these remarkable recent discoveries: planets revolving around pulsars, planets made of diamond, planets that are mostly water, and numerous rogue planets wandering through the emptiness of space. This captivating book reveals the latest discoveries and argues that the incredible richness and complexity we are finding necessitates a change in our questions and mental paradigms. In short, we have to change how we think about the universe and our place in it, because it is stranger and more interesting than we could have imagined.
Author: Dimitar Sasselov
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2012-01-24
Total Pages: 226
ISBN-13: 0465023401
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus fomented a revolution when he debunked the geocentric view of the universe, proving instead that our planet wasn't central to the universe. Almost five hundred years later, the revolution he set in motion is nearly complete. Just as earth is not the center of things, the life on it, it appears, is not unique to the planet. Or is it?The Life of Super-Earths is a breathtaking tour of current efforts to answer the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe? Astronomer Dimitar Sasselov, the founding director of Harvard University's Origins of Life Initiative, takes us on a fast-paced hunt for habitable planets and alien life forms. He shows how the search for "super-Earths" -- rocky planets like our own that orbit other stars -- may provide the key to answering essential questions about the origins of life here and elsewhere. That is, if we don't find the answers to those questions here first. As Sasselov and other astronomers have uncovered planets with mixes of elements different from our own, chemists have begun working out the heretofore unseen biochemistries that those planets could support. That knowledge is feeding directly into synthetic biology -- the effort to build wholly novel forms of life -- making it likely that we will first discover truly "alien" life forms in an earthly lab, rather than on a remote planet thousands of light years away. Sasselov tells the gripping story of a moment of unprecedented potential -- a convergence of pioneering efforts in astronomy and biology to peer into the unknown. The Life of Super-Earths offers nothing short of a transformation in our understanding of life and its place in the cosmos.
Author: Dimitar D. Sasselov
Publisher:
Published: 2012
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9786613628336
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"In the past year, we have witnessed unprecedented breakthroughs in the seemingly unrelated fields of synthetic biology and exoplanetary astronomy. Just recently, arsenic-based bacteria was discovered in a California lake-both puzzling and electrifying the scientific world. In The Life of Super-Earths, expert astronomer Dimitar Sasselov aims to highlight these groundbreaking findings and explain how what we learn in the laboratory informs our investigation of the universe, and vice versa. The discovery of a New Earth, or other world, may be in our future. But a truly 'alien' life form is more likely to emerge from our planet's natural environment or in a petri dish at a research lab. We may cross a milestone into the era of synthetic biology under the microscope. These breakthroughs will shed new light on our place in the universe and answer the age-old question: Are we alone in the universe? The Life of Super-Earths offers nothing short of a revolution in our understanding of life and its place in the cosmos"--
Author: Ray Jayawardhana
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2013-04-21
Total Pages: 280
ISBN-13: 1400846544
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn insider's look at the cutting-edge science of today's planet hunters In Strange New Worlds, renowned astronomer Ray Jayawardhana brings news from the front lines of the epic quest to find planets—and alien life—beyond our solar system. Only in the past two decades, after millennia of speculation, have astronomers begun to discover planets around other stars—thousands in fact. Now they are closer than ever to unraveling distant twins of the Earth. In this book, Jayawardhana vividly recounts the stories of the scientists and the remarkable breakthroughs that have ushered in this extraordinary age of exploration. He describes the latest findings--including his own—that are challenging our view of the cosmos and casting new light on the origins and evolution of planets and planetary systems. He reveals how technology is rapidly advancing to support direct observations of Jupiter-like gas giants and super-Earths—rocky planets with several times the mass of our own planet—and how astronomers use biomarkers to seek possible life on other worlds. Strange New Worlds provides an insider's look at the cutting-edge science of today's planet hunters, our prospects for discovering alien life, and the debates and controversies at the forefront of extrasolar-planet research. In a new afterword, Jayawardhana explains some of the most recent developments as we search for the first clues of life on other planets.
Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2017-07-04
Total Pages: 208
ISBN-13: 0744057124
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis visual encyclopedia is the ultimate page-turner, bringing our planet's most diverse and dramatic features together in spectacular style. Go on a breathtaking journey around the world. Scale the highest mountains, explore incredible weather patterns, and come face-to-face with the deadly forces of nature. Kids can explore the incredible, ever-changing features of Earth through mind-blowing photography, brand-new CGI artwork, fun facts, and stats. This fascinating reference book is sure to inspire the ecologists and scientists of tomorrow. Curious kids want to know everything about their planet. How do tornadoes form? What does the center of a volcanic eruption look like? Where is the hottest inhabited place on Earth? Investigate our world from its core to its cosmic connections when you journey through the spectacular imagery of colorful coral reefs, castle-like ice caves, and violent microbursts. This lively encyclopedia engages young readers with riveting information and eye-catching photography. Super Earth Encyclopedia will take your child on a jaw-dropping journey of discovering the most fascinating features of our planet. The Biggest, Highest, Most Extraordinary Features on Our Planet Feel the mighty power of the highest waterfall and discover superheated water from a giant geyser. This educational book for children will ensure that you never look at the world, or its wonders, in the same way again. Inside the pages of this stunning book about Earth, you’ll find: • Beautiful photography and CGI artworks of Earth’s most dramatic features. • Dashboard-style fact files that provide information at a glance. • Informative, fun-to-read text that is based on the latest discoveries and scientific research. More from DK Books: There are more Super Encyclopedias to explore! Super Bug Encyclopedia gives you an unprecedented insight into the complex life of creepy crawlies, and Super Human Encyclopedia showcases from head to toe how extraordinary the human body is.
Author: Manasvi Lingam
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2021-06-29
Total Pages: 1089
ISBN-13: 0674987578
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA rigorous and scientific analysis of the myriad possibilities of life beyond our planet. ÒAre we alone in the universe?Ó This tantalizing question has captivated humanity over millennia, but seldom has it been approached rigorously. Today the search for signatures of extraterrestrial life and intelligence has become a rapidly advancing scientific endeavor. Missions to Mars, Europa, and Titan seek evidence of life. Laboratory experiments have made great strides in creating synthetic life, deepening our understanding of conditions that give rise to living entities. And on the horizon are sophisticated telescopes to detect and characterize exoplanets most likely to harbor life. Life in the Cosmos offers a thorough overview of the burgeoning field of astrobiology, including the salient methods and paradigms involved in the search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence. Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb tackle three areas of interest in hunting for life Òout thereÓ: first, the pathways by which life originates and evolves; second, planetary and stellar factors that affect the habitability of worlds, with an eye on the biomarkers that may reveal the presence of microbial life; and finally, the detection of technological signals that could be indicative of intelligence. Drawing on empirical data from observations and experiments, as well as the latest theoretical and computational developments, the authors make a compelling scientific case for the search for life beyond what we can currently see. Meticulous and comprehensive, Life in the Cosmos is a master class from top researchers in astrobiology, suggesting that the answer to our age-old question is closer than ever before.
Author: Peter D. Ward
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2007-05-08
Total Pages: 359
ISBN-13: 0387218483
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat determines whether complex life will arise on a planet, or even any life at all? Questions such as these are investigated in this groundbreaking book. In doing so, the authors synthesize information from astronomy, biology, and paleontology, and apply it to what we know about the rise of life on Earth and to what could possibly happen elsewhere in the universe. Everyone who has been thrilled by the recent discoveries of extrasolar planets and the indications of life on Mars and the Jovian moon Europa will be fascinated by Rare Earth, and its implications for those who look to the heavens for companionship.
Author: Peter Cawdron
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: 2021-10-16
Total Pages: 394
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCold Eyes is a First Contact novel, written as a tribute to the 1974 science fiction classic, The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The UN warship Magellan is twelve light-years from Earth, exploring a cold eye, a tidally-locked super-earth called Bee. At least two advanced, intelligent species evolved on the planet, but the crew's attempts at radio communication result in garbled replies. No one is waiting for them in orbit. The crew has to figure out why. Any misunderstandings could lead to war. FIRST CONTACT is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact. Some of the other highly acclaimed novels in this series include Jury Duty, Anomaly, 3zekiel, Losing Mars, Xenophobia, Wherever Seeds May Fall, and Welcome to the Occupied States of America.
Author: David Waltham
Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
Published: 2014-05-01
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13: 1848316887
DOWNLOAD EBOOKScience tells us that life elsewhere in the Universe is increasingly likely to be discovered. But in fact the Earth may be a very unusual planet – perhaps the only one like it in the entire visible Universe. In Lucky Planet David Waltham asks why, and comes up with some surprising and unconventional answers. Recent geological, biological, and astronomical discoveries are bringing us closer to understanding whether we might be alone in the Universe, and this book uses these to question the conventional wisdom and suggest, instead, that the Earth may have had ‘four billion years of good weather’ purely by chance. If Earth-like worlds don’t have natural stabilising mechanisms, then intelligent observers such as ourselves will only ever look out onto those rare planets where, like the Earth, all the bad things that could have happened to the climate have fortunately cancelled each other out. So before you prepare to meet the aliens, consider that we are probably alone ...
