Astrobiology: what can the investigation of life under extreme conditions on Earth teach us about the prospect for life elsewhere in the Universe?

Datum

11.07.2012

Zeit

16:30 - 17:30

Sprecher

Dr. Michael Gross

Zugehörigkeit

Science Journalist

Sprache

en

Hauptthema

Biologie

Andere Themen

Biologie

Host

Prof. Nils Kröger

Beschreibung

Life on Earth has spread with spectacular success, and not just across the areas where conditions are favourable. In the last four decades, researchers have discovered life in surprisingly hostile environments, subjected to high pressures, very high or very low temperatures, and/or extreme chemical stress conditions. Together with the discoveries of hundreds of exoplanets and the ongoing exploration of our solar system, the studies of life under extreme physical conditions here on Earth have led to a renewed interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In contrast to the short-lived “exobiology” of the 1970s, astrobiology includes terrestrial biology, especially the study of its evolutionary history and of its physical limits, with a view to understand more generally which parameters and places facilitate the origin and existence of life in the Universe.

Letztmalig verändert: 04.07.2012, 15:09:36