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In the Search for Alien Life, 'Everyone Is an Astrobiologist' (scientificamerican.com)
Mary Voytek, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology, likes to tell other researchers that "everyone is an astrobiologist; they just don't know it yet." From a report: What she means is that answering the question currently at the heart of astrobiology -- Does life exist beyond Earth? -- requires input from an incredibly wide range of disciplines, including astrophysics, geology, exoplanet science, planetary science, chemistry and various subfields of biology.
On the plus side, that means astrobiologists have a lot of resources to draw on. But it also means that people like Voytek have to deal with a flood of relevant information coming in from all of those scientific fields and figure out how to get scientists from those disciplines to work together. Voytek and other NASA representatives discussed how they are dealing with that information influx, and the interdisciplinary nature of the field, at the Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe meeting, hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, here at the University of California, Irvine this week.
On the plus side, that means astrobiologists have a lot of resources to draw on. But it also means that people like Voytek have to deal with a flood of relevant information coming in from all of those scientific fields and figure out how to get scientists from those disciplines to work together. Voytek and other NASA representatives discussed how they are dealing with that information influx, and the interdisciplinary nature of the field, at the Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe meeting, hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, here at the University of California, Irvine this week.
It is a science without an identifiable subject. Since there is, so far, nothing to study, it would be fair to say that nobody can be studying it.
That is a perfect field because you can apply for grants in many different fields. Plus they have to deal with a flood of information (buy computers) and figure out how to get scientists to work together (attend a lot of conferences and meetings). Sure beats working.
>>>> ...requires input from an incredibly wide range of disciplines, including astrophysics, geology, exoplanet science, planetary science, chemistry and various subfields of biology...(actual astrobiologist) likes to tell other researchers that "everyone is an astrobiologist..."
>> 'Everyone Is an Astrobiologist'
As usual, a shit headline for a SlashDot article. It's remarkable the editors figure out how to turn their computers on each morn^b^b^b^bafternoon.
"astrophysics, geology, exoplanet science, planetary science, chemistry and various subfields of biology" This much is true as, to get to anything like something we might actually have a shot at communicating with, there are a great many requirements in each of these categories, and several more as well (cosmology , anthropology, and statistics amongst them). Indeed, when one multiplies the likelihood of just the requirements we currently know about by each other, one might come to the conclusion that, even with ten trillion galaxies, and even if they have one hundred billion stars each, we are astronomically unlikely to ever need an astrobiologist for anything other than, possibly, alien bacteria and viruses.
We constantly look at this subject as if it has not already been proven that life can survive in space. Water bears have been PROVEN to be able to survive the Vacuum and temperatures of space. So, there is that first off. Then lets look at the properties of Self Organization and Entropy as they interact with something like "Gravity", combined with the properties of the KNOWN universe. Including the FACT, that it is SO BIG, we are TOTALLY INCAPABLE of even seeing the edge. A rough outline that we "can" generate, represents residual radio waves from the BB or other Initiating Event that Started the universe. It does NOT prove that this is the "Edge" of the universe. It just proves that this is how far the wave has traveled in the time it has existed, and in what directions. So... back to our original line of thinking... that this thing is just THAT big. (Universe at Large... At VERY Large) Filled with energy, raw materials, both seeming to emanate almost entirely from what are the Stellar FORGES of the universe. Stars. Topped off with healthy doses of ENTROPY, GRAVITY And Self Organization. All that CHANCE, ALL that SELF ORGANIZATION, ALL that GRAVITY, ALL Those Raw Materials being CONSTANTLY regenerated. (Those same materials are YOU... Yes YOU, down to the last molecule, CAME from the inside of a STAR!) And ALL that SPACE... And you STILL think you are alone? you still cannot see that the universe was DESIGNED to create the eventuality that is Complex Life? GET A CLUE! The more likely scenario, is that the distances between civilizations, and life forms, is SO VAST, that we may NEVER be able to design a technology that allows us to reach the needed speeds to travel even our OWN galaxy... But the Universe we live in, seems to me CUSTOM DESIGNED to create planets that have the needed conditions for life. An AWFUL lot of coincidence, an "Impossibly" large amount, would have had to have taken place, for us to have ended up where and WHO we are, ANY other way. God, to me, is just energy in the process off creating the universe. As the ancients saw the Sun, so should we. As it IS god. A Star like it, or one of the TRILLIONS of others we can see from our telescopes, made every particle of EACH AND EVERY one of us within its life cycle. In the flailing of its death gasps, it cast off the carbon that you now wear as a casing. To move about the universe in. If that isn't your God, then I don't know what is... (just my 2)
Excellent points. And people say Space Nutters can't be coherent!
Thank you. Limited by the format obviously. But you got the general point :-)
I definitely did!
We don't know how life started. Not knowing how life started, we don't know how likely life is to have started elsewhere, or how similar it would be to us.
Without data, it's not science, it's speculation. It's a lot of fun to speculate, granted. But it's still speculation.
UFOlogists.
Find plenty of ET aliens there. How can you spot them? 1) Bad hair. 2) Inability to provide a direct answer any question posed. (e.g. "Mitch, wanna go to lunch?" Ans: "Blah blah blah.. for 10 minutes..") 3) Inability to come to an agreement with anyone on anything.
Those are the humans.
The aliens would be the ones who have perfect hair, always answer questions right on the point, and have an inhuman ability to come to agreement with others of their kind.
Real humans don't have perfect hair. And-- humans, managing to agree on anything without arguing? Doesn't happen.
You are right. The only problem with his post was that part. Good analysis.
Since we're on the Internet, let's not forget armchair astrophysics, armchair geology, armchair exoplanet science, armchair planetary science, armchair chemistry and various subfields of armchair biology. These people's gut feelings will be big contributors to a progressive, low signal to noise ratio in the search for extra terrestrial life and discussion of government coverups.
...Is there intelligent life in the \. Editorial Office? Magic Eight Ball Says...No.
That Life can survive in space is NOT speculation. Its a scientifically proven Fact. Meaning that the odds just went from probable, to an almost guarantee. With all that chance, entropy, and the factoring in of self organization... Calculating otherwise and having the equation work out correct, would be basically impossible. So, there is that. :-D
the Border Patrol just collected Mexicans to be mean. But now we know it's for science.
Exactly. If life didn't exist in space, then explain the space station? And some of the people there are actually scientists, so it is scientifically proven because they can self-verify their existence.
Rock hits earth... ONE microbe gets successfully cast to space... Cryogenically entrapped in the vacuum and absolute zero. Then deposited into the primordial ocean of one of the potential 40 "Billion" Habitable planets Kepler has been able to help us see that are likely out there. How much Chance do you REALLY think must exist in the endless void? how much chance do you REALLY believe NEEDS to exist for the above scenario to play out? Cmon people. The science points STRONGLY to other life existing. But its likely SO FAR from us, we may NEVER be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt by using DIRECT means. This is why so much of cosmology relies on the INDIRECT observations of other bodies / effects. The odds are very much FOR there bing not just other life, but ABUNDANT other life.
Definitely. Microbes from Earth regularly travel across space to other planets. And when they get there it triggers life (when they go in the ocean). Scientists have proven that already!
Time to update my resume.
2006: Time Magazine's Person of the Year
2017: NASA-designated Astrobiologist
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch.
Never A Straight Answer
"As the ancients saw the Sun, so should we. As it IS god."
Yea verily! Hail Sol Invictus!
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
You cheeky devil.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
I wonder if he has a newsletter that I cna subscribe to.
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
Does life exist beyond Earth? of course it does. after the deep field by hubble there is 0 chance that it doesnt exist outside our SS. Its crazy even discussing it... should be discussing How we find them.
[($)]
That will be answered only by finding life beyond Earth. All the expert input in the world as to what might or might not exist won't help. All that does is make guesses sound more sensible.
He's being sarcastic. As he always is. Deep down he's a bitter fellow.
I think this is one of those subjects where it's healthy to note who is "not" an astrobiologist. The article notes she tells her fellow researchers that every one of them is an astrobiologist. Which also means that my Cousin Bob who swears that he knows a guy who was probed by aliens, is NOT an astrobiologist. That guy on youtube who can prove to us that there is an alien outpost on Pluto, is not an astrobiologist.
When alien life is concerned, we need to be careful who we bring to the "everyone is an astrobiologist" party.
That should be our reality check.
AND the LACK of FORMATTING.
and THE overuse OF caps.