Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A trio of editors Professors from Austria, Germany and Israel] present Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies. The contributors are from twenty various countries and present their research on life here as well as the possibility for extraterrestrial life. This volume covers concepts such as life's origin, hypothesis of Panspermia and of life possibility in the Cosmos. The topic of extraterrestrial life is currently 'hot' and the object of several congresses and conferences. While the diversity of "normal" biota is well known, life on the edge of the extremophiles is more limited and less distributed. Other subjects discussed are Astrobiology with the frozen worlds of Mars, Europa and Titan where extant or extinct microbial life may exist in subsurface oceans; conditions on icy Mars with its saline, alkaline, and liquid water which has been recently discovered; chances of habitable Earth-like or the terrestrial analogues] exoplanets; and SETI's search for extraterrestrial Intelligence.
Synopsis
List of Contributors
Pathways to Life on Earth and Other Planetary Bodies; Joseph Seckbach
Introduction; Emeritus Giora Shaviv
Terestrial Halophylies, Evaporite Environments and The Search for Life on Mars; Roberto Barbieri and Nunzia Stivaletta
Vescicular Basalts as a Niche for Microbial Life; Barbara Cavalazzi, Frances Westall and Sherry L. Cady
Seti: Assessing Imaginative Proposals; Stephen P. Cook
Molecules Between the Stars; Nick Cox
Prokaryotic Communities Below Planetary Surfaces and Their Involvement In The Nitrogen Cycle; Friedrich W. Gerbl, Gerhard W. Weidler, Angelika Breitfuss, Marion Dornmayr-Pfaffenhuemer and Helga Stan-Lotter
Extrasolar Planets; Eike W. Guenther
Life Without Water: The Sleeping Chironomid and Other Anhydrobiotic Invertebrates and Their Utilization in Astrobiology; Oleg Gusev And Takashi Okuda
Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes; Arnold Hanslmeier
Glaciopanspermia: Seeding the Terrestrial Planets with Life? Joop M. Houtkooper
Chemical Evolution In Primeval Seas; Kamaluddin
Terrestiral Analogues for Early Planetary Oceans: Niuafo'Ou Caldera Lakes (Tonga) and their Geology, Water Chemistry and Stromatolites; Stephan Kempe and J zef Kazmierczak
Comparison of Environment Types with Liquid Water on Mars; Akos Kereszturi
Criteria of Possible Habitability of Earth-Like Exoplanets; Leonid V. Ksanfomality
Origin of the Genetic Code and Abiotic Synthesis of Organic Compounds; Zita Martins
Dynamical Aspects for the Earth's Habitability; Elke Pilat-Lohinger
A Dynamic Scheme to Assess Habitability of Exoplanets; Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Abel M ndez, Alberto G. Fair n, Philip Von Paris, Carol Turse, Grayson Boyer, Alfonso F. Davila, And Marina Resendes De Sousa Ant nio
Astrobiology of Titan; Michael Simakov
The Likelihood of Halophilic Life in the Universe; Helga Stan-Lotter, Sergiu Fendrihan, Marion Dorn-Mayr-Pfaffenhuemer, Tatjana K. Polacsek, Andrea Legat, Anita K. Holzinger, Michael Gr sbacher And Andreas Weigl
Production of Dormant Stages and Stress Resistance of Polar Cyanobacteria; Daria Tashyreva and Josef Elster
Can the Evolution of Multicellularity be Anticipated in the Exoploration of the Solar System? H. P. De Vladar and J. Chela-Flores
Antarctica as Model for the Possible Emergence of Life on Europa; Suman Dudeja, Aranya B. Bhattacherjee and Julian Chela Flores
The Likelihood of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life; Rob Hengeveld
The Astrobiological Potential of Polar Dunes on Mars; kos Kereszturi, Szaniszl B rczi, Andr s Horv th, Tam s P cs, Andr s Sik And Szathm ry E rs
Life in Earth's Lava Caves: Implications for Life Detection on Other Planets; Diana E. Northup, Jennifer J.M. Hathaway, Jessica R. Snider, Monica Moya, Matthew G. Garcia, Maria L.N. Enes Dapkevicius, Cristina Riquelme Gabriel, Fred D. Stone, Michael N. Spilde, And Penelope J. Boston
Life in the Saturnian Neighborhood; Athena Coustenis, F. Raulin, Georgios Bampasidis And Anezina Solomonidou