Compelling Evidence of Fossils and Microbialites on Ancient Mars PDF Download

Author: Vincenzo Rizzo
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1036408280
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
This book offers an amazing collection of analyzed images from the Red Planet, extremely suggestive of ancestral life on Mars. The book evidences possible remnants of microbial life, and, even further, complex and repetitive structures, analyzed in detail and reminescent of life forms and traits of terrestrial fossils resembling skeletal microalgae and more. This work is a presentation of primary importance for astrobiologists, precambrian micropaleontologists, and lovers of space exploration.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781036408275
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Author: Mikhail A. Fedonkin
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801886799
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
An essential resource for paleontologists, biologists, geologists, and teachers, The Rise of Animals is the best single reference on one of earth's most significant events.

Author: Steven Soter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781565846029
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Leading scientists offer a collection of essays that furnish illuminating explanations of recent discoveries in modern astrophysics--from the Big Bang to black holes--the possibility of life on other worlds, and the emerging technologies that make such research possible, accompanied by incisive profiles of such key figures as Carl Sagan and Georges Lemaetre. Original.

Author: Martin Beech
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119761964
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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TERRAFORMING MARS This book provides a thorough scientific review of how Mars might eventually be colonized, industrialized, and transformed into a world better suited to human habitation. The idea of terraforming Mars has, in recent times, become a topic of intense scientific interest and great public debate. Stimulated in part by the contemporary imperative to begin geoengineering Earth, as a means to combat global climate change, the terraforming of Mars will work to make its presently hostile environment more suitable to life—especially human life. Geoengineering and terraforming, at their core, have the same goal—that is to enhance (or revive) the ability of a specific environment to support human life, society, and industry. The chapters in this text, written by experts in their respective fields, are accordingly in resonance with the important, and ongoing discussions concerning the human stewardship of global climate systems. In this sense, the text is both timely and relevant and will cover issues relating to topics that will only grow in their relevance in future decades. The notion of terraforming Mars is not a new one, as such, and it has long played as the background narrative in many science fiction novels. This book, however, deals exclusively with what is physically possible, and what might conceivably be put into actual practice within the next several human generations. Audience Researchers in planetary science, astronomy, astrobiology, space engineering, architecture, ethics, as well as members of the space industry.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Earth sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Author: Joachim Reitner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642104142
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
Stromatolites are the most intriguing geobiological structures of the entire earth history since the beginning of the fossil record in the Archaean. Stromatolites and microbialites are interpreted as biosedimentological remains of biofilms and microbial mats. These structures are important environmental and evolutionary archives which give us information about ancient habitats, biodiversity, and evolution of complex benthic ecosystems. However, many geobiological aspects of these structures are still unknown or only poorly understood. The present proceedings highlight the new ideas and information on the formation and environmental setting of stromatolites presented at the occasion of the Kalkowsky Symposium 2008, held in Göttingen, Germany.

Author: George D. Stanley Jr.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461512190
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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From the Preface: The chapters of this book contain contributions from an international group of specialists. They address some important themes in both modern and ancient reef systems. Some chapters contain `snapshots' of reefs of particular intervals, while others touch on relevant themes of both modern and ancient reefs - themes that weave their way through reefs of all ages. This book opens and sets the stage with an introduction to both modern and ancient reefs and reef ecosystems. This chapter is also intended as a basic introduction for students, general geologists, and professionals or others who may be unfamiliar with reefs and reef ecosystems. The chapter addresses the living coral reef ecosystem, stressing among other relevant factors, the importance of ecological and physical interactions between the organisms and their environment. The chapter also addresses mass extinction and provides a general overview of the history of reefs.

Author: Joseph Seckbach
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9789400732414
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 606

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Book Description
This book provides information about microbial mats, from early fossils to modern mats located in marine and terrestrial environments. Microbial mats – layered biofilms containing different types of cells – are most complex systems in which representatives of various groups of organisms are found together. Among them are cyanobacteria and eukaryotic phototrophs, aerobic heterotrophic and chemoautotrophic bacteria, protozoa, anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria, and other types of microorganisms. These mats are perfect models for biogeochemical processes, such as the cycles of chemical elements, in which a variety of microorganisms cooperate and interact in complex ways. They are often found under extreme conditions and their study contributes to our understanding of extremophilic life. Moreover, microbial mats are models for Precambrian stromatolites; the study of modern microbial mats may provide information on the processes that may have occurred on Earth when prokaryotic life began to spread.

Author: Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319620452
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Are humans a galactic oddity, or will complex life with human abilities develop on planets with environments that remain habitable for long enough? In a clear, jargon-free style, two leading researchers in the burgeoning field of astrobiology critically examine the major evolutionary steps that led us from the distant origins of life to the technologically advanced species we are today. Are the key events that took life from simple cells to astronauts unique occurrences that would be unlikely to occur on other planets? By focusing on what life does - it's functional abilities - rather than specific biochemistry or anatomy, the authors provide plausible answers to this question. Systematically exploring the various pathways that led to the complex biosphere we experience on planet Earth, they show that most of the steps along that path are likely to occur on any world hosting life, with only two exceptions: One is the origin of life itself – if this is a highly improbable event, then we live in a rather “empty universe”. However, if this isn’t the case, we inevitably live in a universe containing a myriad of planets hosting complex as well as microbial life - a “cosmic zoo”. The other unknown is the rise of technologically advanced beings, as exemplified on Earth by humans. Only one technological species has emerged in the roughly 4 billion years life has existed on Earth, and we don’t know of any other technological species elsewhere. If technological intelligence is a rare, almost unique feature of Earth's history, then there can be no visitors to the cosmic zoo other than ourselves. Schulze-Makuch and Bains take the reader through the history of life on Earth, laying out a consistent and straightforward framework for understanding why we should think that advanced, complex life exists on planets other than Earth. They provide a unique perspective on the question that puzzled the human species for centuries: are we alone?