Micrometeorites and the Mysteries of Our Origins PDF Download

Author: M. Maurette
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540343350
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Gives the first a coherent and comprehensive account of how meteorites may have brought the seeds of life to Earth. Embedds specific results within a broader framework that considers the creation and evolution of the Early Earth. Provides experienced researchers with a modern and compact reference, as well as a source of material for lectures in this field.

Author: Paul J. Thomas
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540330887
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
This volume considers the role comets may have played in the origins and evolution of life. This is the only book dealing in depth with this subject. It is particularly relevant in light of recent investigations of Halley's comet, of new insights into organic synthesis in meteorites and comets, and of new results of numerical simulations of cometary orbits and impacts on Earth. The book is intended as a comprehensive review of current research.

Author: Barbara Cavalazzi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319961756
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
This book aims at providing a brief but broad overview of biosignatures. The topics addressed range from prebiotic signatures in extraterrestrial materials to the signatures characterising extant life as well as fossilised life, biosignatures related to space, and space flight instrumentation to detect biosignatures either in situ or from orbit. The book ends with philosophical reflections on the implications of life elsewhere. In the 15 chapters written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, it provides both detailed explanations on the nature of biosignatures as well as useful case studies showing how they are used and identified in ancient rocks, for example. One case study addresses the controversial finding of traces of fossil life in a meteorite from Mars. The book will be of interest not only to astrobiologists but also to terrestrial paleontologists as well as any reader interested in the prospects of finding a second example of life on another planet.

Author: Muriel Gargaud
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3662650932
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 3376

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Book Description
Now in its third edition the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding in the extremely interdisciplinary community of astrobiologists. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work are aiming to give a comprehensive international perspective on and to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology. The interdisciplinary field of astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its chances for emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, (bio)-chemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. With its overview articles and its definitions the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology not only provides a common language and understanding for the members of the different disciplines but also serves for educating a new generation of young astrobiologists who are no longer separated by the jargon of individual scientific disciplines. This new edition offers ~170 new entries. More than half of the existing entries were updated, expanded or supplemented with figures supporting the understanding of the text. Especially in the fields of astrochemistry and terrestrial extremophiles but also in exoplanets and space sciences in general there is a huge body of new results that have been taken into account in this new edition. Because the entries in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order without regard for scientific field, this edition includes a section “Astrobiology by Discipline” which lists the entries by scientific field and subfield. This should be particularly helpful to those enquiring about astrobiology, as it illustrates the broad and detailed nature of the field.

Author: Jon Larsen
Publisher: Voyageur Press
ISBN: 0760364583
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
On the Trail of Stardust puts the heavens in your hands—in the form of cosmic dust, or micrometeorites. With this handy guide from the author of the international bestseller In Search of Stardust, Jon Larsen, you will learn how to find micrometeorites in your own neighborhood! Stardust—also known as micrometeorites—is the oldest matter anywhere. Nothing has traveled farther to reach Earth. For a century, scientists have searched everywhere for stardust, but only found it in remote areas like Antarctica and, more recently, outer space. Author and citizen scientist extraordinaire Jon Larsen was the first to find them in populated areas. With this book, you too can discover stardust as near as your own rooftop! Following his successful debut, In Search of Stardust, Larsen turns his attention from explaining the formation and various kinds of stardust to revealing his methods and techniques for finding micrometeorites in a compact, durable guide. Larsen covers everything from the origins and formation of micrometeorites to assembling the simple array of gear needed to get out there and find stardust in your own neighborhood, rooftop, or rain gutters. Larsen explains the best places to look and offers step-by-step photo sequences of the techniques he has developed to assemble his collection of 1,500-plus verified micrometeorites (and counting). And you don’t need a multi-million-dollar scanning electron microscope to document your collection; Jon shows how to assemble a serviceable photo setup from easily accessible equipment. The book is capped off with a field guide of sorts that offers a taxonomy of the various types of micrometeorites, along with sample images, as well as the kinds of man-made and terrestrial spherules that stardust hunters are likely to encounter and how to identify them as imposters. Once thought to exist only at the bottoms of oceans and atop polar ice, it turns out that stardust is everywhere…and On the Trail of Stardust is your indispensable tool to finding it for yourself.

Author: Akio Makishima
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0443239398
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
Introductory Astrochemistry: From Inorganic to Life-Related Materials provides a detailed examination of the origins of planets, their satellites, and the conditions that led to life itself. Drawing on theories, experiments, observations, calculations, and analytical data from five distinct astrosciences, including astronomy, astrobiology, astrogeology, astrophysics, and astrochemistry, the book provides a comprehensive understanding of the formation and evolution of our Solar System and applies it to other solar systems. The book begins with fundamental knowledge in the astrosciences, building upon understanding systematically up to the formation of the early Solar System. This book is an interdisciplinary reference for researchers and advanced students in astrogeology, astrophysics, astrochemistry, astrobiology, astronomy, and other space sciences, helping to foster a deeper understanding of the interconnections between these disciplines. - Includes detailed data references on astrochemistry and astronomy of the Universe, stars, planets, and moons, and applies them to the Solar System - Combines knowledge from the fields of mineralogy, astrophysics, astrochemistry, astrobiology, astronomy, and more - Integrates conclusions from multiple fields and interdisciplinary topics to form a holistic understanding - Includes extensive figures and tables to enhance key concepts

Author: Gary Gilligan
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1785895338
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Quartz sand is anywhere and everywhere imaginable on the surface of the Earth. It forms the vast sandy Sahara and Arabian deserts where dunes can reach a staggering 180 meters in height. It makes up the world’s immense sandstone deposits, forms our beaches and is present in most soils around the globe. But where did all the sand come from?

Author: Uwe Meierhenrich
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540768866
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
"How did life originate and why were left-handed molecules selected for its architecture?" This question of high public and interdisciplinary scientific interest is the central theme of this book. It is widely known that in processes triggering the origin of life on Earth, the equal occurrence, the parity between left-handed amino acids and their right-handed mirror images, was violated. The balance was inevitably tipped to the left – as a result of which life's proteins today exclusively implement the left form of amino acids. Written in an engaging style, this book describes how the basic building blocks of life, the amino acids, formed. After a comprehensible introduction to stereochemistry, the author addresses the inherent property of amino acids in living organisms, namely the preference for left-handedness. What was the cause for the violation of parity of amino acids in the emergence of life on Earth? All the fascinating models proposed by physicists, chemists and biologist are vividly presented including the scientific conflicts. The author describes the attempt to verify any of those models with the chirality module of the ROSETTA mission, a probe built and launched with the mission to land on a comet and analyse whether there are chiral organic compounds that could have been brought to the Earth by cometary impacts. A truly interdisciplinary astrobiology book, "Amino Acids and the Asymmetry of Life" will fascinate students, researchers and all readers with backgrounds in natural sciences. With a foreword by Henri B. Kagan.

Author: Gerda Horneck
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527619003
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
This up-to-date resource is based on lectures developed by experts in the relevant fields and carefully edited by the leading astrobiologists within the European community. Aimed at graduate students in physics, astronomy and biology and their lecturers, the text begins with a general introduction to astrobiology, followed by sections on basic prebiotic chemistry, extremophiles, and habitability in our solar system and beyond. A discussion of astrodynamics leads to a look at experimental facilities and instrumentation for space experiments and, ultimately, astrobiology missions, backed in each case by the latest research results from this fascinating field. Includes a CD-ROM with additional course material.

Author: Gerhard M. Artmann
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540754091
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
Cutting edge research in cell and tissue research abounds in this review of the latest technological developments in the area. The chapters are written by excellent scientists on advanced, frontier technology and address scientific questions that require considerable engineering brainpower. The aim is to provide students and scientists working in academia and industry new information on bioengineering in cell and tissue research to enhance their understanding and innovation.