Astrobiology December 2007, 7(6): 839-851
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2007.0137 A framework is proposed for a quantitative approach to studying habitability. Considerations of environmental supply and organismal demand of energy lead to the conclusions that power units are most appropriate and that the units for habitability become watts per organism.
Astrobiology December 2007, 7(6): 824-838
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2006.0095
Habitability can be formulated as a balance between the biological demand for energy and the corresponding potential for meeting that demand by transduction of energy from the environment into biological process. The biological demand for energy is manifest in two requirements, analogous to the voltage and power requirements of an electrical device, which must both be met if life is to be supported.
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Search for Habitable Planets Outside Earth's Solar System in Astrobiology
"Which planets outside of Earth's Solar System are most likely to be capable of supporting life is a question that will be the focus of both a NASA-sponsored workshop later this year and a special collection of papers in the Spring 2007 (Volume 7, Number 1) issue of Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc."
Wednesday, April 11, 2007, 7 p.m. Astronomer David Grinspoon of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on: "Comparing Worlds: Climate Catastrophes in the Solar System" as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California.
Continue reading "Comparing Worlds: Climate Catastrophes in the Solar System" »
Researchers from NAI's University of Rhode Island Team and their colleagues have studied the use of phosphorus vs. sulfur in the membrane lipid sythesis pathways of organisms resident in the ocean's subtropical gyres.
Continue reading "Strategies for Evolutionary Success - Sulfolipids" »
NAI's Virtual Planetary Laboratory Team have explored the possibility of detecting exovegetation on terrestrial planets orbiting M stars. They estimated the red-shift of this surface feature using leaf optical property spectra with a three photon photosynthetic scheme. The authors have produced a model wherein a pigment-derived surface signature such as exovegetation could be detected, but would be dependent upon the extent of the vegetation on the surface, cloud cover, and viewing angle.