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INDEX
abiogenesis, 60, 75–76
adaptive optics, 92–93
adenosine diphosphate (ADP), 56–57
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), 56
Adler, Mark, 44
Alaska:
Mount Redoubt, 63–67
Mount St. Augustine, 64, 65
Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, 93–94, 106–14, 124–25
Allen, Paul G., 13, 169
Allende meteorite, 69, 115
Allen Telescope Array, 13, 167, 169, 170
Alpha Centauri, 165, 189
alternate life forms, 156
amino acids, 7–8
creation of, 59, 67, 78
genetic codes of, 60
left-handedness of, 8, 71, 72
in meteorites, 74
Miller-Urey experiment, 59–65, 76
and proteins, 35, 56, 60, 67, 70, 72
in space, 74, 76
at volcano mouths, 62–63, 65, 67
Amundsen, Hans Erik, 100–101
Anbar, Ariel, 157
Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO), 127–28
Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), 127–28, 134, 135–36
Antarctica, 33
Allan Hills 84001 Mars meteorite, 93–94, 106–14, 124–25
Lake Bonney, 11, 29, 31
McMurdo Dry Valleys, 27, 96
Taylor Glacier, 27–30
Apollo program, 7, 41, 115
Aristotle, 183
Armstrong, Neil, 7
arsenic biosphere research, 156–60
astrobiology, 4–5, 7, 149
chirality in, 69
consensus needed in, 105
emergence of, 35, 60, 130
and NASA, 4, 12–14, 130, 158, 160, 181, 184
and religion, 179–85
secular debate over, 185–90
and SETI, 173
social and political aspects of, 38, 184
astronomy, establishment of, 137
Atacama Desert, Paranal, Chile, 11, 83–85, 87–89, 93
atoms, 150
Bada, Jeffrey, 61–62, 63, 66–68
Baross, John, 121
Bates, Gary, 181
Beagle 2 probe, 44–45, 101
Benford, Gregory and James, 174
Benner, Steven, 52–55, 159
beryllium, 150
Biemann, Klaus, 41, 42, 43, 123–24
Big Bang, 73, 153, 182
biochemistry, 29
biology:
essentials of, 153
molecular, 61
synthetic, 38, 56
biosignatures, 8
biosphere research, 156–60
biotechnology, 38
black holes, 153
black smokers, 75, 121
Bonney, Lake (Antarctica), 11, 29, 31
Borgonie, Gaetan, 19–21, 22, 23–24
boron, 54
Boston, Penelope, 47–49
Brahe, Tycho, 137
Braun, Wernher von, 115
Brownlee, Donald, 186
Bruno, Giordano, 137, 138, 179
Bryan, Richard, 169
bubble universe theory, 152
Bunsen, Robert, 86
Butler, Paul, 127–40
Canadian Space Agency, 146
carbon, 6, 70
in meteorites, 72, 77, 109, 115, 118–19
production of, 150
carbon dioxide, 30, 46, 76, 153
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 47–48
Carrigan, Matt, 56
Carrigan, Richard, 174
Cash, Webster, 144–46, 148
Charbonneau, David, 141
chirality, 68–69, 71–72, 110
Christianity and first contact, 180–85
Christner, Brent, 26–30, 32–33
Chyba, Chris, 37, 38
Claus, George, 118
Cleland, Carol, 37–38, 44, 46, 157, 186
clouds, microbes in, 25
Coal Oil Point, California, 83
Colbert, Stephen, 182–83
Columbus, Christopher, 177
Conrad, Pan, 96–100
Consolmagno, Brother Guy, 182–83
Copernicus, 1, 14, 154, 179, 181
cosmic natural selection, 152–54
Cosmic Water Hole, 171
Coyne, Father George, 182
creation, spontaneous, 155
Creator, 55, 56, 59, 149, 154
Crick, Francis, 59–60
CRIRES (cryogenic high-resolution infrared echelle spectograph), 85–86, 88, 93
Cronin, John, 71
Crowe, Michael, 183
cryosphere, 25
Crysdale, Cynthia, 181
cyanobacterium, 115–16
Darwin, Charles, 1, 181
and “little warm ponds,” 8
On the Origin of Species, 59
Darwinian evolution, 12, 35–36, 46, 53, 122, 153, 154
Darwinism, cosmic, 152–54
Davies, Paul, 154, 157, 180
Death Valley, 49, 96, 99–100
Deming, Jody, 121
Descartes, René, 183
desert varnish, 7, 46–51
Desulforudis audaxviator, 16, 17
deuterium (“heavy water”), 93, 94
diatoms, 115
Dick, Steven J., 14, 183
divine intervention, 55, 56, 59
DNA, 56, 60
Doppler, Christian, 134
Doppler shifts, 134–35, 138, 162
Doran, Peter, 31
Drake, Frank, 166, 172–73, 184
Drake Equation, 172
Driefontein gold mine, 23
Dworkin, Jason:
and chirality, 68–69, 71, 110
isovaline experiments of, 72
meteorite studies of, 72–74, 77, 110
and Miller-Urey, 62, 68, 74
Dyson, Freeman, 174
Dyson spheres, 174
Earth:
methane on, 4, 8, 80, 81–82
and moon, 9
origin of, 11
plate tectonics of, 91, 92
Ehrenfreund, Pascale, 77–78
electromagnetic spectrum, 86
Ellington, Andrew, 38, 44
Ellis, George, 154–55
energy, 174
entropy, 36
Epicurus, 183
ethane, 90
Europa, 11, 13, 32
European ExoMars, 83, 101
European Organisation for Astronomical Research (ESO), 83–85
European Space Agency (ESA), 13, 76, 83, 143, 146
evolution:
Darwinian, 12, 35–36, 46, 53, 122, 153, 154
divine intervention vs., 55, 59
of the universe, 153–54
exobiology, 60
exoplanets, 3, 5–6, 10
searching for, 127, 129, 132–33, 142–43
suns of, 143
extremophiles, 3, 4, 5, 18, 24–26, 90
fear of the “other,” 175, 177
Fermi, Enrico, 188, 189
fine-tuning, 149–56
and cosmic natural selection, 152–54
examples, 150
and multiverse theory, 151–53, 154, 155
first contact:
debate over likelihood, 195–90
preparation for, 179
and religion, 179–85