May 9, 2017 10:30 PM
The Search for Life on Mars Is about to Get Weird
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...get-weird/
EXCERPT: [...] As the search becomes more heated (some would say more desperate), scientists are entertaining an ever-increasing number of possible explanations for Martian biology as a no-show. For example, could there be a “cover up” whereby the harsh Martian environment somehow obliterates all biosignatures—all signs of past or present life? Or perhaps life there is just so alien its biosignatures are simply unrecognizable to us, hidden in plain view. Of course, the perplexing quest to find life on Mars may have a simple solution: It’s not there, and never was. But as the proceedings of this year’s Astrobiology Science Conference held here in April made clear, life-seeking scientists are not giving up yet. Instead, they are getting more creative, proposing new strategies and technologies to shape the next generation of Mars exploration....
Could "Planetary Protection" Scuttle Otherworldly Exploration?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...ploration/
EXCERPT: [...] planetary protection, which refers to the measures scientists and engineers take to minimize that chances that life-forms from Earth make it to other worlds. And with NASA's Mars 2020 rover planning to cache samples to one day return to Earth's labs, planetary protection also means making sure that our own world is safe from contamination by possible alien life. Planetary protection was the first item on the agenda at the Astrobiology Science Conference [...] "Planetary protection has never been more important to consider," said Andrew Maynard, a researcher at Arizona State University's Risk Innovation Lab, who led the discussion.
Citing Mars sample return, an upcoming mission to Jupiter's ocean-harboring moon Europa and possible future probes that could visit other icy satellites, Maynard engaged the audience of scientists with the stated intent of changing how they think about the process. Maynard, who is not an astrobiologist but a physicist, turned the attention of the room to studies on risk assessment, urging researchers to consider risk not as something to be avoided but rather as "a complex landscape to be moved through to reach goals." He also said that analyzing the risk of contamination, either of Earth or another world, isn't the exclusive purview of any particular group of scientists — or of scientists in general. "Everybody has got some stake," Maynard said....
The search for aliens has been transformed by looking for life on planets once thought to be a waste of space
https://qz.com/974299/the-search-for-ali...-of-space/
EXCERPT: Recently, our research team [...] reported that a nearby star, called TRAPPIST-1A, is orbited by seven planets similar in size and mass to Earth. All seven planets are temperate, meaning that under the right atmospheric and geologic conditions, they could sustain liquid water. Three of the planets show particular potential for habitability, receiving about as much energy from their star as the Earth receives from the Sun.
Our discovery received ecstatic and gratifying news coverage around the world. In many ways, though, the TRAPPIST-1 system is an odd place to look for life. The central star is just 1/12th the mass of the Sun and scarcely bigger than the planet Jupiter. It gives off just 0.05% as much light as the Sun. TRAPPIST-1A belongs to a class that we call ultra-cool dwarfs, the very smallest stars that exist.
Searching for habitable planets around ultra-cool dwarfs has long been considered a waste of time. [...] Major programs are therefore directed at finding an Earth twin: a planet the mass and size of our own, orbiting a star just like the Sun, at the same Earth-Sun distance. The detection of such a world remains decades away.
In the effort to answer the question “Is there life elsewhere?” the focus on Earth twins is perceived as a safe path [...] However, we argue that this is far too conservative a goal, considering the huge number and diversity of available planets. That is part of the message of TRAPPIST-1. Research should be about finding what we don’t already know. [...] Our ambition is wider. Instead, we seek an answer to “How frequently is life found elsewhere?” This simple change of words means that we should also be investigating planetary systems unlike the solar system....
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...get-weird/
EXCERPT: [...] As the search becomes more heated (some would say more desperate), scientists are entertaining an ever-increasing number of possible explanations for Martian biology as a no-show. For example, could there be a “cover up” whereby the harsh Martian environment somehow obliterates all biosignatures—all signs of past or present life? Or perhaps life there is just so alien its biosignatures are simply unrecognizable to us, hidden in plain view. Of course, the perplexing quest to find life on Mars may have a simple solution: It’s not there, and never was. But as the proceedings of this year’s Astrobiology Science Conference held here in April made clear, life-seeking scientists are not giving up yet. Instead, they are getting more creative, proposing new strategies and technologies to shape the next generation of Mars exploration....
Could "Planetary Protection" Scuttle Otherworldly Exploration?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...ploration/
EXCERPT: [...] planetary protection, which refers to the measures scientists and engineers take to minimize that chances that life-forms from Earth make it to other worlds. And with NASA's Mars 2020 rover planning to cache samples to one day return to Earth's labs, planetary protection also means making sure that our own world is safe from contamination by possible alien life. Planetary protection was the first item on the agenda at the Astrobiology Science Conference [...] "Planetary protection has never been more important to consider," said Andrew Maynard, a researcher at Arizona State University's Risk Innovation Lab, who led the discussion.
Citing Mars sample return, an upcoming mission to Jupiter's ocean-harboring moon Europa and possible future probes that could visit other icy satellites, Maynard engaged the audience of scientists with the stated intent of changing how they think about the process. Maynard, who is not an astrobiologist but a physicist, turned the attention of the room to studies on risk assessment, urging researchers to consider risk not as something to be avoided but rather as "a complex landscape to be moved through to reach goals." He also said that analyzing the risk of contamination, either of Earth or another world, isn't the exclusive purview of any particular group of scientists — or of scientists in general. "Everybody has got some stake," Maynard said....
The search for aliens has been transformed by looking for life on planets once thought to be a waste of space
https://qz.com/974299/the-search-for-ali...-of-space/
EXCERPT: Recently, our research team [...] reported that a nearby star, called TRAPPIST-1A, is orbited by seven planets similar in size and mass to Earth. All seven planets are temperate, meaning that under the right atmospheric and geologic conditions, they could sustain liquid water. Three of the planets show particular potential for habitability, receiving about as much energy from their star as the Earth receives from the Sun.
Our discovery received ecstatic and gratifying news coverage around the world. In many ways, though, the TRAPPIST-1 system is an odd place to look for life. The central star is just 1/12th the mass of the Sun and scarcely bigger than the planet Jupiter. It gives off just 0.05% as much light as the Sun. TRAPPIST-1A belongs to a class that we call ultra-cool dwarfs, the very smallest stars that exist.
Searching for habitable planets around ultra-cool dwarfs has long been considered a waste of time. [...] Major programs are therefore directed at finding an Earth twin: a planet the mass and size of our own, orbiting a star just like the Sun, at the same Earth-Sun distance. The detection of such a world remains decades away.
In the effort to answer the question “Is there life elsewhere?” the focus on Earth twins is perceived as a safe path [...] However, we argue that this is far too conservative a goal, considering the huge number and diversity of available planets. That is part of the message of TRAPPIST-1. Research should be about finding what we don’t already know. [...] Our ambition is wider. Instead, we seek an answer to “How frequently is life found elsewhere?” This simple change of words means that we should also be investigating planetary systems unlike the solar system....