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III. Ecosmos: A Revolutionary Fertile, Habitable, Solar-Bioplanet, Incubator Lifescape

G. An Astrochemistry to Astrobiological Spontaneity

De Vera, Jean-Pierre and Joseph Seckbach, eds. Habitability of Other Planets and Satellites. Berlin: Springer, 2013. Volume 28 in the Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology series. The epochal discoveries of our Milky Way and a galactic cosmos seemingly filled with orbital spheres of every variety have spawned many studies as this, not possible earlier. An initial section is Habitable Zones and Life: Energy, Liquid Solvent, Information, and chapters go on from there to consider many aspects from how to detect bioworlds to earth analogs.

In the very last chapter (Part 8), we will summarize and give some conclusions, which cover the implications on the society if habitable worlds and even extraterrestrial life are discovered. The existence of other habitable worlds and life in the universe would complete the Copernican and Darwinian revolution and would emphasize that life is a universal phenomenon and not an anomaly or particularity. In a provoking further step, we might be able to formulate the thesis that the evolution of life and the formation of intelligence is a usual process in our universe. Discoveries supporting the last thesis could consequently have an important impact on religions, philosophy, and the human society itself. (Preface)

Des Marais, David, et al. The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap. Astrobiology. 3/2, 2003. Outlines of the space agency’s comprehensive program to explore three prime questions: How does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond?

Dick, Steven. Critical Issues in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Astrobiology. Astrobiology. 12/10, 2012. A lead presentation for the History and Philosophy of Astrobiology meeting held September 2011 fittingly on Ven Island, off the Danish coast, where astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1602) built his original telescope to scan the heavens. The emeritus NASA historian again lays out a thorough survey, via a dozen “Critical Issues,” as we begin to realize that a universe increasingly suffused with biomolecular precursors, widening habitable zones, and planetary prolificacy seems quite conducive for developing creaturely life and intelligences. This October issue is free online, see also Exoplanet Detection by Michael Perryman, Habitable Zones by Stephen Kane and Dawn Gelino, and a roundtable discussion. But when and how might a “Cosmic Evolution – the Master Narrative” he casts become legible enough via worldwide humankind to reveal its vital plot, story line, and resolution?

Fifty years after serious scientific research began in the field of exobiology, and forty years after serious historical research began on the subject of extraterrestrial life, this paper identifies and examines some of the most important issues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of what is today known as astrobiology. As in the philosophy of science in general, and in the philosophies of particular sciences, critical issues in the philosophy and sociology of astrobiology are both stimulated and illuminated by history. Among those issues are (1) epistemological issues such as the status of astrobiology as a science, the problematic nature of evidence and inference, and the limits of science; (2) metaphysical/scientific issues, including the question of defining the fundamental concepts of life, mind, intelligence, and culture in a universal context; the role of contingency and necessity in the origin of these fundamental phenomena; and whether or not the universe is in some sense finetuned for life and perhaps biocentric; (3) societal issues such as the theological, ethical, and worldview impacts of the discovery of microbial or intelligent life; and the question of whether the search for extraterrestrial life should be pursued at all, and with what precautions; and (4) issues related to the sociology of scientific knowledge, including the diverse attitudes and assumptions of different scientific communities and different cultures to the problem of life beyond Earth, the public ‘‘will to believe,’’ and the formation of the discipline of astrobiology. All these overlapping issues are framed by the concept of cosmic evolution — the 13.7 billion year Master Narrative of the Universe—which may result in a physical, biological, or postbiological universe and determine the longterm destiny of humanity. (Abstract)

Critical Issue #3: What is life when considered in the universal context of astrobiology? How does astrobiology change our core conceptions of life? Is there a general theory of living systems, a universal biology as there is a universal physics? What is the origin of replicating systems, under what conditions will life arise, and what is the role of chance and necessity in the origin of life in the universe? What are the metaphysical assumptions that underlie our concepts of life? (911) Critical Issue #6: Is there a link between biology and cosmology? Is the universe indeed finely tuned for life? Is the universe in some sense biocentric, and if so, why? (916)

Critical Issue #12: Are cosmic evolution and cosmic natural selection goal-oriented, giving a teleological aspect to the universe? If so, what is the goal? Is cosmic evolution really linear as usually depicted, ‘‘merely’’ the unfolding of cosmic time from 13.7 billion years ago to the present? Or is there some more complex structure, involving the very nature of space-time, the creation of baby universes via black holes, perhaps by way of some cosmic natural selection of universes and their constants, if not by a cosmic natural intelligence? (920)

Only natural law and a natural intelligence are within the province of science. Here we come full circle to Critical Issues 1 and 2, for the biocentric principle, the multiverse, and cosmic teleology represent the ultimate in the problematic nature of evidence and inference. If universe, life, and mind are in some deep cosmological sense connected, the subject of Critical Issue 6, human minds naturally want to know the goal and our role in that connection. (921)

Dick, Steven and James Strick. The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004. Mostly a history of how the characterization of and search for life in the solar system and cosmos came to be of central significance and definition for the agency.

Domagal-Goldman, Shawn and Katherine Wright, Co-Lead Editors. The Astrobiology Primer 2.0. Astrobiology. 16/8, 2016. A premier team of some 50 researchers from around the bioplanet including Sara Walker, Aditya Chopra, Chris Crockett, and William Brazelton, prepare an educational tutorial as collaborative Earthlings begin to explore an increasingly fertile and fecund galactic cosmos filled with solar systems. Some 25 pages of references are a further resource.

Dulieu, Francois, et al. How Micron-Sized Dust Particles Determine the Chemistry of Our Universe. Nature Scientific Reports. 3/1338, 2013. As the Abstract explains, Observatoire de Paris, Aix-Marseille Universite, and Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, researchers find another feature of celestial mediums that seems inherently conducive for facilitating this vital vector of biological complexity. (And I started with a typo “chemistory” – might one wonder what stories nebulae realms do indeed have to tell?)

In the environments where stars and planets form, about one percent of the mass is in the form of micro-meter sized particles known as dust. However small and insignificant these dust grains may seem, they are responsible for the production of the simplest (H2) to the most complex (amino-acids) molecules observed in our Universe. Dust particles are recognized as powerful nano-factories that produce chemical species. However, the mechanism that converts species on dust to gas species remains elusive. Here we report experimental evidence that species forming on interstellar dust analogs can be directly released into the gas. This process, entitled chemical desorption (fig. 1), can dominate over the chemistry due to the gas phase by more than ten orders of magnitude. It also determines which species remain on the surface and are available to participate in the subsequent complex chemistry that forms the molecules necessary for the emergence of life. (Abstract)

Ehrenfreund, Pascale, et al, eds. Astrobiology: Future Perspectives. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2004. An international panel discusses facets such as organic molecules in space, planetary plate tectonics and life’s origins.

Etim, Emmanuel and Elangannan Arunan. Accurate Enthalpies of Formation of Astromolecules. arXiv:1609.09589. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, physical chemists quantify the prolific abundance, stability, and energetics of an innately fecund cosmic spacescape.

Accurate enthalpies of formation are reported for known and potential astromolecules using high level ab initio quantum chemical calculations. A total of 130 molecules comprising of 31 isomeric groups and 24 cyanide/isocyanide pairs with atoms ranging from 3 to 12 have been considered. The results show an interesting, surprisingly not well explored, relationship between energy, stability and abundance (ESA) existing among these molecules. Among the isomeric species, isomers with lower enthalpies of formation are more easily observed in the interstellar medium compared to their counterparts with higher enthalpies of formation. Our comprehensive results on 130 molecules indicate that the available experimental enthalpy of formation for some molecules, such as NaCN, may be less reliable and new measurements may be needed. (Abstract excerpts)

Fontain, F., et al. CHEMOUT: CHEMical Complexity in Star-forming Regions of the OUTer Galaxy. arXiv:2203.00719. Eight astronomers from Italy, Spain and Germany describe a latest, thorough analysis of biochemical molecules which suffuse all galactic reaches. Thus a case forms that an evidently organic ecosmos will spontaneously seed and infuse itself with the especial precursors that life needs on the way to terrestrial evolution.

The outer Galaxy has a metallicity lower than the Solar one. To gain understanding on how chemistry changes throughout the Milky Way, we observe outer Galaxy star-forming regions with models adapted for lower metallicity environments. Here we present a title observational project known as CHEMOUT. We apply to 35 dense molecular clouds of the outer Galaxy ny way of the IRAM 30m telescope. The result includes simple organic species HCO+, H13CO+, HCN, c-C3H2, HCO, C4H, and HCS+, the hydrocarbon CH3CCH, along with SiO, CCS and SO. Our results show that organic molecules and tracers of protostellar activity are ubiquitous in the low-metallicity environment of the outer Galaxy. Based on this, and the presence of small, terrestrial planets throughout the Galaxy, the Galactic Habitable Zone should be viewed anew for its ubiquitous capacity to form organic molecules. (Abstract excerpt)

Fortenberry, Ryan. Quantum Astrochemical Spectroscopy. International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. 117/2, 2017. In an issue on Computational Astrochemistry, a Georgia Southern University chemistry professor extols the significant contribution that a quantum resource for biomaterial assemblies can make. See also herein Astronomical Complex Organic Molecules: Quantum Chemistry Meets Rotational Spectroscopy by Cristina Puzzarini (search).

In this review, the origins of astrochemistry and the initial applications of quantum chemistry to the discovery of new molecules in space are discussed, along with its the application of quantum chemistry to the study of space is driving developments in large-scale computational science, cloud computing and large molecule computations are discussed. Astrochemistry is a natural application of quantum chemistry. The ability to analyze routinely and completely the structural, spectroscopic, and electronic properties of any given molecule, regardless of its laboratory stability, make this tool a necessary component for astrochemical analysis. The chemistry of the Earth is a small snapshot of the chemistries available in the universe at large, and the flexibility inherent within computation make quantum chemistry an excellent driver of new knowledge in fundamental molecular science as well as in astrophysics. (Abstract)

Foucher, Frederic, et al. A Statistical Approach to Illustrate the Challenge of Astrobiology for Public Outreach. Life. Online October, 2017. In these later 2010s when a profligate cosmos filled with potentially habitable planets in solar systems is well evident, CNRS, Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, Paris exobiologists including Frances Westall and Andre Brack consider by way of instrumental and computational methods how their relative candidacy for life and intelligence can be detected and evaluated from microbes to civilizations. A section leads with The More Complex, the Less Probable. Since these 21st century advances are so revolutionary, such efforts could then benefit from an enhanced public, educational awareness of a deeply fertile universe which seems made and meant to form evolutionary bioworlds.

In this study, we attempt to illustrate the competition that constitutes the main challenge of astrobiology, namely the competition between the probability of extraterrestrial life and its detectability. To illustrate this fact, we propose a simple statistical approach based on our knowledge of the Universe and the Milky Way, the Solar System, and the evolution of life on Earth permitting us to obtain the order of magnitude of the distance between Earth and bodies inhabited by more or less evolved past or present life forms, and the consequences of this probability for the detection of associated biosignatures. We thus show that the probability of the existence of evolved extraterrestrial forms of life increases with distance from the Earth while, at the same time, the number of detectable biosignatures decreases due to technical and physical limitations. This approach allows us to easily explain to the general public why it is very improbable to detect a signal of extraterrestrial intelligence while it is justified to launch space probes dedicated to the search for microbial life in the Solar System. (Abstract)

Fraix-Burnet, Didier. Phylogenetic Concepts of Classification and Taxonomy. arXiv:1606.01631. A latest posting by the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble natural philosopher about his project, with colleagues, to discern and construct an Astrocladistics (Google) for galactic diversities akin to systematic groupings of organisms. Survey this e-print site for many prior articles. See also The Phylogeny of Quasars (1702.02468) and Phylogenetic Tools in Astrophysics (1703.00286) for more. A whole scale Cosmic Cladistics then seems a thought away so as to complete a universe to us developmental genesis.

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