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

G. An Astrochemistry to Astrobiological Spontaneity

Lawzer, Arun-Libertsen, et al. Isomerisation of phosphabutyne and a photochemical route to phosphabutadiyne (HC3P), a phosphorus analogue of cyanoacetylene. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. April 21, 2025. Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw and University of Rennes, France astrochemists describe a latest, detailed ISM detection and spectrographic analysis of an array of vital complex phosphorus-based precursors. As these endeavors proceed via a sophisticated depth and detail, these sequential, biospecific formations altogether well imply and attest to an innate, oriented process toward organisms and evolution. From simple signs in the 1970s to an instrumental acumen today, this natural phenomena is not accidental nor pointless but an quite indicative of a fertile, organic milieu on its way to our notice, record, amazement and continuance.

The photochemistry of phosphabut-1-yne, CH3CH2CP, was investigated by means of infrared spectroscopy assisted by theoretical (DFT) predictions. The UV-irradiated compound, isolated in a cryogenic argon matrix, undergoes isomerization and dissociation. Several isomers of phosphabutyne, in addition to phosphabutadiyne (HC3P), ethynylphosphinidene (HCCP), and phoshaethyne (HCP) are formed as the main photoproducts. Vibrational spectra of astrochemically relevant molecules HC3P and CH2CHCP (vinylphosphaethyne), have been detected and analyzed here for the first time. (Abstract)

Lemarchand, Guillermo and Karen Meech, eds. Bioastronomy ’99: A New Era in Bioastronomy. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2000. A wide array of thoughts and reports on the occasion of life and intelligence in a universe becoming seen as innately biological in kind. Jill Tarter, John Billingham, Ben Finney, Lori Marino, John Oro, Simon Conway Morris, et al are among the stellar cast.

Lingham, Manasvi and Abraham Loeb. Life in the Cosmos: From Biosignatures to Technosignatures. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2021. Akin to Wade Roush herein, a Florida Institute of Technology astrobiologist and a senior Harvard astronomer provide the latest broad and deep considerations.

“Are we alone in the universe?” Today the search for signatures of extraterrestrial life and intelligence has become an active scientific endeavor. Manasvi Lingam and Avi Loeb tackle three areas of interest in hunting for life “out there”: first, the pathways by which life originates and evolves; second, planetary and stellar factors that affect the habitability of worlds and biomarkers that may reveal microbial life; and finally, the detection of technological signals that could be indicative of intelligence. Drawing on empirical data, as well as the latest theoretical and computational developments, the authors make a compelling scientific case for the search for animate exoworlds.

Livio, Mario, et al, eds. Astrophysics of Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. The interstellar reaches are
suffused with biomolecules such as amino acids which in appropriate galactic and planetary environs facilitate the evolution of intelligent observation which can quantify and recognize them.

Longstaff, Alan. Astrobiology: An Introduction. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2014. A British biochemist, astronomer, university professor, and science advocate provides a comprehensive text for the latest realizations of an abiding dynamic cosmos which proceeds to populate itself with planetary worlds, biological precursors, and emergent, cognizant life. Subjects course from nucleosynthesis, stellar formations, astrochemistry, universal Darwinism to solar systems, habitable zones, prolific exoplanets, and conducive earths. Life is seen as a complex, self-organizing, adaptive chemical system that spontaneously emerges far from equilibrium. The work then wonders, within this fertile scenario, about an apparent absence of extraterrestrial civilizations. To reflect, in just a few years a revolutionary cosmic nursery or hatchery has been revealed, which we have hardly begun to realize or assimilate. With our own sun-earth occasion as unusually favorable (Tinetti), we could be on the verge of a grand genesis discovery of universal significance.

Self-organization means that patterns at the level of the entire organism emerge from simple rules that operate at a local level. This is perhaps easier to imagine if we think about self-organization seen at the level of groups of organisms. For example, flocking in birds—the coordinated behavior of thousands of animals that creates a large-scale structure that changes over time—is possible because each individual bird operates a set of simple rules according to what its nearest neighbors have just done. In individual organisms, self-organization emerges from some “simple” rules of chemistry. Macromolecules spontaneously fold or assemble to adopt the lowest energy conformations, and this allows more complex structures to self-assemble. Indeed self-organization is perhaps most impressively seen in the development of multicellular organisms. This unfolding of a developmental program that takes a fertilized egg to an adult is self-organization on a grand scale since the original progenitor cell has no master plan that details all the steps. (158)

Complex adaptive systems are those which change their functionality (behavior) in response to their history (i.e., what has happened to them before) and in response to their environment. In other words, adaptive systems have a memory. This allows organisms to regulate their internal processes: metabolism, growth, cell division, etc. in light of external contingencies. (158)

Lubick, Naomi. Goldilocks and the Three Planets. Astronomy. July, 2003. Thoughts on the special life-bearing qualities of Earth such as water and atmosphere vs. Venus which is too hot and Mars as too cold.

Maiolino, Roberto and Filippo Mannucci. De Re Metallica: The Cosmic Chemical Evolution of Galaxies. arXiv:1811.09642. In an invited review for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Cambridge University and Arcetri Observatory, Italy astrophysicists post a latest 119 page review of our collaborative, instrumental ability to quantify and describe to any extent the elemental and compound makeup of ancient stellar and galactic formations.

The evolution of the content of heavy elements in galaxies, the relative chemical abundances, their spatial distribution, and how these scale with various galactic properties, provide unique information on the galactic evolutionary processes across the cosmic epochs. In recent years major progress has been made in constraining the chemical evolution of galaxies and inferring key information relevant to our understanding of the main mechanisms involved in galaxy evolution. After an overview, we discuss the observed scaling relations between metallicity and galaxy properties, the observed relative chemical abundances, how the chemical elements are distributed within galaxies, and how these properties evolve across the cosmic epochs. (Abstract excerpt)

Mason, Nigel, et al. Systems Astrochemistry: A New Doctrine for Experimental Studies. arXiv:2107.02924. Akin to other unified fields, University of Kent, UK astroscientists propose a comprehensive regimen so as to better quantify an innate ecosmic fertility which seems made and meant to complexify into organic life and our curious speciesphere sapience.

Laboratory experiments are vital to deciphering the chemistry of the interstellar medium (ISM) and the role that complex organic molecules (COMs) play in the origins of life. To date, most studies in experimental astrochemistry have used reductionist approaches. Here we propose a new systems astrochemistry method which draws on current work in the field of prebiotic chemistry, This integral synthesis would focus on the emergent properties of the chemical system by performing the simultaneous variation of multiple parameters. (Abstract excerpt)

McGuire, Brett. 2018 Census of Interstellar, Circumstellar, Extragalactic, Protoplanetary Disk, and Exoplanetary Molecules. arXiv:1809.09132. A National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Virginia physical chemist posts a 68 page survey over the past half century and especially the 2010s of our collaborative search for and detection of complex biochemical precursors across the celestial spacescape. The paper cites common facilities and techniques, detailed tables of two to 12 atom compounds, exoplanet atmospheres, and other aspects. If we may witness an innately organic universe, nature’s fecund biomateriality seems made to complexity and develop toward life and entities wherever it can.

To date, 204 individual molecular species, comprised of 16 different elements, have been detected in the interstellar and circumstellar medium by astronomical observations. These molecules range in size from two atoms to seventy, and have been detected across the electromagnetic spectrum from cm-wavelengths to the ultraviolet. This census presents a summary of the first detection of each molecular species, including the observational facility, wavelength range, transitions, and enabling laboratory spectroscopic work, as well as listing tentative and disputed detections. Tables of molecules detected in interstellar ices, external galaxies, protoplanetary disks, and exoplanetary atmospheres are provided. A number of visual representations of this aggregate data are presented and briefly discussed in context. (Abstract)

McGuire, Brett. 2021 Census of Interstellar, Circumstellar, Extragalactic Protoplanetary Disk, and Exoplanetary Molecules.. arXiv:2109.13848. An MIT astrobiochemist provides a 73 page, tabular and graphic display based on the latest worldwide findings. These celestial chemicals are arranged by how many atoms they contain, from two to thirteen and more. A Periodic Table is posted to show which 19 elements - H, He, C, N, O, F, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, K, Ca, Ti, V, Fe – are found to be involved so far. Again our interest is an appearance that nature’s materiality well seems to possess an innate fertility, from which eons later a sentient bioworld could reconstruct in amazement.

To date, 241 individual molecular species, comprised of 19 different elements, have been detected in the interstellar and circumstellar medium by astronomical observations. These molecules range in size from two atoms to seventy, and have been detected across the electromagnetic spectrum. This census sums up the first detection of each molecular species, the observational facility, wavelength range, transitions, and laboratory spectroscopic work. Tables of molecules detected in interstellar ices, external galaxies, protoplanetary disks, and exoplanetary atmospheres are provided. (Abstract)

What We Are Thinking About: Lifecycle of Carbon in the Universe: As much as 25% of all interstellar carbon may be locked into large aromatic molecules. How these species are formed and incorporated into other molecules, and how these processes are tied to star- and planet-formation, are open issues. Linking Astrochemistry to Astrobiology: How far does chemistry advance in the interstellar medium before it is incorporated into planets, as the molecular feedstock from which life arises? Cosmic Origins of Biological Homochirality: All life on earth uses a single enantiomer (handedness) of most chiral molecules in biology. Thermal fluctuations or heterogenous catalysis at mineral surfaces might be a reason, but also the inheritance of initial seed excess from space. (McGuire Research Group site)

McSween, Harry and Gary Huss. Cosmochemistry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. A formidable 500 page text as a worldwide collaboration marshals a growing ability to enter, study and quantify a celestial materiality that along with resident organic biomatter seems as a fertile ground for risen life and our introspection.

Meadows, Victoria, et al, eds. Planetary Astrobiology. Tempe: University of Arizona Press, 2020. This latest 550 page Space Science Series edition with 19 chapters by seventy-five authorities surveys a wide scope from how bioworlds form, life’s deep origins, a whole Earth exemplar, a lively solar system and on to near and far orbital exoplanets and biosignatures. For example, Part i: Earth covers Creation of a Habitable Planet (search Zahnie), The Environmental Roots of the Origin of Life (Baross) and Life as a Planetary Process. Thus its running theme considers a whole geo/biosphere evolution. The composite volume could then be well attributed to a global sapiensphere persona whom is capable of this spatial and temporal vista. Further on in the work we note Earth as an Exoplanet, Origins of Earth’s Water, and Characterizing Exoplanet Habitability (Kopparapu).

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