Posted inAstrobiology Life Philosophy
Why the term ‘life’ is useless in astrobiology
A post to make you laugh and then perhaps think about the meaninglessness of ‘life’ as a scientific term.
Posted inAstrobiology Life NASA
2022 State of NASA Address: Astrobiology at NASA no longer looks for life on Mars
NASA gave up on looking for life on Mars, while planning to irreversibly biologically contaminate its surface. It is now up to private philanthropists to support life searching missions, while Mars is still biologically pristine. We know how to do it.
Posted inLife
Null hypothesis: the term ‘life’ is not needed in biology
Before we go any deeper in the Universal Theory of Life debate we need to examine the following null hypothesis: ‘Life’ exists only as a concept. We mistakenly assume that 'life' exists independently of our culture as a natural phenomenon, just like we did with ‘luminiferous aether’, ‘preformationist’s homunculi’, and ‘vital force’. A theory of life is as useful as a theory of ‘phlogiston’.
Posted inSingle Scoops
Mars Is a Hellhole. That is Why I Want to Live There.
Some people say that we should not colonize Mars, because it would be hard. I say, we should colonize Mars, because it would be hard. Challenge is what drives invention and we should not shy away from it.
Posted inLife on Mars
How the Agnostic Life Finder (ALF) Searches for Life on Mars
Here, we describe an Agnostic Life Finder (ALF) that is able to look for life in water throughout the Solar System. ALF uses electric fields to extract alien genetic molecules from water. This water will be mined in large volumes during in situ resource utilization (ISRU), to generate fuel before the first humans arrive to create large scale environmental perturbation.
Posted inLife on Mars
The Search for Life on Mars Must Start Now
According to planetary protection guidelines, manned Mars missions could be a severe biological hazard. At the same time, Mars will soon be accessible for those who might choose not to follow these guidelines. If we are serious about planetary protection, we must know if life is present on Mars before humans land there.
Posted inLife on Mars
The Race to Put the First Humans on Mars
Short of a global apocalypse, we can expect people living on Mars by the year 2050 and if everything runs smoothly, humans will be a multiplanetary species in the 2030s. Several national agencies and private companies declared their interest in landing humans on Mars. This article reviews their programs.
Posted inLife on Mars
Cooking Lasagna Glaciers on Mars
The mid latitude Martian subsurface layered ice, the Martian Lasagna, could be the best place to look for life on Mars. Here, layers of ice, few inches thick are separated by thin layers of dust - creating chemical gradients and bringing nutrients, water and life together. Here is how the Martian Lasagna is made.