What is Astrobiology?
The term Astrobiology, in its
broadest definition, denotes the study of the origin, evolution and
distribution of life in the universe, of course including the Earth.
The
question of the origins of life has been on the mind of European
scientist for a long time. It can be traced back to the pioneer ideas
of Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, and more recently to Alexander
Oparin. During the last decades, the European community of scientists
that studied the origin of life contributed to enlarge the field of
research to the study of life in extreme environments and to the search
for extraterrestrial life.
To understand the different aspects
of where and how life formed, Astrobiology encompasses many scientific
disciplines such as chemistry, biology, palaeontology, geology,
atmospheric physics, planetary physics and stellar physics.
Life, what makes it different from other matter and how did it began on Earth?
Given
recent studies that indicate life arose very early on Earth and it is
extremely tough once it exists, there is nothing to suggest that it
would not arise on other planets. Astronomers have pushed the envelope
and there is now conclusive evidence that there are many exoplanets;
planets revolving around other stars. Therefore, current thinking is
that it is likely that (microbial) life may be found on many other
planets.
Still, the actual discovery of microbes on other
worlds would be one of the biggest discoveries ever (although of course
the presence of intelligent life would be absolutely fabulous).
Conclusive evidence, particularly physical contact with intelligent
life, would forever change every aspect of how humans approach all
facets of religious, ethical and social behaviour.
Don't you
agree that it would be to much a coincidence if, in a universe
containing on the order of one trillion galaxies, each consisting of
hundreds of millions of stars, there is, nestling in an arm of one
galaxy, one star which swings about it a planet completely covered with
the only life to be found in all that infinite cosmic desert?