astrobiology

According to the study conducted by NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) team at the Georgia Institute of Technology, there is considerable evidence that the evolution of life passed through an early stage when RNA played a more central role, doing the jobs of DNA and protein before they appeared.

A piece of it was examined at the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology and Cardiff University.

The result is a bottom-up, or arm-up, decision mechanism rather than the brain-down mechanism typical of vertebrates, like humans, according to the study which was presented at the Astrobiology Science Conference.

Editorial Note: Residing in Cardiff, Wales, Chandra Wickramasinghe is the director of the Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham.

Last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine submitted a report to Congress that said, "NASA should expand the search for life in the universe and make astrobiology an integral part of its missions."

Tests and experiments were conducted in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other areas.

Paul Quast, director of the Beyond the Earth Foundation, recently published an inventory in the International Journal of Astrobiology. It turns out many of the objects we've sent to space are potentially helpful, such as a diagram of our solar system and sketches of human bodies-but then there are also weirder items, such as Stephen Colbert's DNA on a microchip, a Doritos ad, and even a Tesla.

Using an academic approach firmly rooted in anthropology, astronomy, astrobiology, and physics, Masters penned, "Identified Flying Objects: A Multidisciplinary Scientific Approach to the UFO Phenomenon." According to Masters, "The aim of this book is to initiate dialog regarding the possibility that alien and UFO sightings may in fact be legitimate events involving extratempestrials - or our time traveling descendants - whose humanoid form and advanced technology is the result of sustained human evolution here on Earth, long into the distant future."

During our field expedition, we always address scientific questions, study the geological context and do technology trials to support current or planned astrobiology missions, seeking evidence of life on planetary surfaces and underground."

The team involving researchers at the University of Tokyo and Astrobiology Center of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences investigated 227 exoplanet candidates based on data from second mission of NASA's Kepler Space Telescope (K2 mission), as well as using other space telescopes and ground-based telescopes.

Emerging from that gathering, 22 papers cover Enceladus geophysics, geology, and geochemistry; Enceladus plumes and the E Ring; Saturn's icy moons; and astrobiology and exploration of Enceladus.

Astrobiology Network of Pakistan, in collaboration with Forman Christian College, Lahore Astronomical Society (LAST) and Khwarizmi Science Society (KSS), is going to mark the WSW 2018 with the theme of 'Let's Explore the Universe'.