First Contact

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First Contact Page 23

by Marc Kaufman

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  INDEX

  abiogenesis, 60, 75–76

  adaptive optics, 92–93

  adenosine diphosphate (ADP), 56–57

  adenosine triphosphate (ATP), 56

  Adler, Mark, 44

  Alaska:

  Mount Redoubt, 63–67

  Mount St. Augustine, 64, 65

  Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, 93–94, 106–14, 124–25

  Allen, Paul G., 13, 169

  Allende meteorite, 69, 115

  Allen Telescope Array, 13, 167, 169, 170

  Alpha Centauri, 165, 189

  alternate life forms, 156

  amino acids, 7–8

  creation of, 59, 67, 78

  genetic codes of, 60

  left-handedness of, 8, 71, 72

  in meteorites, 74

  Miller-Urey experiment, 59–65, 76

  and proteins, 35, 56, 60, 67, 70, 72

  in space, 74, 76

  at volcano mouths, 62–63, 65, 67

  Amundsen, Hans Erik, 100–101

  Anbar, Ariel, 157

  Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO), 127–28

  Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), 127–28, 134, 135–36

  Antarctica, 33

  Allan Hills 84001 Mars meteorite, 93–94, 106–14, 124–25

  Lake Bonney, 11, 29, 31

  McMurdo Dry Valleys, 27, 96

  Taylor Glacier, 27–30

  Apollo program, 7, 41, 115

  Aristotle, 183

  Armstrong, Neil, 7

  arsenic biosphere research, 156–60

  astrobiology, 4–5, 7, 149

  chirality in, 69

  consensus needed in, 105

  emergence of, 35, 60, 130

  and NASA, 4, 12–14, 130, 158, 160, 181, 184

  and religion, 179–85

  secular debate over, 185–90

  and SETI, 173

  social and political aspects of, 38, 184

  astronomy, establishment of, 137

  Atacama Desert, Paranal, Chile, 11, 83–85, 87–89, 93

  atoms, 150

  Bada, Jeffrey, 61–62, 63, 66–68

  Baross, John, 121

  basal heterocyst, 116

  Bates, Gary, 181

  Beagle 2 probe, 44–45, 101

  Benford, Gregory and James, 174

  Benner, Steven, 52–55, 159

  beryllium, 150

  Biemann, Klaus, 41, 42, 43, 123–24

  Big Bang, 73, 153, 182

  biochemistry, 29

  biology:

  essentials of, 153

  molecular, 61

  synthetic, 38, 56

  biosignatures, 8

  biosphere research, 156–60

  biotechnology, 38

  black holes, 153

  black smokers, 75, 121

  Bonney, Lake (Antarctica), 11, 29, 31

  Borgonie, Gaetan, 19–21, 22, 23–24

  boron, 54

  Boston, Penelope, 47–49

  Brahe, Tycho, 137

  Braun, Wernher von, 115

  Brownlee, Donald, 186

  Bruno, Giordano, 137, 138, 179

  Bryan, Richard, 169

  bubble universe theory, 152

  Bunsen, Robert, 86

  Butler, Paul, 127–40

  Canadian Space Agency, 146

  carbon, 6, 70

  in meteorites, 72, 77, 109, 115, 118–19

  production of, 150

  carbon dioxide, 30, 46, 76, 153

  Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 47–48

  Carrigan, Matt, 56

  Carrigan, Richard, 174

  Cash, Webster, 144–46, 148

  Charbonneau, David, 141

  chirality, 68–69, 71–72, 110

  Christianity and first contact, 180–85

  Christner, Brent, 26–30, 32–33

  Chyba, Chris, 37, 38

  Claus, George, 118

  Cleland, Carol, 37–38, 44, 46, 157, 186

  clouds, microbes in, 25

  Coal Oil Point, California, 83

  Colbert, Stephen, 182–83

  Columbus, Christopher, 177

  Conrad, Pan, 96–100

  Consolmagno, Brother Guy, 182–83

  Copernicus, 1, 14, 154, 179, 181

  cosmic natural selection, 152–54

  Cosmic Water Hole, 171

  Coyne, Father George, 182

  creation, spontaneous, 155

  Creator, 55, 56, 59, 149, 154

  Crick, Francis, 59–60

  CRIRES (cryogenic high-resolution infrared echelle spectograph), 85–86, 88, 93

  Cronin, John, 71

  Crowe, Michael, 183

  cryosphere, 25

  Crysdale, Cynthia, 181
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  cyanobacterium, 115–16

  Darwin, Charles, 1, 181

  and “little warm ponds,” 8

  On the Origin of Species, 59

  Darwinian evolution, 12, 35–36, 46, 53, 122, 153, 154

  Darwinism, cosmic, 152–54

  Davies, Paul, 154, 157, 180

  Death Valley, 49, 96, 99–100

  Deming, Jody, 121

  Descartes, René, 183

  desert varnish, 7, 46–51

  Desulforudis audaxviator, 16, 17

  deuterium (“heavy water”), 93, 94

  diatoms, 115

  Dick, Steven J., 14, 183

  divine intervention, 55, 56, 59

  DNA, 56, 60

  Doppler, Christian, 134

  Doppler shifts, 134–35, 138, 162

  Doran, Peter, 31

  Drake, Frank, 166, 172–73, 184

  Drake Equation, 172

  Driefontein gold mine, 23

  Dworkin, Jason:

  and chirality, 68–69, 71, 110

  isovaline experiments of, 72

  meteorite studies of, 72–74, 77, 110

  and Miller-Urey, 62, 68, 74

  Dyson, Freeman, 174

  Dyson spheres, 174

  Earth:

  methane on, 4, 8, 80, 81–82

  and moon, 9

  origin of, 11

  plate tectonics of, 91, 92

  Ehrenfreund, Pascale, 77–78

  electromagnetic spectrum, 86

  Ellington, Andrew, 38, 44

  Ellis, George, 154–55

  energy, 174

  entropy, 36

  Epicurus, 183

  ethane, 90

  Europa, 11, 13, 32

  European ExoMars, 83, 101

  European Organisation for Astronomical Research (ESO), 83–85

  European Space Agency (ESA), 13, 76, 83, 143, 146

  evolution:

  Darwinian, 12, 35–36, 46, 53, 122, 153, 154

  divine intervention vs., 55, 59

  of the universe, 153–54

  exobiology, 60

  exoplanets, 3, 5–6, 10

  searching for, 127, 129, 132–33, 142–43

  suns of, 143

  extremophiles, 3, 4, 5, 18, 24–26, 90

  fear of the “other,” 175, 177

  Fermi, Enrico, 188, 189

  fine-tuning, 149–56

  and cosmic natural selection, 152–54

  examples, 150

  and multiverse theory, 151–53, 154, 155

  first contact:

  debate over likelihood, 195–90

  preparation for, 179

  and religion, 179–85

 

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