Albion College Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute

GREAT ISSUES IN SCIENCE

ORIGINS: A COSMIC PERSPECTIVE

HSP 124 CRN 4101

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

11:10 - Noon

Observatory

Dr. Nicolle Zellner

This multidisciplinary course covers topics in physics, astronomy, chemistry, earth sciences, and biology to understand the origin of life. We will review relevant concepts and discuss current issues from a "cosmic" perspective. No specialized prior knowledge of these topics is assumed.

One of the fundamental goals in all of science is to understand the origin of life. This course will review relevant concepts and discuss current issues from a "cosmic" perspective. The importance of this approach is demonstrated by recent research, such as

· astronomical observations that show that organic molecules are synthesized in the interstellar clouds from which new planetary systems are born;

· analyses of meteorites that fell to Earth that show that they contain amino acids and other biologically relevant molecules of extraterrestrial origin;

· experiments in prebiotic chemistry that show that important prebiotic molecules may not have been produced in sufficient quantities here on Earth at the time of life's origin; and

· the knowledge that many other stars have planetary systems and the upcoming technology to test whether or not they support life.

Throughout this course, we will read relevant articles and discuss them from a scientific perspective. Several published results about the existence of first life on Earth, for example, are highly controversial: the ‘lunar cataclysm’ hypothesis that suggests first life was wiped out multiple times before it became established; the conflict between a ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ origin of life; and the ongoing dialogue about whether or not carbon isotope signatures at ~3.8 Ga are truly biogenic, to name a few. These ideas, among others, will be discussed and students will be able to draw their own conclusions about how and when life started on Earth.

Once we have established a model for life based on necessary ingredients and conditions, we will begin to speculate about the possibility for the existence of life on other planets in our own Solar System, as well as the possibility for life in other star systems. One such predictor is the Drake Equation, which uses a variety of parameters to ascertain the number of civilized (i.e. communicating) civilizations that may exist in our Milky Way Galaxy. We will also talk about how extrasolar planets are detected and the best ways to predict their masses, compositions, water content, and temperature. Finally, we will discuss various NASA and ESA missions that are currently designed to look for biosignatures on distant planets.