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Astrobiology Origins from the Big-Bang to Civilisation

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Astrobiology Origins from the Big-Bang to Civilisation ASTROBIOLOGY ORIGINS FROM THE BIG-BANG TO CIVILISATION THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANISING COMMITTE HUMBER TO CAMPlNS, University ofArizona and Research Corporation, Tucson, USA IGNASI CASANOVA, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain FRANK DRAKE, Seti Institute, Mountain View USA ANTONIO LAZCANO, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico ULISES MOULINES, Institutfuer Philosoph ie, Logik und Wissenschaftstheorie Ludwig­ Maximilians- Universitaet Muenchen, Germany RAFAEL NAVARRO-GONZALEZ, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico ALICIA NEGRON-MENDOZA, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico ADRIANA c. OCAMPO, NASA Headquarters, Washington D.C. USA YAREMI RIVERO (Coordinator, visit of the astronaut), Lyndon Johnson Space Center, Houston, USA JUAN G. ROEDERER, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, USA. LOCAL COMMITTEE GUSTAVO BRUZUAL, Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomfa, Merida MARIO l. CAICEDO, Universidad Simon Bo[(var, Caracas ELINOR CALLAROTTI, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas GREGORIO DRAYER, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas MARTHA ELt,NA GALA vis, Universidad Metropolitana, Caracas ERNESTO MAl'Z VALLENILLA, CENIT, (IDEA), Caracas CESAR MENDOZA BRICENO, Centro de Astroflsica Teorica, Merida HECTOR RAGO, Grupo de Ffsica TeoricaiCentro de Astroflsica, ULA, Merida TOMAS REVILLA, Escuela de Biologfa, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas GLORIA VILLEGAS, Centro de Biociencias, (IDEA), Caracas. SPONSORS International Centre for Theoretical Physics International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Universidad Simon Bolivar NASA Headquarters, European Space Agency, TALVEN Programme, (Delegacion Permanente de Venezuela ante la UNESCO) The SET! Institute, Centro Latinoamericano de Fisica, The Third World Academy of Sciences, Academia de Ciencias Fisicas, Matematicas y Naturales, Red Latinoamericana de Biologia The Planetary Society, The Latin American Academy of Sciences (Fondo ACAL). Alberto Vollmer Foundation, Inc Fundaci6n J Oro, Associated to the Catalonian Research Foundation Red Latinoamericana de Astronomia Colegio Emil Friedman ASTROBIOLOGY ORIGINS FROM THE BIG-BANG TO CIVILISATION Proceedings of the Iberoamerican School of Astrobiology Caracas, Venezuela, 28 November- 8 December, 1999 Editedby JULIĂN CHELA-FLORES, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy and Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Venezuela, GUILLERMO A. LEMARCHAND, Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia (CONICET), and Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina and JOHNORO, Department of Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5934, USA. SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN 978-94-010-5865-0 ISBN 978-94-011-4313-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-4313-4 Printed on acid-free paper Cover (illustration European Space Agency.): An artist's impression of "Huygens descend - stages on Titan". Cassini/Huygens is a NASA/ESA mission to the Saturnian System. The spacecraft consists of the NASA Saturn Orbiter and the detachable ESA Huygens Probe designed to explore the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Within the context of chemical evolution and planetary science the mission, as well as Titan, were discussed during the School. The reader is referred to pp. xxii, 85-87, 158-159, 277 and 307. Photograph on page (v): Curtsey of The Abdus Salam ICTP Archives. All Rights Reserved © 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2000 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, incIuding photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. Dedicated to Frank Drake on the occasion of his 70th birthday FRANK DRAKE A biographical sketch Dr. Frank Drake is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute and provides overall direction for research. In 1960, as a staff member of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, he conducted the first radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The original efforts went under the name of Project Ozma after the Princess in L. Frank Baum's story "Ozma of Oz". Four decades later, with the support by data from many independent projects world-wide and the new evidence for the existence of other planetary systems, the search for extraterrestrial life is an integral part of the new science of astrobiology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences where he chaired the Board of Physics and Astronomy of the National Research Council (1989-92). He is a former president of one of the world's leading astronomical organisations, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He was a Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University (1964- 84) and served as the Director of the Arecibo Observatory. He is currently a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California at Santa Cruz where he also served as Dean of Natural Sciences (1984-88). PREFACE ix The proposal of the School was made in 1998 to three institutions, which responded enthusiastically: The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), its main co-sponsor, the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, both in Trieste, Italy, and the Chancellor's Office, Universidad Simon Bolfvar (USB). The secretarial and logistic support was provided in Trieste by the ICTP and in Caracas by USB and the IDEA Convention Center. In addition the event was generously supported by the following institutes, agencies, foundations and academies: NASA Headquarters, European Space Agency, TALVEN Programme, (Delegacion Permanente de Venezuela ante la UNESCO), The SETI Institute, Centro Latinoamericano .de Ffsica, The Third World Academy of Sciences, Academia de Ciencias Ffsicas, Matematicas y Naturales, Red Latinoamericana de Biologfa, The Planetary Society, The Latin American Academy of Sciences (Fondo ACAL), Alberto Vollmer Foundation, Inc, Fundacion J. Oro, Associated to the Catalonian Research Foundation, Red Latinoamericana de Astronomfa and Colegio Emil Friedman. A total of 36 lectures were delivered by 20 lecturers, of which 14 were from the following countries: Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain and the USA. Six lecturers were from the host country. In addition there were 5 chairpersons from the host country that were not participants; two participants acted as chairpersons (Pedro Benitez and Tomas Revilla). The School brought together 125 participants, which included some of the leading researchers in the subfields of Astrobiology. There were 18 participants form: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and the USA. The host country was represented by 82 participants registered during the conference, of which 33 had previously registered in Trieste. In addition to the lectures the participants contributed 16 oral presentations of their posters (ten minutes were assigned to each of the participants that presented posters). The media was represented by 3 participants from the host country. The event was also consistently well represented by the national press. Another important x activity of lAS A was the following round-table: Music of the Spheres: Would other intelligence also exhibit "artistic creativity?". Juan G. Roederer and Guillermo A. Lemarchand acted as moderators with the participation of: Jacobo Borges, Diana Arismendi, Irene McKinstry de Guinand and Julian Chela-Flores. Public lectures were delivered by Professor Frank Drake, Professor Juan Or6 and Garrett E. Reisman a NASA Astronaut Candidate (Mission Specialist). An event that was particularly appreciated by the participants was a Special Session on Solar System Exploration in collaboration with The Planetary Society (TPS) and Direcci6n de Servicios Multimedia de la Universidad Sim6n Bolfvar.1t was timed so as to make a live Internet link-up with Planetfest in Pasadena, California on the occasion of the Mars lander in the Martian South Pole. The collaboration of Lic. Gregorio Drayer in the coordination of the event is gratefully acknowledged. In spite of the fact that the lander was lost, the live contact with Planetfest and telephone connection for 45 minutes (due to the generous support of the Planetary Society) with an expert on Mars research (Dr. Christopher McKay) was a very instructive experience for all the School The counselling and very constructive initiatives of the TPS Executive Director, Dr. Louis Friedman were fundamental for this event. In Caracas we are particularly grateful to Chancellor Freddy Malpica and the Chancellor's Office, without whose support this activity would not have taken place. Our particular thanks to Ms. Nancy Padilla, who acted as the Caracas School Secretary. Her helpful, friendly initiatives contributed significantly to the success of IASA. The whole team of Lic. Rebeca L6pez de Alvarez, namely, Ms. Alicia de Armas, Beatriz Troconis and Mariana Walker, provided essential aspects towards the improvement of the School. At the IDEA Convention Center, we would like to thank the team headed by Lic. Ram6n Garriga; in particular, Mr. Luis Gonzalez, with the support of Ms Dayana Barreto, acted efficiently as Administrator in Charge of IASA for the whole duration of the School organisation (two years). xi In particular, we should highlight the generous and always helpful, critical advice
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