Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Chemistry Publications Dept. of Chemistry 2004 Seeding the Universe with Life: Securing Our Cosmological Future Michael Noah Mautner Virginia Commonwealth University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/chem_pubs Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Creative Commons license: Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Downloaded from http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/chem_pubs/8 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Dept. of Chemistry at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chemistry Publications by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Seeding the Universe with Life Securing Our Cosmological Future Michael Noah Mautner, Ph.D. LB Legacy Books Cover Photo: The first extraterrestrial plant, a potato culture grown on meteorite extracts, is pictured riding its parent meteorite toward new suns. Astroecology studies suggest that similar materials can support immense amounts of life in the galaxy. LB © 2004 Michael Noah Mautner, Ph.D. Seeding the Universe with Life First edition: 1984, "Principles of Life and Survival", Precept Press, Gaithersburg, Maryland Second edition: 2000, "The Purpose and Future of Life: The Science and Ethics of Seeding the Universe", Legacy Books, 1-January-2000 midnight, Legacy Books, Christchurch, New Zealand "first book of the new millennium." Third edition: 2004, Seeding the Universe with Life - Securing Our Cosmological Future - Galactic Ecology, Astroethics and Directed Panspermia - Legacy Books, Christchurch, New Zealand. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing by the publisher. ISBN 0-476-00330-X Legacy Books Ltd Weston, Florida and Christchurch, New Zealand The Society for Life in Space (SOLIS) www.panspermia-society.com [email protected] Seeding the Universe with Life Contents THE FAMILY OF LIFE ............................................................................... 1 ASTROECOLOGY.................................................................................... 15 SEEDING THE UNIVERSE ...................................................................... 51 GALACTIC ECOLOGY AND COSMIC ECOLOGY ....................................... 89 THE ROAD TO SPACE: SERVING HUMAN NEEDS ................................ 103 THE ULTIMATE FUTURE....................................................................... 117 ASTROETHICS ..................................................................................... 143 THE PANBIOTIC PRINCIPLE ................................................................. 153 GLOSSARY .......................................................................................... 170 APPENDIX: TECHNICAL PAPERS......................................................... 174 ii Plant culture grown on meteorite soil iii Seeding the Universe with Life Life is unique because the laws of physics coincide precisely to allow life to exist. Nature came to a unique point in life. Life creates complex patterns, whose effective purpose is self- propagation. Where there is life, there purpose. We belong to life and share its purpose. It is the human purpose to forever protect and propagate life. The human purpose implies biocentric ethics: What promotes life is good, and what harms life is evil. Further, panbiotic ethics seeks to maximize life in the universe. The astro-ecology of meteorites shows that asteroids and comets in this Solar System and others are fertile. We can now proceed to seed new solar systems with our family of gene/protein life Oour seeds in new worlds can advance into intelligent beings who will further advance life. Astro-ecology and cosmology allow an immense future, and our remote descendants may seek to extend life to eternity. Guided by life-centered principles and by panbiotic ethics, we can now start to fill the galaxy with life. In our distant descendants through time and space, our existence will fulfill a cosmic purpose. iv Star - forming interstellar clouds: the targets Multicellular rotifers - towards higher evolution Comets - vehicles of storage and delivery Blue-green algae - the first colonizers v The Family of Life 1 THE FAMILY OF LIFE: Its Nature, Purpose and Ethics 1 Seeding the Universe with Life Astrobiota The phylogenetic tree of life. Species that diverged from a common ancestor will converge again in space populations. Life in space will combine features from all the living kingdoms, and develop new features adapted to new environments. This new biota that pervades space may be called astrobiota, or panbiota. 2 The Family of Life Chapter 1.1 The Family of Life: a Common Purpose and a Shared Future We share with all life the common structures of genes and proteins. They indicate the common origins of life, and imply a shared future. As long as we stay human, we shall carry the essence of life in our every cell. What is life? What structures of Nature should we accept as fellow life? These are questions for human judgement, and science can help to formulate the answers. Life is a process wrought in self-propagating molecular structures. Indeed, any observer would note that living beings focus on self- propagation. If not consciously, then by observational equivalence, the acts of life pursue this purpose. Where there is life, there is purpose; and a universe that contains life, contains purpose. We are part of Life and share its purpose. The human purpose is therefore to forever safeguard and propagate life, and to assure that life will fill the universe. Since its origins life has been subject to a simple logic. Those who survive and multiply inherit the future; those who do not, vanish. This self-evident logic has directed life to develop increasingly fit, advanced life-forms. The logic of life assures that those who seek propagation most, will succeed best. Life will always be subject to this logic. Therefore, we must assure that our descendants will always desire self-propagation. This will be assured if control remains in organic brains with a vested interest to continue gene/protein life. Self-propagation will then drive our descendants to expand in the universe. Space is replete with resources, and can harbor immense amounts of life for many eons. The diversity of life is practically limitless. Expansion into space will require life to assume ever newer patterns, and space can sustain ever more advanced life-forms. We can start to perceive our cosmological future. We can reach for this future by populating our Solar System and by seeding other solar systems. Our family of gene/protein life will realize its full potential when our descendants seek a cosmological future. 3 Seeding the Universe with Life Chapter 1.2 Life and Purpose are Defined by Human Judgement "Life" is defined by human judgement. More precisely, when we seek to define Life we consider the question "what is common to those whom we consider as fellow living beings". This is a question of human perceptions. Many sensible definitions of Life have been suggested. However, Nature creates objects and patterns but does not call them names. Only humans use definitions. Therefore, “what is Life” cannot be answered by Nature. It must be answered by human beings using human faculties: our instincts, emotions and rational arguments. Whomever we accept as living beings – they are then by definition, part of Life. First, we can use our innate feelings. All living beings have a special relationship with each other. It is obvious to every child and to all living things at some level, who is a fellow living being. Second, we can use a deeper understanding derived from science. All whom our innate feelings consider as living beings reproduce through genes made of DNA sequences that code proteins which directly or indirectly reproduce the DNA code. This cycle is at the heart of life as we commonly know it. Importantly, by pursuing this core cycle, life is a process. Collections of inactive DNA, isolated proteins or inert organisms are not alive. The living process involves action and change. This has profound consequences. For example, life cannot exist in an environment of equilibrium where nothing can happen. By its nature, the living process involves the flow of matter and energy to maintain complex structures that would otherwise dissipate, due to statistics that disfavors organized structure. Living structures must be always maintained actively. The central activities of Life favor a selected outcome, self- propagation. The actions of living beings will appear to any observer as if they purposefully seek self-propagation. Of course, only conscious humans seek objectives with foresight. Living beings act in all observable aspects as if they seek self-propagation purposefully. In turn, modern science holds that if two items are equivalent in all observable properties, then they are in fact identical. By the criteria of observational science, the living process does in effect seek a purpose. Life is the self-propagation of organic matter through gene/protein cycles. The effective purpose of Life is to continue to live. Where there is Life, there is a purpose. 4 The Family of Life Chapter