The Search for Planetary Habitability

寻找行星的宜居性

• 批准号: ST/M001261/1
• 负责人: Charles Cockell
• 金额: $ 91.15万
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FM001261%2F1
• 关键词: Search; Planetary; Habitability

'Does life exist elsewhere in the Universe?' is one of the most compelling questions in planetary sciences and constitutes one of the main questions in STFC's roadmap. The question has immense interest to the wider public since it underpins fundamental questions about the whether our civilisation is unique, what our long-term future is in the Universe and the astronomical context in which our civilisation sits. From a scientific point of view, the search for habitable conditions will reveal whether the conditions for the origin of life are unusual in the Universe, and if they are not, what is the nature of other life and what does it tell us about the co-evolution of life on Earth and its astronomical and planetary environment. The most likely life to be found elsewhere is microbial and so this proposal focuses on searching for conditions that would support microbial life. However, habitable conditions could also exist without life and our work will attempt to understand how these conditions could arise and how we might detect them elsewhere.In this consortium we plan to implement a coordinated effort to study habitability in the Universe that will both advance our understanding of how habitable conditions form and improve our ability to detect it. To successfully do this we have brought together groups with expertise in astrobiology and building instruments. In this way we can more effectively develop the next generation of instruments to search for habitable conditions.Our work has many spin-offs into public outreach, education and practical societal benefits for which we have identified specific projects and contributions. They including applications of our expertise to the storage of geological waste (nuclear and carbon dioxide) and improving the education of interdisciplinary science in schools across the UK, including teacher training.

“宇宙的其他地方存在生命吗？”是行星科学中最引人注目的问题之一，也是STFC路线图中的主要问题之一。这个问题引起了广大公众的极大兴趣，因为它支持了一些基本问题，如我们的文明是否独一无二，我们在宇宙中的长期未来是什么，以及我们文明所处的天文背景。从科学的角度来看，寻找适合居住的条件将揭示生命起源的条件是否在宇宙中是不寻常的，如果不是，其他生命的性质是什么，以及它告诉我们地球上生命的共同进化及其天文和行星环境。最有可能在其他地方发现的生命是微生物，所以这个建议的重点是寻找支持微生物生命的条件。然而，没有生命的宜居条件也可能存在，我们的工作将试图了解这些条件是如何产生的，以及我们如何在其他地方发现它们。在这个联盟中，我们计划实施一项协调一致的努力来研究宇宙中的可居住性，这将促进我们对可居住条件如何形成的理解，并提高我们探测它的能力。为了成功地做到这一点，我们汇集了具有天体生物学和建造仪器专业知识的小组。通过这种方式，我们可以更有效地开发下一代仪器来寻找可居住的条件。我们的工作在公共宣传、教育和实际社会效益方面有许多附带成果，为此我们确定了具体项目和贡献。它们包括将我们的专业知识应用于地质废物（核能和二氧化碳）的储存，以及改善英国各地学校的跨学科科学教育，包括教师培训。

项目成果

Building a Geochemical View of Microbial Salt Tolerance: Halophilic Adaptation of Marinococcus in a Natural Magnesium Sulfate Brine.

• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00739
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: Frontiers in microbiology
• 影响因子: 5.2
• 作者: Fox-Powell MG;Cockell CS
• 通讯作者: Cockell CS

Rapid colonization of artificial endolithic uninhabited habitats

人工内石无人栖息地的快速殖民

• DOI: 10.1017/s1473550417000398
• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: International Journal of Astrobiology
• 影响因子: 1.7
• 作者: Cockell C

The similarity of life across the universe.

• DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e15-11-0809
• 发表时间: 2016-05-15
• 期刊: Molecular biology of the cell
• 影响因子: 3.3
• 作者: Cockell CS

The UK Centre for Astrobiology: A Virtual Astrobiology Centre. Accomplishments and Lessons Learned, 2011-2016.

• DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1713
• 发表时间: 2018-03
• 期刊: Astrobiology
• 影响因子: 4.2
• 作者: Cockell CS;Biller B;Bryce C;Cousins C;Direito S;Forgan D;Fox-Powell M;Harrison J;Landenmark H;Nixon S;Payler SJ;Rice K;Samuels T;Schwendner P;Stevens A;Nicholson N;Wadsworth J
• 通讯作者: Wadsworth J

Salinity Influences the Response of Halomonas hydrothermalis to Artificial Fossilization by Evaporative Silicification

盐度影响热液盐单胞菌对蒸发硅化人工化石的响应

• DOI: 10.1080/01490451.2015.1045634
• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: Geomicrobiology Journal
• 影响因子: 2.3
• 作者: Harrison J