COLLABORATIVE NSF-NASA WORKSHOPS: EVOLVING ENVIRONMENTS AND LIFE ON THE EARLY EARTH -- FROM ACCRETION TO THE RISE OF ANIMALS

美国国家科学基金会和美国国家航空航天局计划于今年8月在史密森尼自然历史博物馆共同赞助两个研讨会。其目的是考虑揭示地球形成后早期历史的科学挑战，以及这些过程在地球可居住环境和早期生命发展到动物出现之间的关系。这两个研讨会分别是：研讨会1：早期地球（冥古宙至中太古宙，约46亿至30亿年前）的繁殖力；研讨会2：复杂性的驱动因素（最早的氧气作用，约30亿至6亿年前）。研讨会参与者将重点讨论下一代的基本问题和机会。NSF和NASA之间的机构间合作将得到促进，这是一个通常未被充分利用的机会。此外，也许最重要的是，这些研讨会将把历史上没有合作的科学分支学科聚集在一起，为早期地球研究的未来研究方向提供一个更全面的计划。技术描述：美国国家科学基金会和美国国家航空航天局提议在2014年夏末在史密森尼自然历史博物馆共同赞助两个互补的、背对背的研讨会，以定义早期地球上生命和环境共同进化的最新研究——从最初的可居住性到生命的发展，从最初的原核生物到复杂的真核生物。这两个研讨会分别是：研讨会1：早期地球（冥古宙至中太古宙，约46亿至30亿年前）的繁殖力；研讨会2：复杂性的驱动因素（最早的氧气作用，约30亿至6亿年前）。研讨会参与者将在现有知识的基础上，定义下一代的基本问题和机会。另一个成果应该是对NSF和NASA之间未充分利用的机构间合作机会进行概念验证。总体目标是在不同领域之间建立前所未有的跨学科水平。按照设计，这些研讨会将把通常不聚集的小组聚集在一起，从不同但互补的角度讨论早期地球研究中的关键问题和机会。

NSF and NASA plan to co-sponsor two workshops at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in August of this year. The purpose is to consider the scientific challenges of unraveling the earliest history of the Earth after its formation, and the relation these processes had in the development of Earth's habitable environment and earliest life up to the appearance of animals. These two workshops are: Workshop 1: The fecundity of the early Earth (Hadean to mid-Archean, ca. 4.6 to 3.0 billion years ago) Workshop 2: Drivers of complexity (earliest oxygenesis through the Cryogenian, ca. 3.0 to 0.6 billion years ago) Workshop participants will focus on defining the next generation of essential questions and opportunities. Interagency collaboration will be promoted between NSF and NASA, a generally underutilized opportunity. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, the workshops will bring together scientific subdisciplines which historically have not worked together to provide a more holistic plan for future research directions in early Earth studies. Technical Description: NSF and NASA propose to co-sponsor two complementary, back-to-back workshops at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum during late summer 2014 to define the state-of-the-art in studies of the co-evolution of life and the environment on early Earth - from the beginnings of habitability through the progression of life from the first prokaryotes to complex eukaryotes. These two workshops are: Workshop 1: The fecundity of the early Earth (Hadean to mid-Archean, ca. 4.6 to 3.0 billion years ago) Workshop 2: Drivers of complexity (earliest oxygenesis through the Cryogenian, ca. 3.0 to 0.6 billion years ago) Building from a foundation of the current state of knowledge, workshop participants will define the next generation of essential questions and opportunities. An additional outcome should be a proof-of-concept for underutilized opportunities for interagency collaboration between NSF and NASA. The overarching goal is to build interdisciplinarity at unprecedented levels among diverse fields. The workshops, by design, will bring groups together that are not normally assembled to discuss critical issues and opportunities in early Earth research from diverse but complementary perspectives.