2002 Annual Science Report
Pennsylvania State University Reporting | JUL 2001 – JUN 2002
Executive Summary
The success of efforts to find life or life traces on other planets in our Solar System and on other bodies in interstellar space depends on how well we come to understand Earth’s prelife environmental conditions and the interplay between early plants, animals, and microorganisms. For example, our identification and understanding of the evolutionary steps and interchanges that ultimately produced Earth’s surfaces, seas, and air, on which all living organisms are critically dependent, must be broadened. Knowing the conditions conducive to the development of living organisms on Earth and the evolutionary steps by which nature exploited them is prerequisite to systematic and fruitful searches for life elsewhere in the Universe.
The main goal of research at the Pennsylvania State University Astrobiology Research Center (PSARC) is to increase our understanding of the connection between the environment and Earth’s biota, especially during the early stages of evolution ... Continue reading.
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Hiroshi Ohmoto
NAI, ASTEP, ASTID, Exobiology -
TEAM Active Dates:
7/1998 - 10/2003 CAN 1 -
Members:
96 (See All) - Visit Team Page
Project Reports
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Environment of Prebiotic Earth and the Origin of Life: Chemistry of Hydrogen Cyanide
The role of hydrogen cyanide polymer chemistry in the origin of life has provoked much speculation. In spite of extensive efforts by many groups, a satisfactory understanding of this polymer’s structure and mechanism of formation still eludes us. Our studies involve the synthesis of Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) polymers under a variety of conditions and the application of modern powerful analytical methods for structure elucidation
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.0 2.0 9.0 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere – James F. Kasting
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 12.0 13.0 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere – Katherine H. Freeman
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.0 12.0 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere – Hiroshi Ohmoto
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.0 2.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 15.0 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate and Biosphere – Rosemary C. Capo
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.0 11.0 12.0 14.0 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere – Brian W. Stewart
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.0 8.0 12.0 14.0 -
Causes and Consequences of the Diversification and Extinction of Metazoans: Neoproterozoic Variations – Michael Arthur
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.0 7.0 12.0 14.0 -
Causes and Consequences of the Diversification and Extinction of Metazoans: Neoproterozoic Variations – Mark Patzkowsky
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.0 -
Environment of Prebiotic Earth and the Origin of Life: Experimental Approach
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.0 -
Biochemistry of Archaea and Bacteria: Enzymes of Ancient Metabolic Pathways
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.0 4.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 -
Biochemistry of Archaea and Bacteria: Biochemistry of Psychrophillic Organisms
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 -
Microbe-Mineral Interactions
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 6.0 7.0 12.0 -
GEOPULSE (Gene Expression of Observations for Planetary Life Study)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.0 6.0 7.0 -
Timescale for the Evolution of Life on Earth: Molecular Evolutionary Approach – Masatoshi Nei
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.0 -
(S. Blair Hedges) Timescale for the Evolution of Life on Earth: Molecular Evolutionary Approach
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.0 4.0 5.0 7.0 8.0 11.0 12.0 14.0 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere – Lee Kump
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.0 6.0 12.0 14.0
Publications
- There are no publications for this team in the 2002 annual report.
2002 Teams
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Arizona State University
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Harvard University
Marine Biological Laboratory
Michigan State University
NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Johnson Space Center
Pennsylvania State University
Scripps Research Institute
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Rhode Island
University of Washington
Virtual Planetary Laboratory (JPL/CalTech)