NAI
2016 Annual Science Report
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Reporting | JAN 2016 – DEC 2016
Executive Summary
Project 1: The origin of homochirality (Goldenfeld):
The goal of this project is to understand one of the two most obvious universal signatures of life on Earth, the homochirality of amino acids and sugars. The chiral amino acids are all left-handed, the sugars right-handed. The other universal signature of life on Earth is the genetic code. Our analysis of its evolution , and the rapidity with which it emerged from an abiotic planet, is the background for the first half-billion years of evolving life, and predicts a network phase of life preceding the “Darwinian Transition” to the current era of vertical dominated evolution. Somewhere on this timeline sits the emergence of homochirality. The only class of theories that has been proposed to explain the mystery of homochirality is spontaneous symmetry breaking as a result of autocatalysis. However, our analysis has shown that these theories in effect ... Continue reading.
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Nigel Goldenfeld
NAI, ASTEP, ASTID, Exobiology -
TEAM Active Dates:
1/2013 - 12/2017 CAN 6 -
Team Website:
http://astrobiology.illinois.edu/ -
Members:
29 (See All) - Visit Team Page
Project Reports
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The Darwinian Transition: From Networks to the Tree of Life
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.4 4.1 4.2 -
Laboratory Evolution of Living Cells in Real Time
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.3 6.1 -
Evolutionary History of Early Life on Earth
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 5.3 -
Serpentinization and the Emergence of the Universal Engines of Terrestrial Life
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 -
The Evolution of Homochirality as a Universal Biosignature
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.2 2.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 7.1 7.2
Education & Public Outreach
- Book Tour on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Campus and the Champaign-Urbana Community for the Release of the NAI Book Entitled: Fouke, B.W., and Murphy, T., 2016. The Art of Yellowstone Science: Mammoth Hot Springs as a Window on the Universe. Crystal Creek Press, 2016, 300 P.
- Publication of a Hybrid NAI Textbook (Hardcopy and eBook), Entitled: Fouke, B.W., and Murphy, T., 2016. The Art of Yellowstone Science: Mammoth Hot Springs as a Window on the Universe. Crystal Creek Press, 2016, 300 P.
- Student-Teacher-Scientist Partnership (STSP) - 3-Day Yellowstone Astrobiology Workshop at Wood River High School, Hailey, Idaho
- Lecture Series and Workshop on Yellowstone Astrobiology - Field Lectures and Presentations to 900 Students and Visitors in Yellowsotne National Park
- 4-H Academy Summer Course on Yellowstone Astrobiology - At UIUC
- An 8-Week Student-Teacher-Scientist Partnership (STSP) Workshop and Lecture Series on Yellowstone Astrobiology Was Held at Urbana High School, Urbana, IL - 300 High School Students and Their Teachers in AP Science Courses Engaged in Lectures and Workshops at Urbana High School and the IB on the Illinois Campus.
Publications
- There are no publications for this team in the 2016 annual report.
2016 Teams
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Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Icy Worlds
SETI Institute
University of California, Riverside
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Montana, Missoula
University of Southern California
University of Wisconsin
VPL at University of Washington