Martin FiskCollege of Oceanic and Atmospheric SciencesOregon State UniversityCorvallis, Oregon

Astrobiology - the study of the origin, evolution,and distribution of life in the UniverseThe Ultimate Questions: How did life start?Is there life elsewhere?Are we alone?

And why is astrobiology relevant to workshopon microbial oceanography?

EARTH 2008MBARI/C-MORE/ASTEP

Microbial Oceanography WorkshopJuly 20 - 25, 2008

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Microorganisms live in extreme environmentshotcoldacidno oxygenno lighthigh saltvery drystarvation dietlive by consuming chemicals

Some marine microbial habitatshotcoldacidno oxygenno lightsaltylow food supplybut plenty of chemical food

Why Oceanography and WhyMicrobiology?

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Marine geologyVolcanoes and volcanic rocks in the oceans

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Why Oceanography

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Video footage from the movie "Pele Meets the Sea" courtesy of Richard Pyle

Pillow Lavas

PhotoJonathan Kaye,

UW

PhotoBill Chadwick,

NOAA

ALH84001

EETA79001

Nakhla

ShergottyImages from

NASA

Nakhla

Nakhla

Observations in a Martian Meteorite

20 m

Why Teachers?

Integrated science instructioninstilling wondermentphysicschemistryastronomybiologymicrobiologyoceanographygeologymathsociology

Reference: J. T. Staley (2003) Astrobiology, the transcendent science: the promise of astrobiology as an integrative approach for science and engineering education and research, Current Opinion in Biotechnology 14:347-354.

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NASA Solar System Exploration, Planets

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm

300,000,000,000 stars

Artist’s image of the Milky Way Galaxy

Image source unknown

http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Front/tofc.html

http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Front/tofc.html

What do you think is the probability of life in our galaxy other than on Earth?

Probability of rolling a 6 on a die twice in a row:Equals the probability of the first number being a 6times the probability that the second number is a 6.1/6 x 1/6 = 1/36

What we need to know to answer the question.(1) The number of stars in our galaxy. (300 billion)(2) Probability that a star has planets. (guess 1/100)(3) Number of planets in the habitable zone. (guess 1/10)(4) Probability that life develops on habitable planets (guess 1/1,000,000) Number of planets with life = 300 billion x 1/100 x 1/10 x 1/1,000,000 = 300.

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www.ta3.sk/docasne/ ESTW/08_extrasolar.html