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The Planetary Report • November/December 1987
Life in the Universe
On the Cover: Life, as we know it, is a chemical process. The elements that make up living things were created deep within giant stars. In the stars' death throes, these elements are released to space, where they can combine into the dark molecular clouds strung among the stars (seen here as dark streaks in the Trifid Nebula). On Earth, we find wonderfully diverse manifestations of living chemistry (clockwise from top left): densely crowded coral reefs; rich, extravagant rain forests; and intelligent, language-using dolphins. We also find a species that has questioned how life began and is now using its technology to search for answers among the planets and stars.
Features
3 Life in the Universe: Donald DeVincenzi introduces our special issues looking at the most fundamental questions about life.
4 Life's Origin: The Cosmic, Planetary and Biological Processes: T. Scattergood, D. Des Marais, and L. Jahnke discuss the evolution of the cosmos, and life on Earth.
6 Chemstry Between the Stars: William Irvine explains how biogenic elements—formed deep within stars—traveled across space to make up life on our planet.
10 The Origin of Life: James Ferris discusses the chemical processes of life.
12 Mars, Then and Now: Norman Horowitz takes us on a historical tour of our view of the Red Planet.
14 Biology and the Exploration of Mars: Harold Klein reports on our current state of knowledge about Mars, and the possibility of past or present life there.
16 Time Travel and Chemical Evolution: A Look at the Outer Solar System: Tobias Owen tours the chemical environments of Jupiter and beyond, and their potential for life.
20 Finding and Studying Other Planetary Systems: David Black looks at the prospects for detecting extrasolar planets—and with them, extraterrestrial life.
23 The Windows of SETI—Frequency and Time Travel in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Bernard Oliver thinks that if we do not begin our search soon, we'll lose the opportunity to do so from Earth.
26 Terraforming: Making an Earth of Mars: Christopher McKay goes over some of the possibilities for creating an Earthlike environment on our nearby neighbor.
Special Insert: The Mars Declaration
Departments
19 News & Reviews Venus, Pluto, and comets.
22 Society Notes New Millennium Committee, Mars Balloon, contests and awards.
29 World Watch 30th anniversary of Sputnik, CRAF, Mars Balloon study, and Mars sample return.
The Planetary Report • November/December 1987
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