TY - JOUR
T1 - Cosmic biology in perspective
AU - Wickramasinghe, N. C.
AU - Wickramasinghe, Dayal T.
AU - Tout, Christopher A.
AU - Lattanzio, John C.
AU - Steele, Edward J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - A series of astronomical observations obtained over the period 1986 to 2018 supports the idea that life is a cosmic rather than a purely terrestrial or planetary phenomenon. These include (1) the detection of biologically relevant molecules in interstellar clouds and in comets, (2) mid-infrared spectra of interstellar grains and the dust from comets, (3) a diverse set of data from comets including the Rosetta mission showing consistency with biology and (4) the frequency of Earth-like or habitable planets in the Galaxy. We argue that the conjunction of all the available data suggests the operation of cometary biology and interstellar panspermia rather than the much weaker hypothesis of comets being only the source of the chemical building blocks of life. We conclude with specific predictions on the properties expected of extra-terrestrial life if it is discovered on Enceladus, Europa or beyond. A radically different biochemistry elsewhere can be considered as a falsification of the theory of interstellar panspermia.
AB - A series of astronomical observations obtained over the period 1986 to 2018 supports the idea that life is a cosmic rather than a purely terrestrial or planetary phenomenon. These include (1) the detection of biologically relevant molecules in interstellar clouds and in comets, (2) mid-infrared spectra of interstellar grains and the dust from comets, (3) a diverse set of data from comets including the Rosetta mission showing consistency with biology and (4) the frequency of Earth-like or habitable planets in the Galaxy. We argue that the conjunction of all the available data suggests the operation of cometary biology and interstellar panspermia rather than the much weaker hypothesis of comets being only the source of the chemical building blocks of life. We conclude with specific predictions on the properties expected of extra-terrestrial life if it is discovered on Enceladus, Europa or beyond. A radically different biochemistry elsewhere can be considered as a falsification of the theory of interstellar panspermia.
KW - Comets–interstellar
KW - Grains–panspermia
KW - Molecules–interstellar
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075231277&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10509-019-3698-6
DO - 10.1007/s10509-019-3698-6
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-640X
VL - 364
JO - Astrophysics and Space Science
JF - Astrophysics and Space Science
IS - 11
M1 - 205
ER -