Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies, 2012
Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology Series, Vol. 24

A trio of editors [Professors from Austria, Germany and Israel] present Life on Earth and other Planetary Bodies. The contributors are from twenty various countries and present their research on life here as well as the possibility for extraterrestrial life. This volume covers concepts such as life?s origin, hypothesis of Panspermia and of life possibility in the Cosmos. The topic of extraterrestrial life is currently ?hot? and the object of several congresses and conferences. While the diversity of ?normal? biota is well known, life on the edge of the extremophiles is more limited and less distributed. Other subjects discussed are Astrobiology with the frozen worlds of Mars, Europa and Titan where extant or extinct microbial life may exist in subsurface oceans; conditions on icy Mars with its saline, alkaline, and liquid water which has been recently discovered; chances of habitable Earth-like [or the terrestrial analogues] exoplanets; and SETI?s search for extraterrestrial Intelligence.

List of Contributors.- Pathways to Life on Earth and Other Planetary Bodies.- Terestrial Halophylies, Evaporite Environments and The Search for Life on Mars.- Vescicular Basalts as a Niche for Microbial Life.- Molecules Between the Stars.- Prokaryotic Communities Below Planetary Surfaces and Their Involvement In The Nitrogen Cycle.- Life Without Water: The Sleeping Chironomid and Other Anhydrobiotic Invertebrates and their Utilization in Astrobiology.- Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes.- Glaciopanspermia: Seeding the Terrestrial Planets with Life?.- Chemical Evolution In Primeval Seas.- Terrestiral Analogues for Early Planetary Oceans: Niuafo‘Ou Caldera Lakes (Tonga) and their Geology, Water Chemistry and Stromatolites;.- Comparison of Environment Types with Liquid Water on Mars.- Criteria of Possible Habitability of Earth-Like Exoplanets.- Origin of the Genetic Code and Abiotic Synthesis of Organic Compounds.- Dynamical Aspects for the Earth’s Habitability.- A Dynamic Scheme to Assess Habitability of Exoplanets.- The Likelihood of Halophilic Life in the Universe.- Production of Dormant Stages and Stress Resistance of Polar Cyanobacteria.- Can the Evolution of Multicellularity be Anticipated in the Exoploration of the Solar System?.- Antarctica as Model for the Possible Emergence of Life on Europa.- The Likelihood of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life.- The Astrobiological Potential of Polar Dunes on Mars.- Life in Earth’s Lava Caves: Implications for Life Detection on Other Planets.- Life in the Saturnian Neighborhood.

Experts from 20 countries discuss life on Earth and possible life on planets Each contributed chapter contains numerous references for further study Each chapter is written as a review on a specific topic