Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italia and

1. Evolution of the universe: • From Astrophysics to Astrobiology Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italia and Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, Caracas, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela The Origins: how, when and where it all started, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Centro Linceo Interdisciplinare “Beniamino Segre”, Roma, 22 May 2006 Astrophysics and Astrobiology: A common search for our origins Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italia and Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, Caracas, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela SISSA Highlight Colloquium

2. Plan of the talk • The Origins: the universe (how, when and where). • The new science of astrobiology. • The Origins: life in the universe (how, when and where). • The search for an independent origin of life in the universe. • Can a human-level of intelligence evolve in an exoplanet?

3. The Origins:1. The universe Part I • How? • When? • Where? Not relevant in a Friedmann universe, given the geometric interpretation of classical General Relativity.

4. Evolution of the universe: • From Astrophysics to Astrobiology How did the universe start? Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italia and Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, Caracas, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela The Origins: how, when and where it all started, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Centro Linceo Interdisciplinare “Beniamino Segre”, Roma, 22 May 2006

5. What is needed to understand how the universe started? 1. We are at a point where experiments must guide us as to how the universe started and what will be its ultimate destiny. We cannot make progress without these experiments. 2. The theories of the space sciences that need to be tested are: The equations of General Relativity G +g • General Relativity and the • Standard Model.

6. What is needed to understand how the universe started? 1. We are at a point where experiments must guide us as to how the universe started and what will be its ultimate destiny. We cannot make progress without these experiments. 2. The theories of the space sciences that need to be tested are: The equations of General Relativity G +g • General Relativity and the • Standard Model.

7. What is needed to understand how the universe started? 1. We are at a point where experiments must guide us as to how the universe started and what will be its ultimate destiny. We cannot make progress without these experiments. 2. The theories of the space sciences that need to be tested are: The equations of General Relativity G +g • General Relativity and the • Standard Model.

8. A new source of insights into how the universe started: the Large Hadron Collider With the LHC we will be able to search for new forms of matter with energies up to 14 TeV. At some of the LHC detectors we will be able to test the validity of: • Models of quantized General Relativity and • The Standard Model.

9. The contribution of space missions New experimental facilities such as LHC will help, but especially relevant are a few of many space missions to come: • Planck • CMBpol • LISA

10. The Planck and CMBpol missions(2007, >2014) These missions aim to: • test gravitational waves produced after the Big Bang, by careful consideration of the ripples in the early universe.

11. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) • LISA is jointly sponsored by ESA and NASA. • LISA will test the Theory of General Relativity, probe the early Universe, and will search for gravitational waves.

12. Evolution of the universe: • From Astrophysics to Astrobiology When did the universe start? Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italia and Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, Caracas, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela The Origins: how, when and where it all started, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Centro Linceo Interdisciplinare “Beniamino Segre”, Roma, 22 May 2006

13. The anthropic approach • Explaining the values of the observables of the universe in terms of the possibility of favoring life is called ‘anthropic’. • These arguments are analogous to those originally used by Sir Fred Hoyle in the synthesis of chemical elements in stars.

14. The intelligibility of the accelerating universe • If our universe is part of an ensemble of universes - a multiverse, each with different physical constants, it is conceivable that a fraction of them offer conditions favorable for life. • We may assume that we are living in a universe in which the physical constants, favor the existence of life for a few billion years.

15. New insights with the anthropic principle • The density of dark matter • The density of dark energy. One example where these new insights are needed is in the discussion of:

16. WMAP: The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe • has demonstrated that the universe is compatible with an age of 13.7 Gyrs. • is composed of 73 percent dark energy, 23 percent cold dark matter, and only 4 percent atoms, and • will expand forever. A detailed picture of the infant universe. Colors indicate "warmer" (red) and "cooler" (blue) spots. The white bars show the "polarization" direction of the oldest light.

17. The new science of astrobiology Part II • It is a space science that emphasizes the life sciences. • It is a life science that emphasizes the space sciences. The main areas of interest are: • The destiny of life in the universe. • The distribution of life in the universe, In common with the space sciences • The evolution of life in the universe. • The origin of life in the universe, In common with the life sciences

19. Lockmans Hole • The Chandra X-Ray Observatory (NASA, 1999) produced an image ‘Lockman Hole’ that is almost free of absorption by neutral hydrogen gas). • It shows hundreds of X-ray sources.

20. High Resolution Stereo Camera of Mars Express

21. Rafaello al Vaticano

22. L’astrobiologia del futuro

23. Destiny of life in the universe,related with the origin and destiny of the universeThe first area of astrobiology Is the universe intelligible?

24. Distribution of life in the universeThe second area of astrobiology

25. A red dwarf 9,000 light-years away An icy "super-Earth" (x13) and hypothetical moon

26. Are there biosignatures in the exoplanets?

27. The search for biosignatures in exoplanets • The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) will consist of space telescopes. • Darwin will use three space telescopes (3 m in diameter) and a fourth spacecraft to serve as communications hub. • TPF and Darwin will go beyond the three previous techniques for exoplanet hunting: wobbling stars, transits and microlensing. TPF, 2014 and 2020 Darwin, 2015

28. Evolution of the universe: • From Astrophysics to Astrobiology The last two aspects of astrobiology: evolution and the origin of life in the universe Julian Chela-Flores The Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, Italia and Instituto de Estudios Avanzados, Caracas, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela The Origins: how, when and where it all started, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Centro Linceo Interdisciplinare “Beniamino Segre”, Roma, 22 May 2006 International Journal of Astrobiology (in press)

29. The evolution of life in the universe,universal darwinism:The third area of astrobiology • The implications of human evolution in astrobiology will be discussed in Part V. The theory of evolution discusses the relative importance of: (i) contingency, (ii) gradual action of natural selection.

30. Can the outcome of evolutionary processes be predictable? • To a certain extent and in certain conditions, natural selection may be stronger than chance (Conway-Morris). • The ubiquity of evolutionary convergence argues against the view that biological diversity on Earth is unique. • Independent of historical contingency, natural selection is • powerful enough for organisms living in similar environments • (in the universe) to be shaped to similar ends (De Duve).

31. The Origins:2. Life in the universe:(The fourth area of astrobiology) Part III • How? • Where? • When?

32. How did life begin on Earth? Volcanic emission of gas ( )

33. Where did life begin on Earth? Fumarole ( )

34. When did life begin? • The question is still undecided because of difficulties of interpretation of micropaleontology

35. Part IV The search for an independent origin of life in the universe International Journal of Astrobiology (2006)

36. The images of Voyayers and Galileo NASA, 1977-1989 The Solar System Family Udaeus-Minos intersection Voyager Galileo The icy surface of Europa

37. Internal heat may provideecosystems driven by hydrothermal vents (a ‘tidal effect’)

39. A hydrobot

40. gate submersible melter black smoker Horvath et al, 1997

41. The Europa icy surface (Spectrometer data from near IR) and ‘patchy’ Distribution of non-ice component albedo per pixel McCord et al, Science 280 (1998), 1242 4 km/pixel High resolution albedo image

42. Where is the ‘S-belt’ region of highest concentration of non-ice elements? Udaeus-Minos intersection S-belt Conamara Pywill

44. Conceivable sources of sulphur stains on the icy and patchy surface of Europa • External: Ions may be implanted from the Jovian plasma, or alternatively the source is • Internal: Sulphur may be due to cryovolcanism, or we can ask: • Could the sulphur be biogenic?

45. The Europa Microprobe in-situ Explorer(The EMPIE study) • One way to decide on the sulphur source is to land on the icy surface of Europa. • The lander would have a set of 4 miniprobes (350 gm each). Expected penetration in ice is 72.5 cm. • Mass constraint for the microprobes would be 1.7 kg. Tirso Velasco and colleagues

46. Part V Can an exoplanet support a human-level of intelligence? International Journal of Astrobiology (2003)

47. Microorganism physiology • Calcium channels are involved in protozoan movements. • In archaea (Haloferax volcanii), • voltage-dependent and mechano- • sensitive ion channels are known. Paramecium (protozoa)

48. Invertebrate physiology • Cnidarians, such as medusa (a jellyfish) have a ring of tentacles with stinging cells called cnidocytes. • The tentacles are made up of two layers of tissue that include muscle cells and nerves, which, allowed them to have been the first animals to show animated behavior. • In the Adriatico (Grignano) jellyfish Aglantha action potentials (nerve nets) are known. Aglantha digitale (cnidarian)

49. In sponges Ca- and Na-dependent channels are also known • A sponge is an animal that can grow on a sand flat. It is made of a layer of cells that pump water through their wall, allowing them to capture microscopic plankton for food. • Propagation of action potentials is a topic of research (Raimundo Villegas, IDEA, Caracas private communication, 2007) Tube sponge

50. Cerebral ganglions • receive inputs from sensory organs and deliver outputs to muscles, via nerve filaments. Notoplana acticola (flatworm; platyhelminths)