The tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has charmed generations of children the world over, and has been borrowed and scientifically woven into the title of this book again – hoping to charm, but also challenge, its valued readers, encouraging you to think a little differently about the world and indeed the Universe in which we live.
Parents and teachers alike have used the fictional narrative of a plucky young girl and her cheeky invasion of the home of a family of bears to develop the imagination and story creation skills of children, as well as to convey levels of acceptable behaviour and manners, respect for personal privacy and respect of other peoples’ property or belongings. And yet it contains another message that hopefully this book will inspire its readers to consider when imagining life out there in and beyond the final frontier: the idea that something has to be just right for it to be useful. The chairs tried by Goldilocks were either too big, too small or just right, the porridge was too hot, too cold or just right and the beds were too hard, too soft or just right. Only when each condition was just right and therefore acceptable to Goldilocks was the porridge eaten or the chair sat in or the bed used for sleeping. Just as in the search for life in the Universe, Goldilocks was searching for conditions that were just right for her and so are we. Hunting across the right part of the Galaxy for planets and moons that are the right size, orbiting around the right type of star at just the right distance to be able to keep water as a liquid on their surface. Astrobiologists and Goldilocks have much in common.
In this book we shall take a tour of the biological Universe, exploring what life is made of, what it needs to originate and thrive, how resilient and adaptable it can be and how conditions do not actually have to conform to our ideas of what is or is not just right for organisms to survive and prosper. In many areas throughout the Solar System and beyond, conditions cover a multitude of extremes – too hot or too cold, too acidic or too alkaline, too dry or too wet, or too light or too dark – and in each of these on Earth, life has found its own version of just right so it can survive. The Goldilocks story of life is warped and stretched as life finds a way, no matter the challenges. If this is the tale on our planet, then why should it not be the same on other planets and moons, in other galaxies, and throughout the Universe? We may not be alone in the darkness of space for much longer.
‘What about the Water Bears?’ I hear you ask. Well, you’ll have to continue reading to see where these little superheroes fit into this cosmic fairy tale …