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Index
Cover
Half-Title
series
Dedication
Title
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: A Brave New World
An Astrobiologist is Born …
The Science of Alien Life
Star-crossed Lovers
42
Seeking Out New Life and New Civilisations
I See You
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock
The First Astrobiologists
Birth of the Alien
Civilisations on Mars
The Future of Astrobiology
Chapter 2: Life As We Know It
So What is Life?
Carbon, Carbon Everywhere!
The Units of Life
Food for Thought
Molecules of Life
Is Carbon Really the Only Option?
Living is Thirsty Work
It Came from Space … Or did it?
A Special Liquid
What If There Were No Water?
Chapter 3: How to Create a Planet Fit for Life
A Cosmic Kitchen
Star Light, Star Bright
The Gauntlet of Galaxies
A Galactic Goldilocks Zone
More Than Just Chocolate
A Solar Family
The Heart and Soul
The Rocky Worlds
The Gassy Worlds
Building a Home in the Goldilocks Zone
A Family Affair
From the Inside Out
Earth’s Recycling Plant
Lucky Quirks
Chapter 4: The Story of Life
Hell on Earth
It’s Raining Rocks
We are Aliens
From Soup to Cells
How? Where?
Chemistry Becomes Biology
When?
Harnessing the Power of Sunlight
The Great Oxygen Predicament
Snowball Earth
An Explosion of Life
Out of the Sea and on to the Land
The Stressors of Life
Chapter 5: Alien Worlds on Our Doorstep
A Home Away From Home
Alien Environments All Over the Place
Extreme Living
A Home Fit For a Martian
Floating above Venus
The Jovian Moons
The Oceans of Europa
The Fountains of Enceladus
The Lakes of Titan
The Signatures of Life
Exploring the Extremes
Chapter 6: Everything is Relative!
Extreme-lovers
The Relativity of Extremity
The Extremes
Temperature
pH
Water Availability and Salinity
Radiation
Pressure
Oxygen
Nature’s Superheroes – the Water Bears
Extremophiles from Space?
Chapter 7: Searching the Solar System
Messenger to the Gods
Goddess of Love and Beauty – if You Say So …
The God of War
Mars Mission History
Viking
MAVEN
Roving on Mars – Sojourner
Spirit and Opportunity
Phoenix
Curiosity
ExoMars
Mars 2020
When on Mars …
King of the Planets
Lord of the Rings
Gods of the Sky and Sea
The Underdog
Comets
Chapter 8: Extraterrestrial Worlds: Life Not As We Know It
Alien Worlds
Planet Hunters
Habitable Worlds
Searching for Super-Earths
Revealing Red Dwarfs
Exploring Exomoons
A Pale Blue Dot
Designer Life
The Degrees of ‘Alienness’ …
The Predictability of Evolution
A Body and Brain
The Face of Life
Skin and Bones
A Flight of Fancy
Lighting up Life
An Alien Greenhouse
Chapter 9: Is the Truth Really Out There?
The Search for Answers
The Oddity of ET
Conversations with my Cat
Cosmic Conundrums and Fermi’s Paradox
Barriers to Life
The Search Begins …
Project Ozma
Prime Numbers and Laser Pulses
The Power of Civilisation
Cosmic Sightseeing
Hello?
What Happens if We Find it? What Happens if We Don’t?
Chapter 10: The Next Generation
Why and Where Should We Go?
Mercury
Venus
The Asteroid Belt
Europa
Enceladus and Titan
Uranus and Neptune
Pluto
Living in Space
A Space Oddity
Fly Me to the Moon
A Mission to Mars
Terraforming
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Index
Copyright
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