Detection of extra-terrestrial life, Royal Society, Londoniaaweb.org/iaa/Scientific...
Transcript of Detection of extra-terrestrial life, Royal Society, Londoniaaweb.org/iaa/Scientific...
Detection of extra-terrestrial life,
Royal Society, London
On 25-26 January 2010 the Academy was invited by the Royal Society, London, UK, to
participate to the first discussion meeting on the Detection of extra-terrestrial life and the
consequences for science and society. Prof. John Zarnecki, CM1 was co-Chair of the
program. Among speakers we noted the presence of Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund, CM3, Prof.
Paul Davies, CM1, Prof. Ivan Almar, M1, Dr. Mazlan Othman, M1 and IAA Trustee. Among
participants we noted Dr. Jean-Michel Contant, IAA, Dr. Claudio Maccone, Italy and Dr. Jill
Tarter, USA. Prof. Michel Mayor Switzerland, underlined that on the last 15 years some 400
planets orbiting stars similar to our Sun have been detected. The search for twins of the
Earth is motivated by the ultimate prospect of finding sites with favorable conditions for the
development of life.
Opening ceremony (from Right to left): Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, Dr Martin
Dominik, University of St Andrew (Organizer), Prof. Baruch Blumberg, Fox Chase Cancer Centre, USA.
Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund noted that a surprisingly high number of biomolecules and
molecules that are used in contemporarily biochemistry on Earth are found in the
interstellar medium, planetary atmospheres and surface, comets, asteroids and meteorites,
and interplanetary dust particles.
Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund, George Washington University and Leiden University.
Dr. Franck Drake, USA, remarked that SETI projects would be far more sensitive if carried
out from the far side of the moon, and ultimately at the gravitational focal point of the sun.
Incidentally those proposals are precisely subjects of current IAA studies in preparation.
Prof. Ted Peters, USA, presented a study comparison between most of all religions about the
issue of implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial life for religion and theology.
Dr. Franck Drake during his presentation at the Royal Society in London.
Dr. Malcom Fridlund, ESA, indicated that the European Space Agency has been involved in
the studies and development of the latest technologies and will be very probably involved
with deployment in space of relevant instrumentation. Dr. Christopher P. McKay, NASA
Ames, added that fossils are not enough, and there is need to access intact alien life;
possibly frozen in the deep old permafrost of Mars or the icy surfaces of Europa and
Enceladus. Paul Davies, USA, developed ideas about the founding tenet of astrobiology
whish is that if life emerges readily in earthlike conditions there is possibility that earth host
or has hosted more than one form of life but the microbial realm remains largely
unexplored.
In the concluding session Prof. Ivan Almar developed concept of assessment by scales of
discovery of extraterrestrial life importance and associated risks. Dr. Mazlan Othman, UN
Office of Outer Space, Vienna, presented from an historic perspective the growing interest
of the UN for the “supra Earth affairs” as exemplified with the recent asteroids and
planetary defense discussion in Vienna. She concluded that the door is open at UN with the
help of some national delegations and some international organizations such as the
International Academy of Astronautics to draw attention of the nations to the need of
research about the detection of extra-terrestrial life in the universe. Thanks to the Royal
Society the subject is now highlighted.
Dr. JM Contant making announcement of the 2nd IAA-RAS conference on Searching for Life Signature
to be held in Milton Keynes, near London, October 4th-7th 2010.