Cosmochemistry and Astrobiology

  • Book Review: Alan Lightman’s The Accidental Universe, The World You Thought You Knew - There has always been a lot of conflict and contention between religion and science, arguably since the beginning of human abstract thought. Everyone has an opinion on how the two interact, intermingle, or completely repel against each other. The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew is simply one man’s opinion written into a book.
  • Book Review: Andy Weir’s The Martian - Andrew Taylor “Andy” Weir is an American novelist born on June 16, 1972 in Davis, California, USA. He is best known for his science fiction novel, The Martian, which was written and self-published in 2011. Three years later, Crown Publishing purchased the rights and re-released it.
  • Cosmochemistry and Astrobiology - INTRODUCTION: We are “the stuff of stars,” as connected to the cosmos as the Galaxy that spawned us. This stuff includes the light elements of hydrogen and helium that emerged from the Hot Big Bang some 14 billion years ago, along with the heavier elements of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and silicon that were forged in […]
  • Earth & Space Report #12: Exploring our Cosmic Origins - Carl Sagan wrote that "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” We wish to know our home, so back we go, to the Big Bang, and step by step to today.
  • Earth and Space Report #2: Comparing Planetary Climates, and Why We Should Take Heed - Earth sits right in the Goldilocks zone. Venus, only a little closer to the sun, has a surface hot enough to melt lead, and Mars is cold enough to have dry ice -- C02 -- at its poles. What can the atmospheres of these three planets tell us about the future of our climate?