Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.8
3.3
Journals
Sustainability
Special Issues
Astrobiology and Sustainability
sustainability-logo
Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Astrobiology and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2010) | Viewed by 98257

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jesus Martinez-Frias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM), C/ Del Doctor Severo Ochoa 7, Edificio Entrepabellones 7 y 8, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: planetary geosciences; meteorites; geoeducation; geoethics; mineralogy; geochemistry; sustainability; conceptual changes; astrobiology; future earth
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Astrobiology is a transdisciplinary field regarding the study of the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe; it encompasses exobiology; formation of elements, stars, planets, and organic molecules; initiation of replicating organisms; biogeological links on different terrestial settings (analogs), biological evolution; gravitational biology; and human exploration. Astrobiology was a new word for a new paradigm. Basically, it tries to address three basic questions: How does life begin and evolve? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? And What is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Likewise, achieving sustainable development generally involves a multidisciplinary approach, including scientific, technological, environmental, societal and cultural issues. In the near future, we will face an enormous activity spread across the solar system, involving a vast expansion of human knowledge and potential changes of the humankind’s view of the world and nature. We invite you to contribute to this special issue by submitting comprehensive review or research articles linking Astrobiology and Sustanability at different scales and from different perspectives.

Jesus Martinez-Frias
Guest Editor

Keywords

  • astrobiology; exobiology; exopaleontology or bioastronomy
  • habitable planet, life on the planet
  • prebiotic chemistry
  • life on Mars
  • life in outer space
  • planetary habitability
  • extremophiles and extreme environments
  • terrestrial analogs
  • geo/biomarkers
  • life, water and minerals

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (7 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

191 KiB  
Article
The Case of the Lacking Carbonates and the Emergence of Early Life on Mars
by David Carlos Fernández-Remolar, Mónica Sánchez-Román and Ricardo Amils
Sustainability 2010, 2(8), 2541-2554; https://doi.org/10.3390/su2082541 - 5 Aug 2010
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 8719
Abstract
The mineralogical characterization of Mars by different exploration missions, provides a new image of the earliest conditions that prevailed on the planet surface. The detection of extensive deposits of phyllosillicates has been considered to be as a result of the production of hydrated [...] Read more.
The mineralogical characterization of Mars by different exploration missions, provides a new image of the earliest conditions that prevailed on the planet surface. The detection of extensive deposits of phyllosillicates has been considered to be as a result of the production of hydrated silicates through alteration and precipitation under neutral to sub-alkaline conditions. Although extensive deposits of carbonates should precipitate beneath a thick CO2-bearing atmosphere, only a few outcrops of Mg-rich carbonates have been detected on Mars. Paradoxically those carbonates occur in association with geological units exposed to acidic paleoenvironments. Given such geochemical conditions on Earth, the carbon cycle is intimately associated with life, then, we can assume that the presence or absence of microbial communities should have impacted the distribution of those carbonate compounds on Mars. In this paper, we suggest three potential geobiological scenarios to explain how the emergence of life on Mars would have impacted the carbon cycle and, hence, the formation of carbonates on a planetary scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

143 KiB  
Article
On the Applicability of the Green Chemistry Principles to Sustainability of Organic Matter on Asteroids
by Vera M. Kolb
Sustainability 2010, 2(6), 1624-1631; https://doi.org/10.3390/su2061624 - 4 Jun 2010
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 8812
Abstract
The connection between astrobiology and green chemistry represents a new approach to sustainability of organic matter on asteroids or similar bodies. Green chemistry is chemistry which is environmentally friendly. One obvious way for chemistry to be green is to use water as a [...] Read more.
The connection between astrobiology and green chemistry represents a new approach to sustainability of organic matter on asteroids or similar bodies. Green chemistry is chemistry which is environmentally friendly. One obvious way for chemistry to be green is to use water as a solvent, instead of more toxic organic solvents. Many astrobiological reactions occur in the aqueous medium, for example in the prebiotic soup or during the aqueous alteration period on asteroids. Thus any advances in the green organic reactions in water are directly applicable to astrobiology. Another green chemistry approach is to abolish use of toxic solvents. This can be accomplished by carrying out the reactions without a solvent in the solventless or solid-state reactions. The advances in these green reactions are directly applicable to the chemistry on asteroids during the periods when water was not available. Many reactions on asteroids may have been done in the solid mixtures. These reactions may be responsible for a myriad of organic compounds that have been isolated from the meteorites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

96 KiB  
Article
Is Humanity Doomed? Insights from Astrobiology
by Seth D. Baum
Sustainability 2010, 2(2), 591-603; https://doi.org/10.3390/su2020591 - 12 Feb 2010
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 16730
Abstract
Astrobiology, the study of life in the universe, offers profound insights into human sustainability. However, astrobiology is commonly neglected in sustainability research. This paper develops three topics connecting astrobiology to sustainability: constraints on what zones in the universe are habitable, the absence of [...] Read more.
Astrobiology, the study of life in the universe, offers profound insights into human sustainability. However, astrobiology is commonly neglected in sustainability research. This paper develops three topics connecting astrobiology to sustainability: constraints on what zones in the universe are habitable, the absence of observations of extraterrestrial civilizations, and the physical fate of the universe. These topics have major implications for our thinking and action on sustainability. While we may not be doomed, we must take certain actions to sustain ourselves in this universe. The topics also suggest that our current sustainability efforts may be of literally galactic importance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
310 KiB  
Article
Astrobiology, Sustainability and Ethical Perspectives
by Jacques Arnould
Sustainability 2009, 1(4), 1323-1330; https://doi.org/10.3390/su1041323 - 15 Dec 2009
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 9385
Abstract
Astrobiology, a new field of research associating the prospects and constraints of prebiotic chemistry, mineralogy, geochemistry, astrophysics, theoretical physics, microbial ecology, etc., is assessed in terms of sustainability through the scientific and social functions it fulfils, and the limits it encounters or [...] Read more.
Astrobiology, a new field of research associating the prospects and constraints of prebiotic chemistry, mineralogy, geochemistry, astrophysics, theoretical physics, microbial ecology, etc., is assessed in terms of sustainability through the scientific and social functions it fulfils, and the limits it encounters or strives to overcome. In the same way as sustainable development, astrobiology must also take into account the temporal dimension specific to its field of investigation and examine its underlying conception of Nature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

310 KiB  
Review
The Search for Sustainable Subsurface Habitats on Mars, and the Sampling of Impact Ejecta
by Magnus Ivarsson and Paula Lindgren
Sustainability 2010, 2(7), 1969-1990; https://doi.org/10.3390/su2071969 - 5 Jul 2010
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 10074
Abstract
On Earth, the deep subsurface biosphere of both the oceanic and the continental crust is well known for surviving harsh conditions and environments characterized by high temperatures, high pressures, extreme pHs, and the absence of sunlight. The microorganisms of the terrestrial deep biosphere [...] Read more.
On Earth, the deep subsurface biosphere of both the oceanic and the continental crust is well known for surviving harsh conditions and environments characterized by high temperatures, high pressures, extreme pHs, and the absence of sunlight. The microorganisms of the terrestrial deep biosphere have an excellent capacity for adapting to changing geochemistry, as the alteration of the crust proceeds and the conditions of their habitats slowly change. Despite an almost complete isolation from surface conditions and the surface biosphere, the deep biosphere of the crustal rocks has endured over geologic time. This indicates that the deep biosphere is a self-sufficient system, independent of the global events that occur at the surface, such as impacts, glaciations, sea level fluctuations, and climate changes. With our sustainable terrestrial subsurface biosphere in mind, the subsurface on Mars has often been suggested as the most plausible place to search for fossil Martian life, or even present Martian life. Since the Martian surface is more or less sterile, subsurface settings are the only place on Mars where life could have been sustained over geologic time. To detect a deep biosphere in the Martian basement, drilling is a requirement. However, near future Mars sample return missions are limited by the mission’s payload, which excludes heavy drilling equipment and restrict the missions to only dig the topmost meter of the Martian soil. Therefore, the sampling and analysis of Martian impact ejecta has been suggested as a way of accessing the deeper Martian subsurface without using heavy drilling equipment. Impact cratering is a natural geological process capable of excavating and exposing large amounts of rock material from great depths up to the surface. Several studies of terrestrial impact deposits show the preservation of pre-impact biosignatures, such as fossilized organisms and chemical biological markers. Therefore, if the Martian subsurface contains a record of life, it is reasonable to assume that biosignatures derived from the Martian subsurface could also be preserved in the Martian impact ejecta. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

389 KiB  
Review
Resistance of Microorganisms to Extreme Environmental Conditions and Its Contribution to Astrobiology
by Pabulo Henrique Rampelotto
Sustainability 2010, 2(6), 1602-1623; https://doi.org/10.3390/su2061602 - 4 Jun 2010
Cited by 117 | Viewed by 31206
Abstract
In the last decades, substantial changes have occurred regarding what scientists consider the limits of habitable environmental conditions. For every extreme environmental condition investigated, a variety of microorganisms have shown that not only can they tolerate these conditions, but that they also often [...] Read more.
In the last decades, substantial changes have occurred regarding what scientists consider the limits of habitable environmental conditions. For every extreme environmental condition investigated, a variety of microorganisms have shown that not only can they tolerate these conditions, but that they also often require these extreme conditions for survival. Microbes can return to life even after hundreds of millions of years. Furthermore, a variety of studies demonstrate that microorganisms can survive under extreme conditions, such as ultracentrifugation, hypervelocity, shock pressure, high temperature variations, vacuums, and different ultraviolet and ionizing radiation intensities, which simulate the conditions that microbes could experience during the ejection from one planet, the journey through space, as well as the impact in another planet. With these discoveries, our knowledge about the biosphere has grown and the putative boundaries of life have expanded. The present work examines the recent discoveries and the principal advances concerning the resistance of microorganisms to extreme environmental conditions, and analyzes its contributions to the development of the main themes of astrobiology: the origins of life, the search for extraterrestrial life, and the dispersion of life in the Universe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
660 KiB  
Review
An Astrobiological View on Sustainable Life
by Takeshi Naganuma
Sustainability 2009, 1(4), 827-837; https://doi.org/10.3390/su1040827 - 19 Oct 2009
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 11779
Abstract
Life on a global biosphere basis is substantiated in the form of organics and organisms, and defined as the intermediate forms (briefly expressed as CH2O) hovering between the reduced (CH4, methane) and (CO2, carbon dioxide) ends, different [...] Read more.
Life on a global biosphere basis is substantiated in the form of organics and organisms, and defined as the intermediate forms (briefly expressed as CH2O) hovering between the reduced (CH4, methane) and (CO2, carbon dioxide) ends, different from the classical definition of life as a complex organization maintaining ordered structure and information. Both definitions consider sustenance of life meant as protection of life against chaos through an input of external energy. The CH2O-life connection is maintained as long as the supply of H and O lasts, which is in turn are provided by the splitting of the water molecule H2O. Water is split by electricity, as well-known from school-level experiments, and by solar radiation and geothermal heat on a global scale. In other words, the Sun’s radiation and the Earth’s heat as well as radioactivity split water to supply H and O for continued existence of life on the Earth. These photochemical, radiochemical and geothermal processes have influences on the evolution and current composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, compared with those of Venus and Mars, and influences on the planetary climatology. This view of life may be applicable to the “search-for-life in space” and to sustainability assessment of astrobiological habitats. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrobiology and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-7
Back to TopTop