The Secret of Life in the Universe

An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life

Nathalie A. Cabrol 2023 Beaverton Lib 576.83 CAB

I read a couple of rambling chapters; a lot of words, a few vague guesses, many omissions.

For example, Mars; we have surprisingly little data about Martian organic chemicals, possibly because no complex ones exist. If none do, Mars cannot support life, and much of the motivation (and gigabuck funding) for Mars exploration will evaporate.

The book's index does not mention perchlorates, which destroy organic molecules Three orders of magnitude faster than unfiltered solar UV ... which would also preclude life.

There may be organic life out there, in places (like the large cold planets) that we are unable to land on and measure, or far far away in other planetary systems. Intelligent life? The window between undetectable technology and incomprehensibly advanced technology is a fraction of a century out of gigayears. Earth is transitioning rapidly to advanced technologies that only a few of us can barely imagine - extrapolating from electronics, not organic chemistry.