The study of the origin(s) of life on Earth and the search for life on other planets are closely linked. Prebiotic chemical scenarios can help priori-tize target planets for the search for life (as we know it) and can provide informative prior probabilities to help us assess the likelihood that particular spectroscopic features are evidence of life. The prerequisites for origins scenarios themselves predict characteristic spectral signatures. The interplay between origins research and the search for extraterrestrial life starts with laboratory work to guide exploration within our own Solar System, which will then inform future exoplanet observations and laboratory research. Exoplanet research will, in turn, provide statistical context to conclusions about the nature and origins of life.
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August 01, 2021
Life’s Origins and the Search for Life on Rocky Exoplanets
Paul B. Rimmer;
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Astrophysics, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
E-mail: pbr27@cam.ac.uk
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Sukrit Ranjan;
Northwestern University Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics 1800 Sherman Ave, 8th Floor Evanston, IL, 60201, USA
E-mail: sukrit.ranjan@northwestern.edu
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Sarah Rugheimer
University of Oxford, Department of Physics, Sherrington Rd Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK
E-mail: sarah.rugheimer@physics.ox.ac.uk
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Elements (2021) 17 (4): 265–270.
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first online:
23 Nov 2021
Citation
Paul B. Rimmer, Sukrit Ranjan, Sarah Rugheimer; Life’s Origins and the Search for Life on Rocky Exoplanets. Elements 2021;; 17 (4): 265–270. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.17.4.265
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