000 05092nam a22004815i 4500
001 978-1-4614-1332-5
003 DE-He213
005 20140220083242.0
007 cr nn 008mamaa
008 111214s2012 xxu| s |||| 0|eng d
020 _a9781461413325
_9978-1-4614-1332-5
024 7 _a10.1007/978-1-4614-1332-5
_2doi
050 4 _aQH327-328
072 7 _aVXQB
_2bicssc
072 7 _aSCI004000
_2bisacsh
082 0 4 _a576.839
_223
100 1 _aBoyd, Richard N.
_eauthor.
245 1 0 _aStardust, Supernovae and the Molecules of Life
_h[electronic resource] :
_bMight We All Be Aliens? /
_cby Richard N. Boyd.
264 1 _aNew York, NY :
_bSpringer New York,
_c2012.
300 _aXI, 215p. 39 illus., 26 illus. in color.
_bonline resource.
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
347 _atext file
_bPDF
_2rda
490 1 _aAstronomers' Universe,
_x1614-659X
505 0 _aTable of Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1: In the Beginning -- 1.2: What is "Life?" -- 1.3: The Miller Urey Experiment -- 1.4: General Background and Definitions -- Chapter 2: What is the Origin of the Lightest Elements -- 2.1: The Big Bang -- 2.2: The Supernova Cosmology Project -- 2.3: The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe -- 2.4: Olber's Paradox -- 2.5: Big Bang Nucleosynthesis - BBN -- Chapter 3: What is the Origin of the Rest of the Elements? -- 3.1: Introduction to Stellar Nucleosynthesis -- 3.2.1: Hydrogen Burning -- 3.2.2: Helium Burning -- 3.2.3: Subsequent Burning Stages -- 3.3: After Stellar Burning -- 3.3.1: Creating a Core-Collapse Supernova Explosion -- 3.3.2: Synthesizing the Heavy Elements -- 3.3.3: White Dwarfs -- 3.3.4: Type Ia Supernovae -- Chapter 4: Creation of Molecules in the Interstellar Medium -- 4.1: The Electromagnetic Spectrum -- 4.2: Detecting Photons of Different Energies -- 4.3: Secrets from Meteorites -- 4.4: Mining the Comets -- 4.5: The Next Huge Step - Forming Life from the Molecules Delivered to Earth -- Chapter 5: Amino Acids and Chirality -- 5.1: A Primer on Amino Acids -- 5.2: Chirality and Polarization -- 5.3: Relating Optical and Molecular Chirality -- 5.3.1: Chiral Selection -- 5.3.2: A Little Atomic Physics and Some Very Basic Quantum Mechanics -- 5.4: The Other Molecules of Life -- Chapter 6: How Have Scientists Explained the Amino Acid Chirality? -- 6.1: Models that Produce Chirality -- 6.1.1: Chiral Selection via Circularly Polarized Sunlight -- 6.1.2: Chiral Selection via Circularly Polarized Sunlight -- 6.1.3: Chiral Selection via the Weak Interaction -- 6.1.4: Chiral Selection via Chemical Selection in Clay -- 6.2: Amplification via Chemical Catalysis -- 6.3: Laboratory Experiments and Theoretical Developments -- 6.4: Terrestrial  Amplification -- 6.5: Concluding Remarks on Amplification.- Chapter 7: What Happens to the Amino Acids When the Supernova Explodes? -- 7.1: The Supernova -- 7.2: The Neutrino Story -- 7.3: Interactions of Neutrinos with 14N -- 7.4: Relating the 14 N Spin to the Molecular Chirality -- 7.5: The Supernova Progenitor Star -- Chapter 8: Spreading Chirality Throughout the Galaxy and Throughout the Earth -- 8.1: Might Supernovae Process All the Amino Acids in the Galaxy? -- 8.2: Spreading Molecules and Enantiomerism Throughout the Galaxy -- 8.2.1: Cosmic Amplification -- 8.2.2: Cosmic Amplification -- 8.2.2: Galactic Mixing -- 8.2.3: Planetary Amplification -- 8.3: Testing the Models of Amino Acid Chirality -- 8.4: The Impact of Amino Acid Chirality on Questions of the Origin of Life in the Universe -- Chapter 9: What About the Rest of the Universe? -- 9.1: Are We Alone? -- 9.2: Extremophiles on Earth -- 9.3: And From Outer Space? -- Glossary -- Index.
520 _aWhere were the amino acids, the molecules of life, created: perhaps in a lightning storm in the early Earth, or perhaps elsewhere in the cosmos? This book argues that at least some of them must have been produced in the cosmos, and that the fact that the Earthly amino acids have a specific handedness provides an important clue for that explanation. The book discusses several models that purport to explain the handedness, ultimately proposing a new explanation that involves cosmic processing of the amino acids produced in space. The book provides a tour for laypersons that includes a definition of life, the Big Bang, stellar nucleosynthesis, the electromagnetic spectrum, molecules, and supernovae and the particles they produce.
650 0 _aPhysics.
650 0 _aEvolution (Biology).
650 0 _aAstrobiology.
650 0 _aAstronomy.
650 1 4 _aPhysics.
650 2 4 _aAstrobiology.
650 2 4 _aPopular Science in Astronomy.
650 2 4 _aEvolutionary Biology.
710 2 _aSpringerLink (Online service)
773 0 _tSpringer eBooks
776 0 8 _iPrinted edition:
_z9781461413318
830 0 _aAstronomers' Universe,
_x1614-659X
856 4 0 _uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1332-5
912 _aZDB-2-PHA
999 _c101048
_d101048