Astrobiology

Before we think too hard about life elsewhere in the universe, it’s important to remember just how crazy and diverse life is here on earth. Check out my brief video Aliens in the Aquarium.
Watch the video Life in the Universe for an introduction to the scientific search for alien life.
Read 30.1 The Cosmic Context for Life to explore the conditions necessary for life and the implications of the Copernican principle and Fermi paradox.
Explore 30.2 Astrobiology to learn about the study of life in the universe, including its origin on Earth, and the conditions required for life as we know it.
Scientists would love to understand how life began on earth - how non-living material first became living. One of the most interesting approaches I’ve seen to this question is illustrated in the TED Talk The Line Between Life and Non-Life. Watch the video to see fascinating demonstrations of simple experiments that attempt to create life-like objects out of very simple chemicals. It kind of reminds me of the video game Osmos… (in fairness, almost everything reminds me of Osmos).