Introduction

If Earthling’s ever encounter extraterrestrial life, we will share one thing in common. Us and whatever life we contact, complex or not, will have originated on a planet. Life cannot exist on or in a star because of the extreme conditions nor can it exist on gas giants or icy giants. Life probably cannot and does not exist in or on asteroids and even if it did current detection methods are far from strong enough to detect or study asteroids throughout the galaxy. Astronomers do not search for life in black holes or solar nebulas or supernovas, for obvious reasons. The search for life focuses almost entirely on planets comprised primarily of water or rock. Studying these worlds, scientists hope to find life and if not simply planetary science.

Detection

On December 16, 2009,  the MEarth Project confirmed the detection of an exo-planet orbiting nearby red dwarf star, Gliese 1214. The planet, named Gliese  1214b, Gliese tells us the planet orbits a star in the three-star system, Gliese, the number specifies the host star it orbits within the Gliese star system and the letter specifies which planet it is. Its host star Gliese 1214 is located in our immediate neighborhood within the Milky Way galaxy. Gliese 1214b floats forty-two light years away from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus.

The MEarth Project detected Gliese 1214b using the transit method. To use this method, the observation point must be somewhat edge on in order to observe a planetary eclipse of the host star. As Gliese 1214b passed in front of Gliese 1214, instruments observed 1.50 % a dip in the host stars total luminosity.

With the telescopes fixed on this star the MEarth Project eliminated the possibility that such a dip was caused by an asteroid or comet, when thirty eight hours later they detected the same decrease in overall brightness. Using only transit detection methods, the MEarth Project determined Gliese 1214b’s orbital period and subsequently its orbital velocity, its mass, and its semi-major axis.

Planetary Metrics and Composition

Gliese 1214b orbits Gliese 1214 at a distance of 0.0140 Astronomical Units and completes one full orbit every 38 hours. It is 6.36 times the mass of Earth and its radius is 2.69 times Earth’s. Being larger than Earth and the other terrestrial planets yet smaller than the ice giants of our solar system, Neptune and Uranus, it is characterized as a Super Earth. Such a size raises questions of composition that in 2009 scientists did not have sufficient evidence to answer.

Initially, scientists postulated it was composed mostly of water, though this could not be confirmed. Also, using its mass and radius scientists calculated its density and found it to be denser than water at 5.0 g/cc. Recent research confirms these claims and raises interesting possibilities regarding the habitability of the planet. Gliese 1214b is, in fact, comprised of water and it harbors a thick water vapor atmosphere. The atmosphere was detected using the Rayleigh Effect. When scientists ran models using its observed radius and compared them to actual observations, they differed. They determined that the origin of this difference was caused by a larger radius than scientists previously accounted for. This difference must be the result of a high atmosphere.

Rayleigh Effect diagrams.

http://www.naoj.org/Pressrelease/2013/09/03/

A Thick Watery Atmosphere

The thick atmosphere exerts an incredible amount of pressure on Gliese 1214b’s surface. In addition, the surface temperature is estimated at a range of 393-555 K. The calculations below confirm Gliese 1214b’s extremely high surface temperatures.

At these high temperatures and high pressures, water cannot exist, on the surface, as a liquid. Therefore life, similar to life on Earth, cannot exist on Gliese 1214b’s surface. But, life may exist in its watery core, much like the possibility that life exists in the subsurface ocean, of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

The conditions superfluid water exists at.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/superfluid-phase-transition-0118.html

            Because Gliese 1214b is relatively close to Earth, it offers an opportunity for further study of its atmosphere and internal composition that will increase the accuracy of our estimates and knowledge of its surface and internal conditions. Currently, scientists speculate the presence of “hot ice”, “superfluid water” and “plasma water” on its surface. Life, like life on Earth, cannot exist or evolve in these extreme phases of water. Such a possibility cannot be ruled out because some sort of thermophile may be able to withstand the grueling temperatures and high pressures on its surface, or in the subsurface ocean.

Though this does not seem possible becuase at these high temperatures complex chemistry, essential to life, breaks down. Without the formation of chemical bonds life, of any kind, simply cannot form.

This does not completely eliminate the possibility of life. Below the surface, temperatures may be lower therefore liquid water could exist. The discovery and confirmation, of a subsurface ocean comprised of, at least primarily liquid water would greatly increase the probability of life existing on Gliese 1214b.

A Migratory Planet’s Icy Origins

The presence of liquid water is anomaly because of its close proximity to its host star. Gliese 1214b is such a large planet comprised of approximately 75.0% water. Therefore it is unlikely that asteroid and comet impacts provided all of Gliese 1214b’s water. The nebular theory of solar system formation does not account for Gliese 1214b’s semi-major axis of 0.0140 AU’s. Astronomers hypothesize that Gliese 1214b must have accreted outside the frostline, as an icy planet, explaining the presence of water. Then, they speculate that it gradually migrated inwards, melting the ice and, thus, accounting for the presence of liquid water.

Its original position and subsequent migration inwards inhibited the formation of possibly habitable conditions. When it was icy, habitability was impossible. These uninhabitable conditions must have persisted until it reached its final stable orbit. In its current orbit, Gliese 1214b is outside the habitable zone. The inner boundary of Gliese 1214’s habitable zone is 0.05 Au’s from the star and its outer boundary is 0.08 AU’s from the star. Using the fraction of Gliese 1214b’s luminosity to the Sun’s luminosity, I calculated these boundaries.

Although Gliese 1214b orbits outside the habitable zone, it may still harbor life. This fact simply eliminates the possibility of liquid water existing on the surface, but it may exist elsewhere on the planet.

Life may exist and may have existed since Gliese 1214b’s conception in a subsurface ocean, protected from impacts by a thick icy crust. The migration further confounds the unlikeliness of intelligent complex beings existing on Gliese 1214b. Simple microbial life may exist underneath its surface. It is a possibility, but an incredible small one because of the intense heat and pressure inflicted on the planet by its thick water vapor atmosphere.

Just because life does not persist on Gliese 1214b does not nullify its scientific importance. Astronomers and scientists, alike, are enthused by the opportunity to study its atmosphere and try to determine the causes for its inward migration. This “steamy water world” provides an excellent chance to challenge and strengthen our theory of solar system formation and planetary science. Its proximity to Earth ensures that such studies and resulting discoveries will be a part of the near scientific future.

Bibliography

“Astronomers Find World with Thick, Inhospitable Atmosphere and an Icy Heart | ESO.” Www.eso.org. European Southern Observatory, 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://eso.org/public/news/eso0950/&gt;.

Bennett, Jeffrey O., G. Seth. Shostak, and Bruce M. Jakosky. Life in the Universe. 3rd ed. San Francisco, CA: Addison Wesley, 2003. Print.

“Gliese 1214.” Open Exoplanet Catalogue. MIT, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <http://openexoplanetcatalogue.com/system.html?id=Gliese%201214%20b&gt;.

“GJ 1214 B.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GJ_1214_b&gt;.

Hadhazy, Adam. “Super-Earth or Mini-Neptune? New Technique to Probe Exoplanet Habitability.” Space.com. N.p., 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.space.com/23079-alien-planets-super-earth-mini-neptune.html&gt;.

“New Type of Alien Planet Is a Steamy ‘Waterworld’” Space.com. N.p., 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.space.com/14634-alien-planet-steamy-waterworld-gj1214b.html&gt;.

“Observations Indicate Super-Earth GJ 1214 B Has a Water-Rich Atmosphere.” SciTech Daily. N.p., 4 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://scitechdaily.com/observations-indicate-super-earth-gj-1214-b-water-rich-atmosphere/&gt;.

Rayleigh Scattering (physics).” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/492483/Rayleigh-scattering?sections=49248&gt;.

Zolfagharifard, Ellie. “Super-Earth 40 Light Years Away ‘is Rich in Water with a Thick, Steamy Atmosphere’, Confirm Japanese Astronomers.” Mail Online. N.p., 5 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2412151/Super-Earth-GJ-1214b-40-light-years-away-rich-water-steamy-atmosphere.html&gt;.

This is an explanation for the diagram I posted above. 

The JB Diagram charts the correlation between the amount of hours children under the age of six watch television and ADHD diagnoses of children under eighteen. My postulations addressing the relevance of diagnoses to mindfulness is ruthless and holds little scientific water because I did not have time to collect data. This graph represents the beginnings of a hypothesis. I repeat, I did not perform any scientific polling  or data collection method! Therefore, the generalized plot points in my graph, represented my the shaded shapes, are not supported by actual data. I skimmed charts and graphs on the internet for about two hours. Then, created this generalized and hypothetical diagram.

The intent of this diagram is not that of a thoroughly conducted scientific study. Instead, it proposes my hypothesis that television viewing in babies and toddlers is a major factor in the development of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. The brain does not stop developing after the age of six, but the years before six are some of the most formative in cognitive and social cranial development. Sticking a baby or toddler in front of the big screen is a short term solution, maybe to reduce parents’ stress, but it has dangerous implications as the child ages. Watching television is a mindless activity, unless you are analyzing a show for dramatic qualities or taking notes on a PBS special. Certainly, no child under the age of six engages in these analytic activities, making this activity completely mindless. The child becomes complicit to constant stimulation, resulting in lethargic development of crucial thinking skills.

I believe that our curiosity for understanding and interaction almost completely forms by the time we are six (or at least when we are very young). In these formative years, it is imperative to engage children in the world around them. This does not mean paying excessive attention to make sure they are learning multiplication or Portuguese. Simply, turn the television off. Let them explore the world around. Give them the opportunity to discover. If this is done, a lot of people will be saving themselves future medical bills, for ADHD prescriptions (medical meth) and more importantly ensuring complete cognitive development in their children.

Knowing when one is going to die is a frightening idea. I am sure very few people want to know their date of death. Predicting when a human or any other animal will die is impossible, unless you trust fortune tellers. Recently a more trustworthy group, tye scientists at the UEA’s school of Environmental Sciences, have been working on predicting when we all will die and they discovered when. That is, they formulated an accurate estimate as to when Earth will not be habitable.

Conservative and optimistic estimates of our solar system’s habitable zone.
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit7/life.html

According to their research, in 1.75 to 3.25 billion years, the Earth will no longer be in our solar system’s habitable zone. We will exit the habitable zone because as our Sun evolves it becomes larger and as it grows larger it becomes brighter. Brightness and solar temperature are inextricably linked, therefore the Sun will heat up as it grows bigger and brighter.Increasing solar temperatures, will force the habitable zone to grow wider and migrate farther from the Sun. Fortunately, and unfortunately, Earth orbits the Sun in an ellipse fixed at 1.5×10⁸ kilometers from the Sun’s core. Our enduring orbit, has provided Earth with stable conditions conducive to life for the last four billion years. Unfortunately, we cannot follow the habitable zone’s outward migration and the implications of being outside the habitable zone are quite severe.

The Sun will eventually become a red giant. Consequently it will be larger, brighter and hotter.
http://www.physics.uc.edu/~hanson/ASTRO/LECTURENOTES/W07/Evolution/Page4.html

Once outside, the intensity of the Sun’s heat will initiate a runaway greenhouse effect. Higher temperatures will cause liquid water on Earth’s surface to evaporate and travel high into the atmosphere. At such altitudes, UV radiation, unblocked by the ozone layer below, will destroy water vapor, leaving only hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The hydrogen molecules will zip off into space as they easily reach Earth’s escape velocity. Without sufficient amounts of hydrogen, Earth will lack the ingredients to create water. As water vapor is destroyed in the upper atmosphere, liquid water on Earth’s surface will continue to evaporate into the lower atmosphere. To compound the situation, evaporated water vapor in the lower atmosphere will contribute significantly to the warming because it is a greenhouse gas. The subsequent hotter temperatures will allow the atmosphere to hold more water vapor. As a result, more surface water evaporates and a destructive positive feedback loop sets in that will heat Earth’s surface and bake its crust far past the point of habitability.

Earth’s future is bleak. At least, we know when this will happen and that is not for a very long time. Us, humans will long be extinct, suffocated in the aftermath of a large asteroid impact or felled by our own internal conflicts. But, we could somehow survive long enough for ‘leaving the habitable zone’ to be a daily concern, and by then hopefully we will have colonized Mars. Thus, we could perpetuate our existence a few more billion years. Eventually, Mars will not be in the habitable zone, so we would have to move  again, and again when the Sun explodes, and again when the exoplanet we have conquered becomes inhabitable and again when that star explodes, and again, and again, and again. Then we will have returned to our migratory beginnings, as hunters and gatherers, except on galactic scale.

Sources

“Earth’s Habitable Lifetime.” Astrobiology Web. N.p., 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://astrobiology.com/2013/09/earths-habitable-lifetime.html&gt;.

In 2008, Dr. Gary Tabor and the conservation community were on the cusp of a revolution. With financial support from corporate giants: BP, Waste Management, Microsoft, Patagonia, National Geographic and more, The Center for Large Landscape Conservation seethed at the possibility of initiating state and maybe even federal legislation to protect large swaths of Western lands known as wildlife corridors. Then the real estate bubble burst. Then the economy tanked. Then, all of The Center for Large Landscape Conservation’s corporate backing bailed. The revolution died before it started.

In policy making, money rules. It is an unfortunate reality of government in the United states today. Whether it be state or federal, it does not matter. Lobbying persists in town halls, state capitols and all the way to Capital Hill. This seemingly corrupt practice is nonetheless a democratic necessity, especially in the federal government. Lobbying allows non-profit groups to speak out on behalf of their constituents while providing policy makers with expertise on convoluted topics, allowing them to make educated legislative decisions.

There are two types of lobbying: that of non-profits lobbying congressional committees and individual legislators and that of the citizen contacting their congressman directly. Voicing individual concerns to a representative in an eloquent rational manner inspires healthy discourse and understanding between our government and its citizens. One email, one letter or a brief meeting may seem hopeless in influencing larger policy. But, collectively our ideas can coalesce to create an impetus for legislative action.

At first, I was shocked to see some of the corporations supporting the idea of large landscape conservation. BP, really? Microsoft? What is their stake in this? I thought it must be their bottom lines. But, their underlying interests did not matter because they conspired as a coalition for good. Of course, my amazement dissipated when Dr. Tabor clicked to the next slide and informed us of the economic disaster that destroyed the coalition. It was not what Dr. Tabor told us about the desertion of every large corporate supporter of the CLLC when the Great Recession struck that frustrated me. In times of economic distress, a company must protect its internal assets and frankly does not posses the resources for lobbying. I completely understand. What frustrated me and continues to nag me is the fact that without corporate sponsorship the CLLC’s legislative velocity died. There would be no more federal or state laws regarding wildlife corridors. Without these private financial resources, this alliance, on the cusp of the next great land management revolution, was no more. It ceased not because the passion vanished or the idea was unsound. It died because of the CLLC could not afford to enact their ideas in Congress. Should it really cost that much money to get heard in our government: to make real change?

I do not think so. Even if we accept this bourgeois reality, as citizens, as individuals, we should be inspired to get heard in government and make real change. Instead of forfeiting our ideas when corporate backing bails, we should let it light a flame in our stomachs that excites us to action. The CLLC gave up, when they should have been impassioned to revive their movement through their constituents, and the people. They had the opportunity to start a grassroots movement. It might have been unsuccessful, nobody knows because they did not try.

If such action fails then we better understand our legislative system and, in the future, can more efficiently affect it. Whether that means significant private funding  is necessary or non-profit support is required then so be it. At least we know.

I believe that individuals still posses sufficient political efficacy and the general rationality to influence our legislative process. It just takes determination and a will to succeed. Corporate backing is a luxury of modern times and a privilege of democracy. In feudal times, serfs did not have the resources of corporations to help fund a people’s revolution or to overthrow a monarch. Instead they grabbed their pitchforks and cabbage and attacked their ruthless leaders. Today, for the people to remain relevant, we must grab our hypothetical pitchforks and cabbage and participate in our beautiful democracy.

With what little I know and even littler I understand about the origins of the universe, and of time, I intend to question and hopefully further my understanding of their beginnings. Of course, conveniently, time and space cannot have a beginning because a beginning – as in a specific point in time – implies time existed before time. This is impossible. Thinking based on the idea of unidirectional time disintegrates at singularities, because neither exists in singularities. Therefore it is sensible to propose that time and matter constantly cycle, intertwined in a repetitive expansion toward a singularity and a consequent re-expansion.

This cycle is guided by the principles of enthalpy and entropy, the building up and simultaneous breaking down of matter. Naturally, the idea of expansion from a singular point of nothing to a singular point of nothing, literally nothing, as in mathematical ZERO, is counterintuitive.

After pondering such a frustrating, and baffling thought, I conclude that time and matter are interdependent, because one cannot and does not exist without the other. This idea is not original, instead it is a furthering of the idea posed by George Musser in his article Could Time End?. Everything is one. When I applied this perspective to the idea that expansion is cyclical, it provides a comforting outcome, more importantly one that makes logical sense to me.

Time, when considered in amounts – seconds, hours, days, etc. – is cyclical. It moves (note I was careful not to use the word “begins”) from zero hours and increases to twenty-four hours, at which point it simultaneously equals zero. I take this example from a helpful anecdote Musser provided in the same article.

At a singularity, matter and time do not exist.  There is just nothing. When the singularity expands, time and matter simultaneously come into existence because one cannot be without the other. Time does not exist without matter because matter measures time, without it there is no clock. Likewise, matter does not exist without time because matter constantly moves, it is constantly expanding and expansion requires time to proceed. Following this logic, life and time must also be codependent. Matter constitutes life and because matter and life are the same and because matter cannot exist without time, life too cannot exist without time. This is simple if-A-equals-B-and-B-equals-C-then-A-equals-C logic.

A force must drive time and matter into existence simultaneously. Maybe the force is of the quantum nature and humans cannot perceive it because of the shortcomings of linear thought? Maybe it is magic? Maybe, and probably, some underlying fallacy in my thought fells these conclusions because I simply cannot fathom timelessness or anything but unidirectional time. Without the ability to think differently, we may never understand singularities or the cycle of the Universe. But, we may, in the future construct some sort of artificial intelligence with quantum computing capabilities that will discover the truth about time and matter.

Source

Musser, George. “Could Time End?” Scientific American. Print.

In the final paragraph of my last blog, Life Lies in Orbits and Atmospheres, I mentioned the recent analysis of Super-Earth Gliese 1214b and the low mass star it orbits, Gliese 667C. My own disclosure of information regarding this star and its planet was rather brief. Considering the new information about habitability in this star system, it is only fitting I expound on this topic.

Our solar system has three planets in the habitable zone: Venus, Mars, and Earth. There may be extremophile life outside the habitable zone on the Galilean moons of Jupiter or on Saturn’s moon, Titon. According to modern scientific discovery, life only exists on Earth and may have existed in the past on Venus or Mars. Unlike our solar system, Gliese 667C is one star in a three star system. Seven planets orbit Gliese 667C and it was believed that only one planet orbited in Gliese 1214b’s habitable zone. But, a cooperative of astronomers from around the world recently discovered another two planets in the habitable zone of Gliese 667C. These three planets are SuperEarth’s, giant terrestrial planets four to five times the mass of Earth. They do not possess any super qualities nor are they the breeding ground for super heroes, as neither of these hypotheses has yet been confirmed.

Gliese 1214b.
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-super-earth-gliese-1214b-water-rich-atmosphere-01360.html

What is super is the recent discovery that Gliese 1214b, one of the trio, is surrounded by “a water rich or hydrogen dominated atmosphere with extensive clouds.” It would not be super if the atmosphere was composed primarily of hydrogen because it would create conditions inhibitive to the survival of life, much like Earth’s very early atmosphere. Fortunately, upon further spectroscopic evaluation of the atmosphere -to supplement previousRayleigh Effect analysis- scientists believe that it is more likely a water dominated atmosphere. This presence of water vapor allows scientists to accurately approximate how and where the planet formed in its solar system.

Also, and more intriguingly, because water vapor is a Greenhouse Gas it could foster a Greenhouse Effect sufficient enough to maintain a warm surface temperature. Warm surface and atmospheric temperatures are conducive for liquid water to form. Even though we still need much more evidence to scientifically prove that liquid water exists on Gliese 1214b, the thought tantalizes. If scientists confirm the presence of water vapor, it means oxygen exists there, which is a necessary element for the formation of life.

Most of this is personal speculation and optimism. For now, I am free to speculate about the habitability of this beautiful blue SuperEarth. Even if liquid water is not present on this SuperEarth, the possibility for solar systems similar to the low mass Gliese 667C system is extremely high because 80% of stars in the Milky Way are low mass stars. This fact makes me ponder not whether other worlds have liquid water, but how many worlds have liquid water.

Artist’s rendering of possible sunset in the Gliese solar system. Notice the three stars.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGliese_667&h=0&w=0&sz=1&tbnid=kP6LUhl5L0QskM&tbnh=183&tbnw=275&zoom=1&docid=O2bvvspOrpaxAM&ei=mMxMUq6pLqemygGD84HwBQ&ved=0CAEQsCU

Sources

“A SuperEarth With a Water-Rich Atmosphere.” Astrobiology Magazine. Helen Matsos, 6 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/5665/a-superearth-with-a-water-rich-atmosphere&gt;.

“One Star, Three Habitable Planets.” Astrobiology Magazine. Helen Matsos, 26 June 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/5533/one-star-three-habitable-planets&gt;.

Gliese 667C and its three habitable worlds.
http://www.space.com/21708-images-habitable-alien-planets-gliese-667c.html

There are six very specific biological requirements for life. These biological requirements apply to all life on Earth. In looking for extraterrestrial life scientists must establish a set of conditions that would make a planet or other celestial object habitable. There are many unknowns regarding possible conditions of habitable worlds because scientists can only study life on Earth and the specific conditions it has evolved in. Life that has not been discovered could exist in conditions previously thought to be uninhabitable.

When looking for life scientists first look for habitable worlds leading them to generally focus on exoplanets or planets outside our solar system. Why do scientists favor exoplanets? Could life exist on asteroids or moons of exoplanets? Life could exist on moons, in fact Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Titan may harbor microbial life deep under their frozen surfaces. But moons simply are not an astrobiologist’s first priority because locating a small moon is unfeasible. It is much easier to find and then study much larger exoplanets.

Asteroids are also very difficult to locate because of their small size and their variable orbits. This does not completely undermine the possibility that life may exist on or in an asteroid. Life requires consistent conditions to survive. Due to the variability of their orbits, asteroids ’exposures to solar radiation and asteroids’ temperatures randomly fluctuate. This compounds the fact that asteroids lack atmospheres to protect life from solar radiation and to maintain a habitable climate.

Variable orbits of asteroids in our solar system.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=graphic-science

Unlike asteroids, exoplanets have steady orbits these steady orbits create stable conditions that allow life a chance to develop and thrive. A consistent orbit does not ensure life, as the lack of life on all planets in our solar system, besides Earth, illustrates. Planets must orbit at a specific distance from a star; not too far and not too close. If the radius of an orbit is small, signifying the planet orbits the star closely it will be too hot on the planet for liquid water to form.

Solar radiation.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/04/this-one-goes-t/

Also, great amounts of solar radiation will bombard the planet damaging any life that exists even in the absence of liquid water. If the radius of an orbit is very large, meaning the planet orbits very far away from the star, it will be too cold to harbor any life. These low temperatures are caused by a lack of solar radiation to heat the planet up. “Too close” and “too far” are relative terms that depend on the type of star a planet orbits. Inevitably, every solar system has a “too close” and a “too far”, but these distances vary depending on the type of star being orbited.

Habitable zone of our solar system is highlight in blue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumstellar_habitable_zone

A “just right’ orbital radii do exist and scientists call this range of “just right” the habitable zone. In the habitable zone, planets receive just the right amount of solar radiation to produce temperatures conducive to the formation of liquid water. Being in this zone, is the first characteristic of an exoplanet that an astrobiologist’s note when looking for habitable worlds.

The second characteristic, astrobiologists consider is atmosphere.  An atmosphere must be composed of water vapor, because all known life requires water and the ample protection water vapor provides from solar radiation (any Greenhouse Gas will provide ample protection). It is possible for life to exist in atmospheres composed primarily of other substances such as carbon dioxide. Earth’s early atmosphere consisted of mostly carbon dioxide. Finding an atmosphere composed primarily of water vapor is a bonus because finding an atmosphere any significance is highly unlikely in and of itself. To determine the composition of an atmosphere scientists study the Rayleigh Effect. This is the change of wavelength of light once it strikes any medium. In a low hanging atmosphere composed of water vapor, the Rayleigh Effect is significantly weaker than in a high hydrogen based atmosphere because a lot of light misses the low hanging one entirely.

The Rayleigh Effect.
http://www.invocom.et.put.poznan.pl/~invocom/C/P1-9/swiatlowody_en/p1-1_2_2.htm

Recently scientists observed this phenomenon on the planet Gliese 1214b , which orbits the low mass star, Gliese 667C. The discovery of an exoplanet in a habitable zone is very unlikely. So the discovery of an exoplanet in the habitable zone that has a water rich atmosphere carries incredible significance. Its very discovery means that there are probably other exoplanets like it elsewhere (statistically very likely because the Milky Way is 80% low mass stars) and more importantly it means there could be life on Gliese 1214b.

Sources

“A SuperEarth With a Water-Rich Atmosphere.” Astrobiology Magazine. Helen Matsos, 6 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/5665/a-superearth-with-a-water-rich-atmosphere&gt;.

“One Star, Three Habitable Planets.” Astrobiology Magazine. Helen Matsos, 26 June 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/5533/one-star-three-habitable-planets&gt;.

Jack Benham

Physics 120: Life in the Universe

Professor Mariana Lazarova 

September 25, 2013

A Modern Family

The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell, holds true to the Jesuit idea that people find God and love through work. In this novel, a vibrant collection of six people finds family and home in the collaboration of their labors both similar and different. Not one person of the group was raised in the stereotypical orthodox tradition, meaning the usual family composed of a mother and a father and less than about ten children. Yet they form their own modern family. A family with the same dynamics of love, rivalry and confusion any other family experiences. This amalgamation of different men and women create a portrait for the modern family and prove that any stagnant view the vital social structure, we call family, is simply wrong. They prove that the components of family are irrelevant as long as the loving relationships, dynamics and forces that foster the inexplicable love, rivalries, and loyalty shared between kin are preserved.

Familial rivalry courses through our history. In Feudal Europe the children of both royal and serf families engaged in intense battles physical and political to prosper. Sons of royal families often battled each other a chance to succeed their father’s crown. These battles spilled out from the court in the form of duels and assassinations that sometimes involved killing the father for a chance to become king. Children of serf families battled for survival, hoping to just grow up and maybe even become viable and proactive members of their communities. Obviously the intensity of inter family rivalries has dissipated dramatically, but it certainly continues as a muted dynamic in modern families.

Rivalry is not a prevalent dynamic among the six members of this most unusual family as each member of this family appreciate any sort of prolonged companionship and loyalty that they provide to each other. Their lives before they converge on the La Perla Slum of San Juan, Puerto Rico are proof enough for them that they should not take this love for granted.

Father Emilio Sanchez, Anne and George Edwards, Sofia Mendes, Father DW Yarbrough and Jimmy Quinn have nothing in common besides the fact that they grew up or are now currently living unorthodox lives with regards to family. Emilio grew up in La Perla, which as a mentioned above is a slum of San Juan. His family was deeply rooted in the heroin smuggling business. He spends his childhood on the streets, fighting, drinking, and playing baseball. Street fighting leads him to boxing, which leads him to the United States, where he meets Father DW Yarbrough. With the guidance of the Father Superior of the district of New Orleans, Emilio joins decides to become a Jesuit priest. Emilio is brilliant, especially as a linguist. He picks up language quickly and masters it within weeks or months of first hearing it. This linguistic acuity makes him a valuable missionary resource and the Jesuits send him all over the world to work with different cultures. 

The man who inspired Emilio to choose a path of piety, DW, is quite an anomaly. He jokingly believes he is not “the work of a serious deity” because “the Good Lord [made him] a Catholic, a liberal, ugly and gay and a fair poet and then had him born in Waco, Texas.” 

Sofia Mendes is born in Istanbul, Turkey to Jewish parents whose ancestors were exiled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. She carries their fortitude and stubbornness with her to survive. Also she is incredibly emotionally unavailable, she is “all business”. This seriousness stems from her horrific childhood. Both her parents died in a war when she was young, so she whored her young body out to older men. In her late teenage years one of her clients, a man named Jaubert, offers buy her into indentured servitude. Disgusting by today’s ethics, in the fictional world of The Sparrow this is an opportunity for Sofia to leave her life of prostitution, become educated at the highest level and live a somewhat normal life. Jaubert is a broker, he goes to the worlds worst slums and finds talented young people to educate. In return, people invest in them like a person would invest in a company. If the investments make money Jaubert and the investors make money. Its a simple idea that although repulsive, offers young people living in unthinkable poverty to have a chance to contribute to the world. 

Sofia proves incredibly sharp and driven. Consequently, like Emilio, she is also a keen linguist but possesses the flexibility to learn and master any work quickly. Her broker, Jaubert, assigns her to a job in Cleveland. This job entails studying Father Emilio Sandoz’s method for learning languages. 

While being the subject of study of Sofia, in Cleveland, Emilio teaches a latin class at a local university. One of his favorite students is an older middle aged women named Anne Edwards who decided to return to school to better understand all the latin terminology that baffled her during her career as a nurse. Emilio begins having dinner with Anne and George, her husband who is a retired technician of some sort. The couple never had kids. Anne’s outgoing hospitality and incredible ability to sympathize with everyone and George’s natural paternal gentleness and sternness make it seem odd they never tried. 

Finally, there is Jimmy Quinn. Born in Boston to Irish parents who emigrated from Dublin due to civil unrest, is enormously tall and lanky. His parents divorced when he was a teenager but they made sure he completed his education and he graduated college with a degree in astronomy. Jimmy decides to enter the ultra competitive field of astronomy, a market in which artificial intelligence drastically decreased the need for human resources. Yet, he maintains a job at the Arecibo Radio Telescope in the mountains of Puerto Rico. It is here on this small island of the southern tip of Florida that provides the setting for the formation of this amazing modern family.

Each member is drawn to Puerto Rico through there work or desire to work. Emilio has been assigned to work at a mission in La Perla, and he convinces Anne and George to move down there to spice up their retirement. Anne takes over a medical clinic in La Perla, while George works as a volunteer technician at Arecibo. Sofia Mendes takes another assignment studying the benefits of investing in more artificial intelligence at Arecibo. DW ends up in San Juan to head the exploratory mission to Rakhat after Jimmy discovers their alien radio signals. 

Anne, being the eldest women of the group, assumes the mother figure. It comes naturally to her because of her aptness at making people feel comfortable around her and in her home. People trust her and therefore open up to her about their deepest conflicts and insecurities. For example DW is tells her that he is gay. He has never entrusted anyone in his entire life with such information but finds comfort in disclosing it to Anne.  DW takes on a sort of fatherly role. His stern and sage demeanor provide security for the entire group and provide a balance to Anne’s friendliness. Together they lead the group emotionally, spiritually, through their expedition. A gay priest and a mother without kids acting as parents is not traditional at all but the components of a certain position can change as long as they provide the same dynamic of guidance and understanding that all good parents do. 

George and Jimmy play the roles of the technically minded children who are slightly aloof with regards to emotional matters. Also, Jimmy is incredibly jealous of Emilio because Sofia clearly has feelings for him and none for Jimmy. But Anne’s grace and understanding help Jimmy understand that his predicament does not imply imminent emotional doom for him. Emilio transcends any stereotypical familial role, instead he incorporates all roles into his interactions with the others. He is a spiritual man, a hard worker, a friend to all, but respected and revered by each of them because of his slightly mystical nature. Sofia, being incredibly emotionally unavailable, maintains a certain mysteriousness and disconnectedness from the rest of the group but as she spends more time with them she becomes enthralled in their love and loyalty and slowly allows herself to fully commit to her new family. 

A gay priest, another who grew up in the worst slums of Puerto Rico, a couple without children, an indentured servant and a child of divorced parents would have never been accepted in society fifty years ago, maybe not even now. But this portrait of a modern family provides provides hope that in the future all types of families will be accepted and prosper as long as they provide a loving and loyal sanctuary for the members to thrive in.

Jack Benham

Physics 120: Life in the Universe

Professor Mariana Lazarova

September 25, 2013

A Modern Family

The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell, holds true to the Jesuit idea that people find God and love through work. In this novel, a vibrant collection of six people finds family and home in the collaboration of their labors both similar and different. Not one person of the group was raised in the stereotypical orthodox tradition, meaning the usual family composed of a mother and a father and less than about ten children. Yet they form their own modern family. A family with the same dynamics of love, rivalry and confusion any other family experiences. This amalgamation of different men and women create a portrait for the modern family and prove that any stagnant view the vital social structure, we call family, is simply wrong. They prove that the components of family are irrelevant as long as the loving relationships, dynamics and forces that foster the inexplicable love, rivalries, and loyalty shared between kin are preserved.

Rivalry is not a prevalent dynamic among the six members of this most unusual family because of their generally destitute childhoods and lack of family. Their lives before they converge on the La Perla Slum of San Juan, Puerto Rico, are proof enough for them that they should not take this love for granted.

Father Emilio Sanchez, Anne and George Edwards, Sofia Mendes, Father DW Yarbrough and Jimmy Quinn have nothing in common besides the fact that they grew up in or are now currently living in unorthodox lives with regards to family. Emilio grew up in La Perla, which, as  mentioned above, is a slum of San Juan. His family was deeply rooted in the heroin smuggling business. He spends his childhood on the streets, fighting, drinking, and playing baseball. Street fighting leads him to boxing, which leads him to the United States, where he meets Father DW Yarbrough. With the guidance of the Father Superior of the district of New Orleans, Emilio joins decides to become a Jesuit priest. Emilio is brilliant, especially as a linguist. He picks up language quickly and masters it within weeks or months of first hearing it. This linguistic acuity makes him a valuable missionary resource and the Jesuits send him all over the world to work with different cultures.

The man who inspired Emilio to choose a path of piety, DW, is quite an anomaly. He jokingly believes he is not “the work of a serious deity” because “the Good Lord [made him] a Catholic, a liberal, ugly and gay and a fair poet and then had him born in Waco, Texas.”

Sofia Mendes is born in Istanbul, Turkey, to Jewish parents whose ancestors were exiled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. She carries their fortitude and stubbornness with her to survive. Also she is incredibly emotionally unavailable, she is “all business”. This seriousness stems from her horrific childhood. Both her parents died in a war when she was young, so she whored her young body out to older men. In her late teenage years one of her clients, a man named Jaubert, offers to buy her into indentured servitude. Disgusting by today’s ethics, in the fictional world of The Sparrow this is an opportunity for Sofia to leave her life of prostitution, become educated at the highest level and live a somewhat normal life..

Sofia proves incredibly sharp and driven. Consequently, like Emilio, she is also a keen linguist but possesses the flexibility to learn and master any work quickly. Her broker, Jaubert, assigns her to a job in Cleveland. This job entails studying Father Emilio Sandoz’s method for learning languages.

In Cleveland, Emilio teaches a latin class at a local university. One of his favorite students is an older middle aged women named Anne Edwards who decided to return to school to better understand all the latin terminology that baffled her during her career as a nurse. Emilio begins having dinner with Anne and George, her husband, who is a retired technician. The couple never had kids. Anne’s outgoing hospitality and incredible ability to sympathize with everyone and George’s natural paternal gentleness and sternness make it seem odd they never tried.

Finally, there is Jimmy Quinn. Born in Boston to Irish parents who emigrated from Dublin due to civil unrest, Jimmy is enormously tall and lanky. His parents divorced when he was a teenager but they made sure he completed his education and he graduated college with a degree in astronomy. Jimmy decides to enter the ultra competitive field of astronomy, a market in which artificial intelligence drastically decreased the need for human resources. Yet, he maintains a job at the Arecibo Radio Telescope in the mountains of Puerto Rico. On this small island of the southern tip of Florida that provides the setting for the formation of this amazing modern family.

Each member is drawn to Puerto Rico through their work or desire to work. Emilio has been assigned to work at a mission in La Perla, and he convinces Anne and George to move down there to spice up their retirement. Anne takes over a medical clinic in La Perla, while George works as a volunteer technician at Arecibo. Sofia Mendes takes another assignment:  studying the benefits of investing in more artificial intelligence at Arecibo. DW ends up in San Juan to head the exploratory mission to Rakhat after Jimmy discovers their alien radio signals.

Anne, being the eldest women of the group, assumes the mother figure. It comes naturally to her because of her aptness at making people feel comfortable around her and in her home. People trust her, therefore they open up to her about their deepest conflicts and insecurities. For example DW is tells her that he is gay. He has never entrusted anyone in his entire life with such information but finds comfort in disclosing it to Anne. Anne creates an accepting dynamic that holds the group together. DW takes on a fatherly role. His stern and sage demeanor provides security for the entire group complimenting Anne’s friendliness. Together they lead the group emotionally and spiritually through the expedition. A gay priest and a mother without kids acting as parents is not traditional. The components of a certain position can change as long as they provide the same dynamic of guidance and understanding that all good parents do.

George and Jimmy play the roles of the technically minded children who are slightly aloof with regards to emotional matters. Russell uses them as compliments to Anne and DW who are more emotionally adept. George thrives during the planning of the expedition and when he is operating the asteroid. In emotional times he fades and Russell shifts attention from him to the sympathetic and spiritual Anne or Emilio or DW.   The only friction in the family arises from Jimmy’s enchantment with Sofia and her disinterest with him in return. Jimmy is hopelessly in love with Sofia. Having a crush on a fellow family member is taboo in our culture and in nature, Jimmy’s obsession with sofia is natural because they are not related. Despite the lack of relation any physical intimacy between these family members, beyond the intimacy between Anne and George, would be unnatural and detrimental to the preservation of their companionship. To the emotionally attune, Sofia fosters a hidden love for Emilio. In return, Emilio possesses similar intimacies for Sofia. His priesthood its consequence of celibacy prohibit any physically intimate relationship with others. Inter family relationship dynamics are rare and taboo in our culture but are natural and expected in this modern family because of their hereditary distinctness. Anne’s grace and understanding help Jimmy understand that his predicament does not imply imminent emotional doom. In preserving Jimmy’s emotional sanity, she preserves professionalism that is crucial for the expedition’s and the family’s success.

Sofia, is incredibly emotionally unavailable  maintaining a certain mysteriousness and disconnectedness from the rest of the group. As she spends more time with them, she becomes enthralled in their love and loyalty and slowly allows herself to fully commit to her new family. Sofia even develops hidden feelings for Emilio that ironically she must quash to preserve his vow of abstinence and the family. This is another example of a cultural taboo that manifests itself in this family but because of their unique situation it is natural. Sofia, along with Jimmy and George, fills the role of a brilliant child who is guided emotionally by Anne and intellectually by Emilio.

Emilio transcends any stereotypical familial role; instead he incorporates all roles into his interactions with the others. He is a spiritual man, a hard worker, a friend to all, but respected and revered by each of them because of his mystical nature. Even though he is not the assigned leader of the expedition, Emilio is the spiritual and linguistic leader of the family. His incredible abilities with language make him the main connection between the family and the Runa. Emilio assumes an all encompassing role in the family. He is stern and compassionate. He is technical and creative. He is a sage and a child. He is submissive and assertive. He possesses an ethereal compassion for all beings and a sublime devotion to God, which makes his peers suggest he is a saint.

A gay priest, another who grew up in the worst slums of Puerto Rico, a couple without children, an indentured servant and a child of divorced parents would have never been accepted in society fifty years ago, maybe not even now. This portrait of a modern family provides hope that in the future all types of families will be accepted and prosper as long as they provide a loving and loyal sanctuary for the members to thrive in.