eBook details Author: Vera M. Kolb File Size: 75 MB Format: PDF Length: 866 pages Publisher: CRC Press; 1st edition Publication Date: December 7, 2018 Language: English ASIN: B07L1BM1VQ ISBN-10: 1138065129 ISBN-13: 9781138065123
Explore astrobiology in our solar system! Based on the original food web building game, ECOLOGIES, this game speculates about what kind of life may have existed, or might someday exist, in our own solar system. Using real science, and in collaboration with a NASA JPL educator, we imagine what life might need to survive on 7 unique celestial bodies. Designed by a biology teacher, the game includes 78 unique organism and "life requirement" cards, 7 celestial bodies, and beautiful scientific art. (108 cards total) Players: 1-6 Ages: 12+ (8+ with included simplified rules) Time: 60-90 minutes Game Modes: Standard, Simplified, Single Player The goal is to build healthy food webs on different celestial bodies. If you create a healthy ecology you are rewarded with the perks and powers of that celestial body. Each organism card lists what it eats and what it’s eaten by. Cards are arranged with producers on the bottom, predators on top. This deck also includes new "life requirement cards" that need to be in place before you can add a producer. There is a trade mechanic similar to Catan where players trade with others based on what their individual needs are. It is a race to get 12 victory points and different organisms give different points. There are terrestrial/cosmic factor cards that can affect opponents and different strategies such as focusing on one celestial body, going for perks and bonuses, or disrupting other ecologies. The game takes inspiration from titles like Settlers of Catan, Agricola, and Dominion. The gameplay is rooted in authentic science, as it is used in the classroom to teach real concepts to science students. While it is scientific enough for the classroom, it is also strategic enough for any game night. The points system is based on ecological trophic levels. The producers (plants) are worth less and as you make your way up the pyramid organisms are worth more as it takes a lot of energy to sustain them. In real life only roughly 10% of the energy makes it from one level to the next, meaning you have to have acres of land and hundreds of animals just to sustain one apex predator. There is a 24 page rulebook included with the card game that also gives an overview of the science.
Astrobiology Courses in India: Astronomy, Biology, Atmospheric Science, Geology, Chemistry, and Aeronautical Engineering...
Two veteran NASA missions are providing new details about icy, ocean-bearing moons of Jupiter and Saturn, further heightening the scientific interest of these and other "ocean worlds" in our solar system and beyond. Scientists announce that a form of chemical energy that life can feed on appears to exist on Saturn's moon Enceladus, and researchers also report additional evidence of plumes erupting from Jupiter's moon Europa.
In 1995, astronomer/scientist Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz found the first discovered exoplanet. An exoplanet is a planet that is orbiting or is located outside our Solar system and could potentially pitch its own life. Today we’ll check out some of NASA’s top hits with Earth-like habitable exoplanets and see how they could hold life.
An international team of scientists recently used the Hubble space telescope to spot a unique binary asteroid that behaves like a comet in in the Main Asteroid Belt.
Download this Free Vector about Solar system infographic, and discover more than 15 Million Professional Graphic Resources on Freepik
What's Next for NASA: Planned Missions Through 2030
This tiny saturnian moon may be, pound for pound, the most valuable piece of real estate in the solar system.
Astrobiology is an exciting interdisciplinary field that seeks to answer one of the most important and profound questions: are we alone? In this volume, leading international experts explore the frontiers of astrobiology, investigating the latest research questions that will fascinate a wide interdisciplinary audience at all levels. What is the earliest evidence for life on Earth? Where are the most likely sites for life in the Solar System? Could life have evolved elsewhere in the Galaxy? What are the best strategies for detecting intelligent extraterrestrial life? How many habitable or Earth-like exoplanets are there? Progress in astrobiology over the past decade has been rapid and, with evidence accumulating that Mars once hosted standing bodies of liquid water, the discovery of over 500 exoplanets and new insights into how life began on Earth, the scientific search for our origins and place in the cosmos continues.
Image by Avi Solomon, shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool.
Inspired by @spaceplasma’s solar system gifs I have had a go at a few of my own (completely ripped them off) for a few of solar system objects
Russian Academy of Sciences’ proposal regarding Solar System exploration in 2012-2025 09.04.2012, Sputnik International
When it comes to searching for life elsewhere in the solar system, astronomers typically fixate on Mars or the handful of ice-encrusted moons around Jupiter and Saturn. But according to a new study, to find extraterrestrial life, we may only need to look to our nearest neighbor — Venus. In a paper published March 30 in the journal Astrobiology, an international team of researchers suggests that the thick and acidic atmosphere of Venus may actually serve as a potential safe haven for microbial life. In the hypothesis paper, they not only present multiple lines of evidence showing the venusian clouds could harbor extreme forms of life, but also show that airborne life on Venus would help explain the fluctuating appearance of the planet’s clouds — a mystery that has plagued astronomers for nearly a century.
