Concept Documents

Webinar Document Links:

January

30 - What is the origin and early evolution of photosynthesis?
29 - What is the geophysical evolutionary history of terrestrial planets of different sizes and compositions?
23 - How can we best overcome our ignorance about microbial life on Earth?
22 - What Roles Do Primitive Icy Bodies Play in the Origin of Life on Habitable Planets?
16 - How Can We Search for Life in our Solar System?
15 - How does Earth's earliest rock record inform us about the origin of life on Earth?
8 - Did life or pre-biotic chemistry evolve on differentiated icy worlds?

December

19 - What does the simplest life look like?
18 - What experimental studies of evolutionary pathways and emergence in molecular systems should be performed?
5 - How did polypeptide meet polynucleotide?
4 - How did macromolecules gain function?

November

20 - How are stable populations of oligomers synthesized & assembled?
21 - How can we substitute space for time to better understand geochemical and co-evolutionary dynamics?
13 - What genomic, metabolic & ecological features characterized LUCA/life at the root of the Tree of Life?
6 - How can we identify habitable environments in our Solar System?
7 - How can we identify habitable planets and search for life beyond our Solar System?

October

30 -  How do habitable systems form?
31 -  How can a world generate and support life?
23 -  What environmental factors are coupled to the emergence of life?
24 -  What are the common attributes of extant living systems and what can they tell us about all living systems?
16 - How can we enhance the utility of biosignatures as a tool to search for life in the solar system and beyond?
16 - How can we understand the Earth's past, present and future as proxies for habitable worlds?
9 - How extensive, diverse and dynamic are subsurface and deep biospheres and how do they function?
9 - How did complex organisms arise from early life, and what were the mechanisms that controlled their subsequent evolution?

September

25 - How does the evolution of the atmosphere & its interactions with the solid Earth and the biosphere inform our exploration of habitable worlds?
26 - What are the sources of organic monomers relevant to the origin of life?

Other related documents:
Workshop Report (Frank Rosenzweig)
Network 'Spider' Diagram (Eric Smith)
Way Forward (Michael New)