Setting the Stage: Astrobiology

Friday, 13 February 2015: 8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Room 220C (San Jose Convention Center)
David H. Grinspoon, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ
Exoplanets and extremophiles have been the game-changers characterizing the past few decades of scientific research into the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe; a discipline now called Astrobiology. What is the potential for life beyond Earth? Would we recognize it if we found it? How soon might we have some answers? Why does it matter?