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Aguzzi J, Cuadros J, Dartnell L, Costa C, Violino S, Canfora L, Danovaro R, Robinson NJ, Giovannelli D, Flögel S, Stefanni S, Chatzievangelou D, Marini S, Picardi G, Foing B. Marine Science Can Contribute to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:676. [PMID: 38929660 PMCID: PMC11205085 DOI: 10.3390/life14060676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Life on our planet likely evolved in the ocean, and thus exo-oceans are key habitats to search for extraterrestrial life. We conducted a data-driven bibliographic survey on the astrobiology literature to identify emerging research trends with marine science for future synergies in the exploration for extraterrestrial life in exo-oceans. Based on search queries, we identified 2592 published items since 1963. The current literature falls into three major groups of terms focusing on (1) the search for life on Mars, (2) astrobiology within our Solar System with reference to icy moons and their exo-oceans, and (3) astronomical and biological parameters for planetary habitability. We also identified that the most prominent research keywords form three key-groups focusing on (1) using terrestrial environments as proxies for Martian environments, centred on extremophiles and biosignatures, (2) habitable zones outside of "Goldilocks" orbital ranges, centred on ice planets, and (3) the atmosphere, magnetic field, and geology in relation to planets' habitable conditions, centred on water-based oceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacopo Aguzzi
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Javier Cuadros
- Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5D, UK;
| | - Lewis Dartnell
- School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St, London W1W 6UW, UK;
| | - Corrado Costa
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; (C.C.); (S.V.)
| | - Simona Violino
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; (C.C.); (S.V.)
| | - Loredana Canfora
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Agricoltura e Ambiente, 00182 Roma, Italy;
| | - Roberto Danovaro
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marcs (UNIVPM), 60131 Ancona, Italy;
| | - Nathan Jack Robinson
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
| | - Donato Giovannelli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy;
- National Research Council—Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnologies (CNR-IRBIM), 60125 Ancona, Italy
- Department of Marine and Coastal Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Marine Chemistry, Geochemistry Department—Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, MA 02543, USA
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
| | - Sascha Flögel
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, 24106 Kiel, Germany;
| | - Sergio Stefanni
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
| | | | - Simone Marini
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
- Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISMAR), 19032 La Spezia, Italy
| | - Giacomo Picardi
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
| | - Bernard Foing
- Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081-1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
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Abstract
The habitable zone (HZ) is the circular region around a star(s) where standing bodies of water could exist on the surface of a rocky planet. Space missions employ the HZ to select promising targets for follow-up habitability assessment. The classical HZ definition assumes that the most important greenhouse gases for habitable planets orbiting main-sequence stars are CO2 and H2O. Although the classical HZ is an effective navigational tool, recent HZ formulations demonstrate that it cannot thoroughly capture the diversity of habitable exoplanets. Here, I review the planetary and stellar processes considered in both classical and newer HZ formulations. Supplementing the classical HZ with additional considerations from these newer formulations improves our capability to filter out worlds that are unlikely to host life. Such improved HZ tools will be necessary for current and upcoming missions aiming to detect and characterize potentially habitable exoplanets.
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