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NASA scientist to speak about extraterrestrial life
Submitted Photo - Collin College Distinguished Speaker Series presents Dr. Lynn Rothschild, NASA scientist, who is responsible for bringing biology aspects to astrophysics.
By Kim Williams, kwilliams@acnpapers.com
Dr. Lynn Rothschild, NASA scientist, will present “Innovation in Space Discovery: Is There Life Out There?” 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Living Legends Conference Center at the Spring Creek Campus of Collin College.
The lecture is the first of many in the Distinguished Speaker Series and is free and open to the public.
Rothschild is an evolutionary biologist-astrobiologist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and a professor at Stanford and Brown University, where she teaches astrobiology and space exploration.
“Lynn teaches one of the first astrobiology courses ever offered – on Earth – at Stanford. The class lectures are available on iTunes and YouTube,” Thomas said.
Her research has focused on how life has evolved in the context of the physical environment, both here and potentially elsewhere. She has co-edited a book on the subject, titled “Evolution on Planet Earth: The Impact of the Physical Environment.”
Rothschild lectures frequently worldwide, including at the Vatican and Windsor Castle, Mystic Seaport and the Royal Society of London. She also appears frequently on radio and television programs, including the BBC, NPR, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, ABC World News Tonight and the History Channel. Like Darwin, Rothschild is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and also a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and the Explorers Club.
“Lynn Rothschild is one of the scientists who started to the shift of emphasis away from just looking for radio signals from intelligent beings,” Thomas said. “As a biologist, she has led the community of astrobiologists into exploring other questions – like what are the habitat limits on life? What is the most acid, hottest temperature, coldest temperature, driest, least oxygen and most pressure that bacterial cells can stand – Guinness Book of World Record stuff for cells. Where – meaning in the ocean, in shallow ponds, in the air – and when did the first cells on Earth develop?”
Astrobiology as a discipline is more than 50 years old, and it used to be about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
“It was assumed that the cosmos is brimming with civilizations that would be broadcasting radio signals into space,” Thomas said. “We, meaning humans, have been broadcasting radio signals into space for 100 years – radio, TV walkie-talkies, microwaves. In 50 years of searching for ET’s radio broadcasts, we’ve heard this much: zilch.”
Thomas explained how Rothschild’s leadership, science, and enthusiasm have helped the progression and advancement of astrobiology.
“It is now an interdisciplinary science with the goal of learning about the origins of life – what are the conditions that promote the development of cells from non-living constituents?” Thomas said. “Her help was instrumental to the astrobiology-learning community Dr. Greg Sherman and I teach at Collin College.”
Thomas considers Rothschild a great friend to the college and is inspired by her love and dedication to science.
“Lynn got hooked on biology as a little girl, when her parents gave her her first microscope; me, too,” Thomas said. “She has met nearly every important biologist of the 20th and 21st century and has tirelessly organized many scientific conferences since the late 1980s to bring the world’s best minds together on the subject of life’s origins and extraterrestrial biology.”
Rothschold wrote a major NASA grant, to further the aims of astrobiology teaching and research, and a professor at Collin College is a named co-investigator.
“The President [Cary Israel, president of Collin College] and the Spring Creek Campus dean of Natural Sciences [Cameron Neal] have been instrumental in fostering the relationships that led to the Stanford/NASA Ames collaboration with the college,” Thomas said.
For information about the lecture series, visit collin.edu/academics/csce/DistinguishedSpeakerSeries.html
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
everest wrote on Sep 27, 2010 7:15 AM:
" i want to involve in nasa group "
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