Seminar: Combining Microbiology, Geology, and Astrophysics - Interdisciplinary Studies in Astrobiology
As a relatively modern field of science, Astrobiology emerges to unveil the long-unsolved enigma about the existence of life outside of Earth. It defines itself as the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe, and includes a wide diversity of topics approached from either the theoretical or the experimental point of view. Motivated by the experience collected through our studies in the field, in this talk, I will present some of the interdisciplinary projects we develop as part of our Argentinian Research Unit in Astrobiology which are carried out in collaboration with scientists from the Institute of Physics - University of Graz, and from the IWF, Austria, among other countries. These projects involve the study of astrophysical sources of radiation and its influence on life (The EXO-UV program and The BioSun project) and studies on saline environments in the Solar System (The SISS program). I will provide evidence about the need of specifically designed experimental studies, such as those involving laboratory simulations, in contrast to theoretical approximations that are commonly applied in the literature. Moreover, I will discuss the importance of reaching a true integration of knowledge between different areas of science contributing to this field; although, in theory, astrobiology per se is supposed to be an interdisciplinary research field, targeted collaborative efforts between researchers from the different fields are still in their infancy.