GOLDILOCKS AND THE WATER BEARS: THE SEARCH FOR LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Book ID/图书代码： 02000016B89893
English Summary/英文概要： Today we know of only a single planet that hosts life: the Earth. But across a Universe of at least 100 billion possibly habitable worlds, surely our planet isn’t the only one that is just right for life? As Goldilocks was searching for the perfect bowl of porridge, Astrobiologists are searching for conditions throughout the Universe that are just right for life as we currently know it to exist.
With the Earth as our guide the search has begun for similar worlds sitting at the perfect distance from their Sun - within the aptly named Goldilocks Zone - that would enable them to keep water as a liquid on their surface and therefore support a thriving biosphere. The Earth is littered with carbon and pulses with energy, which combined with its flowing water allows life to exist beneath our thick protective atmosphere. In just over four billion years, life on Earth has evolved from a single-celled organism to an upright humanoid with the capacity to understand its place in the Universe and undertake missions to other worlds searching for a biological neighbour.
What might life look like on these other worlds? It is possible to make best-guesses using facts rooted in biology, physics and chemistry, and by studying ’extremophiles’ on Earth, organisms such as the near-indestructible water bears that can survive in the harshest conditions that Earth, and even space, can offer. In this book, we’ll take a tour of the astrobiological Universe, exploring what life is made of, what it needs to originate and thrive, how resilient and adaptable it can be and what is next for humanity as it steps off the Earth and into the realms of the unknown. Goldilocks and the Water Bears is a tale of the origins and evolution of life, and the quest to find it on other planets, on moons, in other galaxies, and throughout the Universe.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 今日，我们只知道一个有生命的星球：地球。但在茫茫宇宙中至少有大约一万亿个可能生物存在的世界，我们的星球不会是唯一一个适合生物生存的地方吧？金发姑娘寻寻觅觅最合适盛放稀粥的碗，而天体生物学家就在寻寻觅觅全宇宙中适合生命存在的环境和条件。
地球就是我们搜寻的样板，我们需要找的是和“太阳”有合适距离的世界，我们将这个区域称为“金发姑娘区”，也就是能够在表面保持液态水的地方，也就有可能支持生物圈发展。地球上有碳和能量，有了流动的水，就能让地球上厚厚的保护层之内有生物存在。经历了大约40亿年的时间，地球上的生命从单细胞的有机体发展为能够思考和认识到自己在宇宙中位置的直立行走的人，并承担起了向其他世界寻找生物的任务。
其他世界的生物看起来会是什么样子的呢？我们可能通过现有的生物学、物理学和化学的基础知识来推断，还可以研究地球上现有的微生物，比如能够适应严酷气候环境的水熊虫，或许它们也可以适应太空中的其他环境。在本书中，读者能够从天体生物学的角度观察宇宙，探索生命由什么组成，又需要什么条件来发展和衍生，生命对环境的适应等等。本书关于生命的起源和进化，以及在其他的行星，比如月球上，又比如其他银河中，寻找生命的过程。(LYR)
Awards/获奖情况：
About the Author/作者介绍： Louisa Preston是天体生物学家，行星地理学家，而且非常喜欢水熊虫这种微生物且不以为耻。她的研究关注地球上能够在极端条件下生存的生物，这些生物或许可以为外星生物的形态以及到哪里去寻找它们提供线索。
她为NASA以及加拿大、欧洲以及英国太空署完成过项目，目前Louisa仍旧通过各种方法寻找外星生物，而且非常热爱就此事发表看法。她已经发表了多篇文章和论文，也经常参加广播和电视节目。她在2013年曾就寻找火星上的生命参加了TED演讲。
Louisa大部分时间都在加拿大安大略的伦敦以及英国的伦敦度过，但她目前和丈夫、儿子以及宠物猫住在肯特。本书是她的第一部作品。
Louisa Preston is an astrobiologist, planetary geologist and unashamed lover of water bears. Her research focuses on places on Earth in which life is able to survive despite extreme conditions; such habitats provide clues on what alien life-forms might look like, and where we should search for them.
Having worked on projects for NASA and the Canadian, European and UK Space Agencies, the only thing Louisa enjoys more than devising ways to find extra-terrestrial life is writing and talking about it. She has published numerous articles and academic papers, and regularly appears on radio and television shows, such as the BBC’s The Sky at Night. She is a TED fellow, and spoke about the search for life on Mars at the 2013 TED Conference.
Louisa has spent most of her life in one of two Londons - one in Ontario, and one in the UK - but she currently lives with husband, son and cat in Kent. Goldilocks and the Water Bears is her first book.
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Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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