THE FRONTIERS OF LIFE
June 23 to 27, 2025
The third OHP (Observatoire de Haute Provence) International Summer School, organized by Aix-Marseille University's Origins Institute, will explore the notion of life, from its definition to the conditions of its emergence, diversity and evolution. These fundamental questions will be examined through lectures given by internationally recognized experts in prebiotic chemistry, microbiology, exobiology, planetology, astrophysics, as well as philosophy and law. These lectures will be followed by round-table discussions moderated by an award-winning science journalist, and ample free time for more in-depth exchanges between participants.
The program will provide a broad, interdisciplinary illustration of the frontiers of life, reviewing current knowledge and competing theories, covering all spatial and temporal scales.
In addition to stimulating individual reflection on the definition of life, this summer school also aims to attract young scientists to this multifaceted field of research.
Program:
- Introduction: the difficult definition of life
- Before life: prebiotic chemistry and the geochemical origin of metabolisms
- Life on the frontier: the special case of viruses
- Exobiology: in search of biosignatures
- Habitability: effect of magnetic fields
- Exoplanets: detecting them, modeling them
- Law, Space, Environment
- Extreme environments: life everywhere and its evolution
Lecturers :
Chantal Abergel, Mélanie Baroni, James Bradley, Jean-Michel Claverie, Magali Deleuil, Simon Duval, David Ehrenreich, Gaël Erauso, Vincent Hue, Frédéric Laurie, Dominique Leglu, Martina Preiner, Pascal Taranto, Nicolas Thouveny and others...
PLANETARY PROTECTION METAGENOMICS IN SPACEFLIGHT WORKSHOP
NASA Ames November 19-22, 2024
The Planetary Protection Metagenomics in Spaceflight workshop is scheduled for November 19-22, 2024, at NASA Ames in Mountain View, California. The purpose of the meeting is to develop an implementation roadmap for technological and procedural integration of metagenomic sequencing into planetary protection.
A multinational (ESA, JAXA, COSPAR, NASA) team of space life scientists are seeking to build an actionable plan to close the gaps between the current state of the art and implementation. The workshop includes a broad range of stakeholders across many mission areas such as planetary protection, space biology, astrobiology, crew monitoring and health.
Presentations may include topics on:
- Low Biomass
- Safety Critical Decision Making
- Human Health and Built Environment
- Technology Needs
- Bioinformatics and Databases
- Summary Roadmap to Implementation
Post-Apocalyptic Space Imaginaries
November 26, 2024, 16:15–19:00
LUX C126, Helgonavägen 3, Lund
There are advanced, concrete plans to establish space stations on the Moon and Mars, and to set up mining industries on asteroids and other celestial bodies. Countries new to the space race, as well as private industry, are now competing to achieve these goals. Meantime, deadly asteroids travel at high speed straight towards Earth, and an accelerating climate and ecological crisis might soon make Earth uninhabitable. The dream of future human life on other planets clearly connects to apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic traditions. If life on Earth perishes in a global cataclysm, humanity could survive, one hopes, in a post-apocalyptic civilization on another planet.
Panel: Johan Lagerkvist (Stockholm University), Erik Persson (Lund University) & Sandra Siljeström (RISE Research Institute of Sweden). Chair: David Dunér (Lund University).
For more information about the program, see the picture