Thirty years on from the discovery of the first exoplanets, our focus is now turning to the search for signs of possible life on these worlds through the detection of atmospheric biosignatures. In parallel, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and technosignatures is being revolutionised as the new era of time-domain survey astronomy gets underway. Together with new planetary science missions within the Solar System, the search for life beyond Earth is entering a new data-rich era. But, when the discoveries come, what will they mean and how should they be communicated to the scientific community and wider society in the era of social media and fake news? This volume distils the latest multi-disciplinary perspectives, encompassing the nature of life in a cosmic context, astronomical search methods and interpretative frameworks, as well as insights into the cultural and societal impacts of such a high-profile discovery.
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IAU S387 reviews the current state of the search for life beyond Earth and the potential impact of its discovery.
1. Astrobiology in Interdisciplinary Context Lucas Mix;
2. Life Out
There: Expectations and Reality Frances Westall;
3. Using Linguistics and
Information Theory to Assess the Diversity, Complexity, and Decoding of
Interstellar Message Saeed Jafari;
4. Venus Phosphine: Updates and Lessons
Learned David Clements;
5. Extending the Habitable Zone due to Subglacial
Water Amri Wandel;
6. Communicating The Uncertainties David Whitehouse;
7.
The Definition of Life and its Role in Astrobiology and the Search for
Evidence of Life in the Universe Nigel Mason;
8. Re-evaluating Boundary
Conditions to the Concept of Life Terence Kee;
9. Conway's Game of Life as an
Analogue to a Habitable World: Livingness beyond the Biological Terence Kee;
10. Polarimetric Observations of Upsilon Andromedae b Yasir Abdul Qadir;
11.
JCMT-Venus: Monitoring HDO Absorption in Venus' Mesosphere Wei Tang;
12. The
Exoplanet Citizen Science Pipeline: Human Factors and Machine Learning Oisín
Creaner;
13. The Fermi Paradox in an Age of Discovery Stephen Webb;
14. What
Makes 'Weird' Life Weird? Philipp Spillmann;
15. Equivocal Encounters: Alien
Visitation Claims as a Societal Problem Tony Milligan;
16. Planetary
Protection: Fact, Fantasy, and Its Future John Rummel;
17. Making Habitable
Worlds: Planets Versus Megastructures Raghav Narasimha;
18. Simulating the
Characteristics of Extraterrestrial Civilizations that Encounter Earth Kevin
Knuth;
19. How Probable is Gaia? Arwen Nicholson;
20. Escaping the Great
Filter: The Future of Civilization and the Search for Technosignatures Jacob
Haqq-Misra;
21. The Great Filter: Is It Just a Matter of Time? Richard
Wilman;
22. Investigating Cosmic-Ray Induced Radiation in Exoplanetary
Environments Conor Kennedy;
23. Cognitive Astrobiology Pauli Laine;
24. New
Optical Ground Stations for ETI Communications Eamonn Ansbro;
25. The
Challenging Implications for Christian Theology and Ethics Jacques Arnould;
26. International Law and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Leslie
Tennen;
27. Life as a Cosmic Phenomenon Facing Human Culture Martin Dominik;
28. Four Central Topics in Contemporary Christian Astrotheology Olli-Pekka
Vainio;
29. A Sign in Space: Analogies between the Project and a Real
First-Contact Scenario Daniela De Paulis;
30. Life in the Clouds of Venus:
The Phosphine Debate and Its Scientific, Social, and Psychological Impact
Clément Vidal;
31. Would the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life
have an Impact on Catholic Theology? Enrique Solano;
32. Preparing Humanity
for the Discovery of Extra-Terrestrial Life: The SETI Post Detection Hub John
Elliott;
33. Finding Intelligent Life and First Contact Scenarios: Towards
Public Awareness and Engagement and the Impact of Discovery Shirin
Shaterzadeh Yazdi;
34. Rehearsing Post-Detection Futures: Building Futures
Literacy vis-à-vis Post-Detection Considerations for a Responsible Search for
Extraterrestrial Life George Profitiliotis;
35. Risk Communication and the
Search for Life Beyond Earth: Challenges of Risk Amplification, Risk
Information Seeking, and Risk Message Design for Research and Preparedness
Andreas Schwarz;
36. Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life: What The Public
Believes Chris Impey;
37. The Storytelling Brain and Connecting Public
Audiences with SETI Carol Oliver;
38. Teaching by Imagining Life Beyond Us:
Uses of Science Fiction for Outreach and Education Julie Novakova;
39.
Discussion: The Future is Our Future Hermine Landt;
40. Public Responses
Towards the 'Life on Venus?' Claim Sze Leung Cheung;
41. Snapshots of the
Evolution of Intelligent Life on Earth as Comparison Template to Life
Elsewhere Lerothodi Leeuw;
42. Summary of KAVLI-IAU Symposium (IAUS 387):
(Toward) Discovery of Life Beyond Earth and its Impact Andjelka Kovacevic.
