Astrobiology: Exploring the origins, evolution, and distribution of life in the Universe

The search for the origins of life and its presence beyond Earth is strengt hened by new technology and by evidence that life tolerates extreme conditi ons and that planets are widespread. Astrobiologists learn how planets deve lop and maintain habitable conditions. They combine biological and informat ion sciences to decipher the origins of life. They examine how biota, parti cularly microorganisms, evolve, at scales from the molecular to the biosphe re level, including interactions with long-term planetary changes. Astrobio logists learn how to recognize the morphological, chemical, and spectroscop ic signatures of life in order to explore both extraterrestrial samples and electromagnetic spectra reflected from extrasolar planets.