ASTR 305G
Life in the Universe

Section 1
M-W-F, 12:30-01:20
Biology Annex 102 (BX 102)

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INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Instructor
Dr. Chris Churchill
Office hours: T-Th 12:30-1:30
Office: 206 ASTR (Building 55)
Phone: 646-1913
Email: "cwc" (domain "@nmsu.edu")

Teaching Assistant
Bhasker Moorthy
Office hours: open door
Office: Rm 121 Astronomy (Building 55)
Phone: 646-2613
Email: "bmoorthy" (domain "@nmsu.edu)"


COURSE OUTLINE

This course is designed to be a general introduction to the scientific method of understanding life, its origins, and its place in the universe (i.e., from a scientific perspective). That is, we will limit ourselves to the philosophy governing the scientific view of learning about life, including what it is (as best as we can define it!), the adaptability of life and how it evolves, why Earth is such a good place for life as we know it, what other environmental conditions might sustain life, and where life may be found beyond Earth. This will force an astronomical perspective upon our approach (i.e., how biological life is connected to the cycles of stars that existed before the Earth!). Some general topics include:
  • The question of life elsewhere; What other worlds could be like; The building block of life; The universality of life; Astrobiology as a science
  • The roots of the scientific method; Revolution in thought and science; Modern Science; How to search for life in the universe; Astrobiology today and tomorrow
  • The definition of life; Basic units of life; Chemistry of Life; Heredity; Conditions to support life and consideration of extreme conditions
  • The geology, formation, and history of the Earth; Climate and its evolution; Geology and life; The scientific view of the origin and evolution of life on Earth
  • Searching for life in our planetary system; Environmental requirements for life; Our solar system; Biological possibilities in our solar system; The habitability and search for life on Mars, Icy moons, and Jovian moons
  • Habitability in a planetary system and its stability with time; The role of the central star; The role of the planet/moon; The Sun's habitable zone and the future of life on Earth
  • Searching for habitable planets; The types of planets discovered so far; The prospect of finding Earth-like planets; The signatures of habitability seen from a far
  • The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI); The Drake Equation; Defining intelligence; Search strategies
  • Interstellar travel; Conventional rocketry and its economics; Breakthrough propulsion systems; UFOs- are they out there hiding?
  • Colonizing space; Civilizations in space; Galactic civilizations?
  • Contact with aliens; What are the international protocols? What are the implications?


COURSE SPECIFICS


Credit
This is a three (3.0) credit course. Attendance to the lectures is mandatory and will be charted. In summary, the following will be counted for credit. Attendance will include your scores on occasional very short pop quizzes. There will be three mid-term exams. There will be short weekly homework assignments. There will be a cumulative final exam.

Prerequisites
None. There will be very little quantitative analysis, but being able to make simple calculations will be helpful.

Lectures
The lectures are designed to introduce and explain scientific concepts, to stimulate interest in the reading material, to expand on the reading material, and, in some cases, to introduce topics not covered in the textbook. You are encouraged to ask questions during the lectures!

Required Reading
The required textbook for this course is Life in the Universe (Addison Wesley) by Bennett, Shoshtak, and Jakosky. This book has been written for non-science majors and is not mathematical. You are responsible for knowing the reading schedule and keeping up with the required reading. Your best strategy will be to do the assigned reading prior to the day the material is discussed in class.

Course Home Page
A home page will be continually updated for this course, and its address is the following: http://ganymede.nmsu.edu/cwc/Teaching/ASTR305/Spr06/.

Attendance (Pop-Quizzes)
There will be occasional, yet very brief pop quizzes that will serve to assist in recording attendance. A seating chart will be employed to take daily attendance, tardiness, and "bugging out" of class early. Talk to me if you have a daily or weekly scheduling constraint. The quizzes will reflect items from lecture only (not found in the book).

Homeworks
There will be weekly homework assignments. Each Monday a new assignment will be handed out that will be due the following Monday. In the case of Monday holidays, adjustments will be announced. Homework is to be handed in at the front table at the beginning of class. No late assignments will be accepted without an official note (from the university or medical professional), so hand in your partial work if you have it (some points are better than no points).

HOME WORK POLICY: All homework is to be TYPE WRITTEN and handed in on 8.5x11 in paper with no tears or perforations on the edges (not torn from notebooks). Your full name, the assingment number, and the assignment due date are to be printed in the upper right hand corner. Work is "final", that is, no scratch work and/or scratched out work, and the problems are to be presented in numerical order. Complete sentences are required for all responses. Work is to be only on one side of the paper and multiple papers are to be stapled together in the upper left hand corner. Any infraction of these conditions is a 10% loss of points earned.

HOME WORK LATE POLICY: Homework should be handed in at the beginning of class on the due date. Unless you have made mutually agreed upon (confirmed) PRIOR arrangements (at least 24 hours in advance), homework is late if not handed in by the end of class on the due date. Late homework is accepted up to one class period past the due date, but it is worth only 50% of the total points (half credit). Homework later than the next class period is not accepted. Homework can be handed in only in one installment. That is, it is not allowed that part of a homework is "on time" for full credit, and another part is "late" for half credit.

Exams
There will be three midterm exams covering the material discussed in class and the assigned readings. Emphasis will be on the main concepts rather than rote memorization of details. "Trick questions" will be avoided, and the main concepts will be clearly emphasized in class lectures and in the book. There will a cumulative final exam.

EXAM DAY POLICY: (1) No hats or objects that obstruct your face; (2) All books and papers zipped shut in your back pack; (3) All exams written in pencil only; Bring a No. 2 pencil with excellent eraser.

MAKE-UP EXAM POLICY: No make-up exams will be given except in cases of: (1) a medical emergency documented by an official physician's note; (2) official University business documented by an official from the University; or (3) death in your family with official documentation. In these cases you must contact me as soon as possible regarding the makeup exam, and the format of the makeup exam will be at the discretion of the instructor.

Grading
Grading will be weighted as follows:

Office Hours
You are encouraged to come to my office hours for help with the course material. If you cannot make the appointed times, please make an appointment (my office hours are given above). I am very open to scheduling time to meet with you... just pick up the phone or send an email.

Academic Integrity Policy
All New Mexico State University policies regarding ethics and honorable behavior apply to this course (and they are taken very seriously). For details, please see Division of Student Affairs Handbook. Plagiarism will be dealt with harshly.

PLAGIARISM includes, but is not necessarily limited to, submitting examinations, themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, undocumented quotations, computer-processed materials, or other material as one's own work when such work has been prepared by another person or copied from another person. Both intentional and unintentional plagiarism is considered academic misconduct. If any of this is unclear, please investigate additional information at http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/hc/plagiarism.html. These definitions will applied as matter of policy in this course.