Origin of Life, Exobiology, Astrobiology

Exobiology is the study of the origin of life on this or other planets. It is a highly interdisciplinary subject which employs chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology, and all of the fields between. As a result, web pages relevant to the origin of life tend to be scattered. Here is a compilation of a few links to the origin of life and related subjects.

Clicking on the ball opens the link in a new window (with JavaScript and a version 3 or newer browser).

Origins of Life Programs
NSCORT: Exobiology--Origin of life research, a consortium among UCSD (departments of Chemistry and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)), The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), and The Salk Institute.
NSCORT: The New York Center for Studies of the Origins of Life--Origin of life research at RPI and SUNY Albany.
NASA Ames Space Sciences--Origin of life research and more.
NASA Ames Exobiology--Exobiology research within the above link.
NASA Astrobiology Institute --A grand program designed to cut to the heart of the origin of life via many institutions (Ames, Penn State, UCLA, U. Colorado, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Arizona State, Harvard, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, Riverside) with an umbrella of 10 goals, including information on astrochemistry.
UK Exobiology Network --A site to encourage and promote the science of exobiology within the UK. However, this site (hosted by the Planetary Forum) has material relevant to the field as a whole.

RNA, Biology , and Model Life Systems
RNA resources--RNA evolution at Harvard University.
RNA resources--RNA evolution at UT Austin.
Biology Hypertextbook--The ESG Biology hypertextbook contains many helpful chapters on molecular biology and related topics in an easy to understand manner. There are sample problems too.
Introduction to Phylogeny--Look at how biologists reconstruct the pattern of events that led to the diversity of life, and learn why this is so important.
The Tree of Life--The Tree of Life is a collection of over 1380 World Wide Web pages containing information about the diversity of life.
Modified bases--Modified nucleosides in tRNA, rRNA, etc.
Computer life and a simpler version--Various simulations of artificial life.

Geology, Paleontology, and Evolution
CSEOL--Early evolution of life at UCLA.
CSUBIOWEB--The California State University Biological Sciences Web server contains biology, evolution, and paleontology links.
Terrestrial Impact Structures--Maps and descriptions of worldwide impact structures.
PaleoNet--Electronic communication system for paleontologists.
Amethyst Galleries' Mineral Gallery--An explanation of various minerals.
Geologic Time Scale--A colorful geologic timescale.
UCMP Web Time Machine --An explanation the geologic time scale illustrated with fossils.
The Alfred Russel Wallace Page --Full text articles, extensive bibliographies, indexes, and commentary by a pioneer of evolution.

Astronomy and Space
Search for extrasolar planets--Progress at SFSU on discovery of planets not orbiting the Sun.
Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia--A catalog and discussion of planets not orbiting the Sun and related meetings.
Astronomical picture of the day--An archive of photos.
STARDUST Mission--Details of a mission in progress to visit a comet.
SETI--Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (and other things).
SETI--Sky and Telescope's SETI page.
SETI@Home --You help look for extraterrestrial intelligence by running a program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your computer. There's a small but captivating possibility that you will detect the faint murmur of a civilization beyond Earth.
SEDS (U. Arizona)--Astronomical photos, also featuring the nine planets of our solar system and The Web Nebulae.
The Planetary Society--Astronomical photos.
Think Space--Astronomical photos and a short astromical history section as well as a discussion board.
Solar System Live--Observe the locations of planets at various (modern) dates
Satellite Tracking--Track your favorite spacecraft.
Panspermia--A well done presentation of the (undirected) panspermia hypothesis. While this argument is not mainstream, it is still useful to be aware of it.
Tulane Environmental Astrobiology Center --Really its more about the effects of space travel upon the human body than the origin of life, but Astrobiology is a really wide umbrella.

Life on Mars
NASA JSC Life on Mars--The Johnson Space Center's report on evidence of life on ALH84001.
CNN Life on Mars--CNN's coverage of the report on evidence of life on ALH84001.
Digital Learning: Microbes in the News--A discussion of evidence of life on ALH84001.
Mars Bugs--An electronic exobiology newsletter.

General Topics and Publications
ISSOL--The International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life.
The Astrobiology Web--A very useful array of origin of life and exobiology information.
"The Beginnings of Life on Earth"--An American Scientist article by Christian de Duve.
Origins of Life and Origins of Life--Lecture outlines for the origin and development of life on Earth.
Origin of Life on Earth-- A three week module for undergraduate chemistry classes I am helping to develop. This is funded by The ModularCHEM Consortium.
The World Wide Web Virtual Library Evolution (Biosciences)--Links to journals, books, software, etc. on the origin and evolution of life.
Exobiology for High School Students-- A module being developed at La Jolla High School to teach origins of life material.
Genetech's forum on the origin of life--A discussion of origin of life topics (mostly for high school teachers) I moderate.

In addition, here is a geologic time scale for the period most relevant to the origin of life:

Now, take a look at the linear (120kb in a new window) geologic time scale (it is usually shown on a log scale) of the history of the Earth. In this time line, 10 cm = 1 billion years (1 Ga). Thus, 1 year is 0.1 nm (about the size of an atom).

Here is a more entertaining timeline (in a new window).

Hits from January 3, 1997 (formerly at http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3870/):