Bioastronomy The Search for Extraterrestial Life — The Exploration Broadens: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Bioastronomy Held at Val Cenis, Savoie, France, 18–23 June 1990

Opening remarks....Pages 1-2
The creation of free energy....Pages 5-10
Particulate disks around main sequence stars....Pages 11-12
Bursts of star formation in the local galactic disk and their implications for the origin and evolution of life around the sun and nearby stars....Pages 13-16
Testing theories of star formation....Pages 17-18
Towards an estimate of the fration of stars with planets from velocities of high precision....Pages 19-20
On the feasibility of extra-solar planetary detection at very low ratio frequencies....Pages 21-30
The ESO microvariability Key Program and the detection of extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs....Pages 31-32
A proposal for the search of extrasolar planets by occultation....Pages 33-33
Near-term prospects for extra-solar planet detection: The astrometric imaging telescope....Pages 34-35
A search for T-Tauri stars based on the IRAS Point Source Catalog....Pages 36-38
How many single stars among solar-type stars?....Pages 39-43
Habitable planetary orbits around α centauri and other binaries....Pages 44-47
The search for protostars....Pages 48-54
The habitability of Mars-like planets around main sequence stars....Pages 55-61
Planetary accretion debris and IR excesses in open stellar clusters....Pages 62-62
Lithium abundances as a probe of the early evolution of solar-type stars....Pages 63-63
Low-amplitude stellar velocity variations: Other possibilities....Pages 64-67
Some recent developments in interstellar chemistry....Pages 71-79
The formation of long chains of carbon atoms in space....Pages 80-84
Hydrogen cyanide polymerization: A preferred cosmochemical pathway....Pages 85-87
PAHs: Very abundant organic molecules in the interstellar medium....Pages 88-92
Primitive evolution: Early information transfer and catalysis by purines....Pages 93-98
The search for H 2 O in extraterrestrial environments....Pages 99-106
Self-assembly properties of primitive organic compounds....Pages 107-108
Cometary studies: Bioastronomical perspectives....Pages 109-116
Origin of the biosphere of the earth....Pages 117-123
Carbon-rich micrometeorites and prebiotic synthesis....Pages 124-132
Titan's atmosphere probed by stellar occultation....Pages 133-133
Study of transmitted light through Titans atmosphere....Pages 134-135
UV radiation fields in dense clouds: Photochemical effects....Pages 136-138
Prebiotic chemistry in planetary environments....Pages 141-148
Terrestrial accretion of prebiotic volatiles and organic molecules during the heavy bombardment....Pages 149-154
Geophysiology and habitable zones around sun-like stars....Pages 155-162
Exobiological habitats: An overview....Pages 163-172
Habitable zones for earth-like planets around main sequence stars....Pages 173-178
Titan's atmosphere from voyager infrared observations: Parallels and differences with the primitive earth....Pages 179-189
Liquid water and life on early mars....Pages 190-192
New interpretation of crustal extension evidences on mars....Pages 193-193
Martian paleohydrology and its implications for exobiology science....Pages 194-198
Boundaries of the earth's biosphere....Pages 199-200
The impact of technology on SETI....Pages 203-209
RFI surveys at selected radio observatories....Pages 210-216
A 1 Hz resolution RFI survey: Preliminary results....Pages 217-222
The SERENDIP II SETI project: Observations and RFI analysis....Pages 223-228
SETI: On the telescope and on the drawing board....Pages 229-235
Project of ETI signal search at the wavelength 1.47 mm....Pages 236-239
A SETI search technique: Monitor stars to which we have sent signals....Pages 240-243
Radio search for alien space probes....Pages 244-246
Karhunen-Loève versus Fourier transform for SETI....Pages 247-253
On the strategy of SETI....Pages 254-258
Pan-Galactic puise periods and the pulse window for SETI....Pages 259-268
Cosmic background radiation limits for SETI....Pages 269-269
VLBI and interstellar scattering tests for SETI signals....Pages 270-270
A test for the interstellar contact channel hypothesis in SETI....Pages 271-279
The SETI program of the Planetary Society....Pages 280-282
Trying to do science using high spectral resolution SETI prototypes....Pages 283-283
The summit of the CBR at mm wavelengths and other queries....Pages 284-284
The potential contribution of the northern cross radiotelescope to the SETI program....Pages 285-288
A proposal for a SETI global network....Pages 289-291
A search for Dyson spheres around late-type stars in the Iras catalog....Pages 295-298
Gravitational, plasma, and black-hole lenses for interstellar communications....Pages 299-299
SETI through the gamma-ray window: A search for interstellar spacecraft....Pages 300-305
Criteria of artificiality in SETI....Pages 306-310
The antecedents of consciousness: Evolving the “intelligent” ability to simulate situations and contemplate the consequences of novel courses of action....Pages 311-319
Cognition in an African Grey parrot....Pages 320-326
Archaeology in space: Encountering Alien Trash and other remains....Pages 327-332
Biological constraints on interstellar travel....Pages 333-337
A philosophical approach to the extraterrestrial life issue....Pages 338-339
The intrinsic limit to the speed of innovation and its relevance for the question “where are they?”....Pages 340-343
SETI searches with the 70m SUFFA radio telescope....Pages 344-345
Strategy of the mutual search for civilizations by means of probes....Pages 346-346
Connections: Life on Earth and atoms in the Universe....Pages 349-355
From the physical world to the biological universe: Historical developments underlying SETI....Pages 356-363
A possible way for evolution of the intellect of intelligent beings....Pages 364-364
SETI as a science....Pages 365-365
May there be an ultimate goal to the cosmic evolution?....Pages 366-367
Evolutionary approach to the SETI problem....Pages 368-368
Peace among the factions: Cooling tempers in the extraterrestrial life debate....Pages 369-369
The likely organizational order of advanced intelligences....Pages 370-370
The role of comprehensive perception in tradition....Pages 371-374
Technical evolution and positive feedback....Pages 375-375
Contact paranoia and pronoia: An anthropologist looks at SETI....Pages 376-376
The declaration of principles for activities following the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence....Pages 379-386
The consequences of contact: Views of the scientific community and the science media....Pages 387-392
Selection criteria in bioastronomy: Excerpts from a panel discussion....Pages 393-401
Summary of scientific content of the symposium....Pages 402-404