BlueSciCon Episode 40: Astrobiology with Cosmic Rays

Dr. Dimitra Atri

Listen: [mp3 download]

Questions to consider:

  1. What organisms on Earth can survive solely on non-solar sources of energy?
  2. What sources of high-energy radiation could provide habitable conditions to subsurface environments?
  3. Could galactic cosmic rays power life beneath thick sheets of ice or deep oceans?
  4. What regions in the Solar System are the most likely to have increased habitability from galactic cosmic rays?
  5. How would this additional habitability mechanism direct the remote search for life in the universe?