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今天咱们就接着上一篇文章继续说一说
美国大学里那些“奇怪”“罕见”的专业。
今天介绍的这个专业是：Astrobiology，天体生物学。首先我们先来四个方面简单概括一下这个专业。
专业主要研究的内容：“探索地球以外的生命，以及研究地球生命的起源和早期演化。”
开设这个专业的院校：
华盛顿大学、宾夕法尼亚州立大学
专业课程包括：行星可居住性，天体生物学实地经验
工作前景：天体生物学研究员，科学家或教育家
下面，我们来看一下华大西雅图是怎么来描述这个专业的：
Ever since early humans first looked skyward and imagined the stars as distant campfires, humanity has wondered if we are alone in the Universe. The ancient Greeks argued against our home planet being the only cradle for life, but lacked the technology to prove their beliefs. In the late 20th century, the near-simultaneous discoveries of the possible remains of bacterial life in a Martian meteorite, and the first planets orbiting other stars, brought the question of the existence of life beyond the Earth to the forefront of scientific endeavor. In the 21st century, the new field of Astrobiology harnesses the required technological and scientific capability to seriously address this ancient and fundamental question.
Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe. The search for life beyond the Earth requires an understanding of life, and the nature of the environments that support it, as well as planetary, planetary system and stellar interactions and processes. To provide this understanding, astrobiology combines the knowledge and techniques from many fields, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, atmospheric science, oceanography and aeronautical engineering. Astrobiologists can work alone on particular scientific questions, but often astrobiologists from different scientific disciplines work together to examine complex questions that no one field can answer alone. These questions cover topics such as:
How does life originate? How does life evolve? What kind of environment is necessary for life to survive? What are the environmental limits or “extremes” under which life can survive? What might life look like on another world? Is there or has there been life elsewhere in our solar system? How can we observe and identify a habitable – or even inhabited – world? What is humanity’s future on Earth and beyond?
