CMA Presents "Reports of Alien Life: Stranger Than Truth"

Recent reports of "alien life forms" and news about the existence of life in meteorites have resulted in a wave of interest and controversy, not unlike that generated by the now-famous Allan Hills Meteorite. Richard Hoover (of the Marshall Space Flight Center) claims that he has discovered extraterrestrial fossils in carbonaceous meteorites; Felisa Wolfe-Simon (of the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey) asserts that there is a bacterium that can use arsenic instead of phosphate for growth. Please join us as Ken Nealson reviews these published claims and concludes with some speculation concerning the possibility of life in the universe.

Dr. Nealson, formerly a member of the Astrobiology Research Group at JPL, and the project scientist for the (much-delayed) Mars Sample Return mission, has been the head of the Geobiology Program at the University of Southern California for the past 10 years. Dr. Nealson received a B.S. in biochemistry (1965) and Ph.D. in microbiology (1969), both from the University of Chicago. He has more than 300 refereed publications and is a member of the National Academy of Microbiology.

This event is free. All members of the Campus and JPL communities and retirees are welcome.