Claudia Lerner

Mountain Men will change your life.

= Division III =

This article is part of a Climax    Div III Issue. By Andrew Fulmer, Opinions Editor.

Claudia Lerner, an NS Div III, is keeping us ready. Her Div III is a comprehensive series of essays on the history and current status of an important—but marginalized—field: astrobiology. A science writer in Div II, Claudia has reviewed “tons and tons” of literature on the subject of alien life, and incorporates Greek history, medieval theory, space-race era research, and contemporary theory.

“I explored the idea of “panspermia” and the use of Earthly extremophiles in helping to test that hypothesis. Next, I explored the search for life on Mars and other planets in the solar system, predicting the chances of finding life on each planet according to their unique environments, and discussing the most likely possible life forms that could exist on each of those worlds… I ended that section with a discussion on SETI and searching for intelligence in the universe and the implications of that kind of research on human civilization.”

Panspermia is the process by which some biologists believe life could spread throughout the universe. It involves extremophiles (organisms adapted for truly extreme conditions) hitching rides in meteors. If you’ve played Spore, you’ll recognize the concept.

Claudia’s work is an act of public service – translating the sometimes arcane research on this subject into a palatable form. While, according to Claudia, we still haven’t found any other organisms in space, this kind of study can still give us a sense for the enormous diversity of life—and, as Claudia pointed out, our role in all of it: “Searching for life on other worlds—and finding almost nothing, at least so far—makes us appreciate the fragile state of Earth and gives us a reason to protect and cherish our own home planet and our own fragile lives.”