ENV100H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: William Golding, Optical Rotation, Homeostasis
1 Feb 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
7
ENV100H1 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
7 documents
Document Summary
The quest for gaia is an attempt to find the largest living creature on earth. Gaia ensures that the planet is fit for life. Quest for gaia began 15 years ago when nasa looked for life on mars. Judge the soil on mars" ability to sustain bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms. Also tested for amino acids, proteins and optically active compounds that rotate plane polarized light counter clockwise. What is life and how should it be recognized. This is a characteristic of places that support life. Able to decrease internal entropy by taking in energy from environment and rejecting in a degraded form. Needs energy potent enough to sever chemical bonds. Only reasonable explanation for earths improbable atmosphere. Being manipulated daily from the surface by life. Us congress abandoned mars exploration program and voyager because they thought there would be no life there. Chemical composition of atmosphere has no relation to steady state equilibrium expectations.
