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MINDS OVER MATTERS
NOVEMBER 25 AT 7:30 PM
EIGHT/KAET-TV
On the premier episode of Minds Over Matters, ASU Mars researcher and planetary geologist Phil Christensen and ASU biogeochemist Ariel Anbar explore the origin of life on Earth and its prospects for existence on other planets. Minds over Matters, an Eight/KAET production, airs Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. on Eight/KAET.
The researchers’ discussion topics include how life can be defined and what are the key ingredients necessary for making life possible. According to Anbar, there is more unknown than known about the earliest, tumultuous course of events on Earth. “We don’t know as much as we would like to… because the amount of geologic material decreases as you go back in time.”
Christensen, who has developed science instruments that have gone to Mars, reflects on how our perceptions of the Red Planet have changed over the years and now include a more “hospitable” view of the Martian environment.
Anbar, who leads a team of scientists at NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, is part of an effort to understand the distribution of life in the universe, whatever that may or may not be, as well as the implications. Contemplating the possibility of life in the form of bacteria below the surface of Mars, Anbar proposes that “Mars is close enough to Earth to think that Mars could have been colonized by microbes from Earth traveling as hitchhikers on meteorites and vice versa.”
Minds Over Matters provides viewers with the unique perspectives of “great minds” discussing some of the most intriguing topics of the day – on this world or any other.
Philip R. Christensen is a Regents' Professor of Geological Sciences and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His research interests focus on the composition, physical properties and processes, and morphology of planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on Mars and the Earth. Christensen is the Principal Investigator for the 2001 Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument, and the Thermal Emission System (TES) instrument on Mars Global Surveyor. He is also a Co-Investigator on the Mars Exploration Rover missions, responsible for building and operating the Mini-TES instruments.
Ariel Anbar is a Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.Anbar is a biogeochemist interested in the past and future evolution of the Earth as a habitable planet and how this knowledge informs the search for inhabited worlds beyond Earth. His current research focuses on the chemical evolution of the environment, especially changes in ocean oxygenation through time, and its consequences for life.
About Eight/KAET-TV
Eight, Arizona PBS specializes in the education of children, in-depth news and public affairs, lifelong learning, and the celebration of arts and culture — utilizing the power of noncommercial television, the Internet, educational outreach services, and community-based initiatives. The PBS station began broadcasting from the campus of Arizona State University on January 30, 1961. Now more than 80 percent of Arizonans receive the signal through a network of translators, cable and satellite systems. With more than 1.3 million viewers each week, Eight consistently ranks among the most-viewed public television stations per capita in the country. Arizonans provide more than 60 percent of the station’s annual budget. For more information, visit www.azpbs.org.
Eight is a member-supported service of Arizona State University.
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