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Cosmic Origins White Paper Group Meeting

July 2, 2004, 2:30 to 3:30 pm

Room 1009, Holyoke Center

Present: Dimitar Sasselov (FAS, SAO), Jack Szostak (HMS, MGH, HHMI), Matt Holman (FAS, SAO), Sujoy Mukhopadhyay (FAS), Stein Jacobsen (FAS), Andy Knoll (FAS), Lars Hernquist (FAS, SAO), Myron Lecar (FAS, SAO), Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay (FAS)

Staffing: Ryn Miake-Lye (HPAI/Provost)

-Andy will think about what pitfalls can be avoided by learning from the NASA Astrobiology Centers

-WHAT ARE NEXT STEPS?

Once around the Table

name / research interests
Dimitar Sasselov / planet formation; extra-solar planets
Jack Szostak / catalytic RNA; evolutionary molecular technologies to generate self-replicating RNA molecules
Matt Holman / solar system dynamics; ground-based searches for outer planet moons
Sujoy Mukhopadhyay / noble gases as tracers of early de-gassing in atmospheric formation of Earth and Mars
Stein Jacobsen / cosmochemistry of terrestrial, meteor, Mars samples; time-scales of planet formation, mantle evolution using isotopic geochemistry
Andy Knoll / paleontologic biology; developing a systematic chronology from the geologic record to understand how life evolved at the planetary surface
Lars Hernquist / cosmology; numerical astrophysics; galaxy formation: what conditions are permissive for life-bearing planets?
Mike Lecar / solar systems dynamics, such as the snow line (ratio of ice: rock accreted in gas giants)
Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay / planet formation; evolution of volatiles at the end of accretion and their impact on climate

Participants unable to attend include: Cynthia Friend, Scot Martin, Matt Shair, George Whitesides, OTHERS?

Task Force Working Group – 1.21.20041

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I. Main Areas - Astrobiological Interrogation of Extra-solar Planets

-Determine resources needed

-How do these areas combine to make more than the sum?

-Work together with Origins of Life

-This is less about “big toys” (i.e., capital equipment) than about intellectual adjacencies

-What is the Bigger Picture?

Most of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of how/when/where this could happen, as well as key questions to consider:

Task Force Working Group – 1.21.20041

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Possible Working Assumptions

-The science could start today, so propose a short-term plan in addition to long term.

-Faculty keep their day jobs.

-Model: core group plus additional participants, some with joint appointments

-Long-term possibility: elements of Kavli Institute (Santa Barbara, CA); HHMI’s Janelia Farm (Loudon County, VA)

Questions to Consider

-What ways of interacting are there?

-Who will need incremental lab space?

-What will the ideal (“the impressive thing that draws us to Allston”) look like?

-What can’t we do now?

-What kind of educational framework? (Learn from the environmental initiatives)

Task Force Working Group – 1.21.20041