Title: Three Experiments in Biological Origins: Early Earth, Venus and Mars

When: January 12 - January 16, 2016

Where: Kuramae Hall, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

URL: http://bit.ly/ELSI2016

In the Solar System, Planet Earth has alone managed to generate and
maintain a large active biosphere whose existence greatly altered the
subsequent chemical and physical evolution of the planet. Whether its
nearest neighbours, Venus and Mars, were temporarily able to do this as
well, or were never in a position to accommodate a biosphere of any
kind, is largely unknown.

Recently, substantial progress has been made in forming a coherent
picture of the early Solar System and planetary formation processes.
Also improved is our understanding of the environmental conditions on
young planets. Investigation of initial sets of prebiotic chemical
systems has also shed new light on the origin and early evolution of
life. Now is a time for all this knowledge to coalesce around the
concept of the planetary requisite for prebiotic chemical evolution and
origination of life.

To crystallise this knowledge is the goal of this symposium. We will
summarize the formation and early environment of Venus, the Earth
and Mars and place them into context relative to each other, and to a
lesser degree to other planets and exoplanets. We aim to determine what
the conditions were on Earth favourable for the onset of chemical cycles
that eventually led to a thriving biosphere, and whether our neighbours
may have once harboured such conditions. Why did Earth succeeded where
the others have failed?