iPerspectives AIAS Fellows Magazine Issue 1 . SPRING 2020 LIFE ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE iPerspectives AIAS Fellows Magazine Issue 1 . SPRING 2020 LIFE ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE iPerspectives SPRING 2020 02 iPerspectives Issue 1 SPRING 2020 Editors Cici Alexander Jennifer Galloway Sâmia Joca Thomas Tauris Graphic Design Cici Alexander ISSN 2597-0453 Published by Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies https://aias.au.dk/research/iperspective/ CONTENTS 08 15 29 34 03 LIFE: ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE 04 Foreword Søren Rud Keiding 07 Editors Note Cici Alexander, Jennifer Galloway, Sâmia Joca,Thomas Tauris 08 Life in Space Thomas Tauris 12 The Destiny of Humankind Christos Tsirogiannis 15 A Brief History of Geological Time Jenni iPerspectives SPRING 2020 04 FOREWORD T he Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS) is proud to introduce this first edition of iPerspectives. iPerspectives is a magazine issued by the fellows at AIAS, following one of the interdisciplinary workshops at the institute. These workshops are one in the need to solve the challenge of the outbreak of the AIDS/HIV epidemic in the 1980s. However, less developed is perhaps our understanding of how disciplines work together, and how we create the nurseries and provide the protected space where basic ideas and theories can meet. Interdisciplinari Photo: Melissa Bach Yildirim iPerspectives SPRING 2020 06 Research Fellowships at AIAS are funded by the European Unions Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no 754513 and the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme for research, tech Photo: Søren Kjeldgaard Photo: Melissa Bach Yildirim Photo: Søren Kjeldgaard Photo: Anders Trærup EDITORS NOTE 07 LIFE: ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE W elcome to the first issue of iPerspectives, an interdisciplinary magazine by Research Fellows at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS) iPerspectives SPRING 2020 08 Life in Space One of the leading hypotheses for the origin of life involves panspermia, that life came to Earth from space and that life exists throughout the Universe. Evidence to support this idea comes from several meteorites found on Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL- W hen discussing the origin of life, it is often useful to consider the timeline for major events in the 13.8 billion year history of the Universe. Our Solar System, and thus the Earth, formed 4.5 billion years ago and, interestingly enough, the more advanced organisms, as well as the first animals iPerspectives SPRING 2020 10 One of the leading hypotheses for the origin of life involves panspermia, i.e. that life came to Earth from space and that life exists throughout the Universe. Evidence to support this idea comes from several meteorites found on Earth, including ALH84001 and the Murchi of mankind. The strong anthropic principle states that the Universe is compelled to eventually develop intelligent life. Or the Universe is as it is because we are here. (Critics say that this is a tautology.) The weak version of the anthropic principle states that the finetuning is the result of a iPerspectives SPRING 2020 12 The Destiny of Humankind In my opinion, there are only two main questions that really matter for humankind: a) Are we alone in the Universe? b) Does God exist? Photo: Ida Marie Jensen By Christos Tsirogiannis O n November 29, 2019 I was honoured to give a presentat 13 LIFE: ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE Image: Bibliothèque Nationale de France [Public domain] iPerspectives SPRING 2020 14 As an academic and, especially, as a forensic archaeologist, I am seeking the truth by discovering and publishing evidence. My presentation was entitled Is the truth out there? References in ancient texts and some thoughts on our future. As an archaeologist, I referred Photo: Søren Kjeldgaard By Jennifer Galloway 15 LIFE: ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE E arth is 4.6 billion years old. Life may have first originated on Earth as long ago as 4.5 billion years. The oldest fossils are hematite tubes that may be the remnants of microscopic bacteria. These putative fossi iPerspectives SPRING 2020 16 photosynthesis evolved in an ancestor of extant cyanobacteria. The geological record indicates that this planet-transforming event took place early in Earths history, at least 24502320 million years ago, and possibly much earlier. Fossils of what may be filamentous pho N. Tamura Haootia quadriformis Cnidaria Late Ediacaran Length: 5 cm N. Tamura Haootia, a cnidarian polyp, has been identified as the earliest animal discovered to show muscle fibers. Its exact affinities within the Cnidarians are however unknown. Dickinsonia costata Length: up to 1 m One of the iPerspectives SPRING 2020 18 Ediacaran Period (ca. 635-542 million years ago). The art featured in the figures are by Nobu Tamura (http:spinops. blogspot.com). Many of the animals that existed during this time were soft-bodied and did not preserve as well as animals that had a skeleton in the foss N. Tamura The lobopod animal Hallucigenia (size = 2 cm) and the armoured slug-like animal Wiwaxia (size = 3 cm). Hallucigenia possesses rows of spines on the back of its body while Wiwaxia developed a body armour of small, overlapping scales and blades. Both traits may have evolved as a defensive m N. Tamura iPerspectives SPRING 2020 20 Ottoia prolifica Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale Fm British Columbia, Canada Length: 8 cm N. Tamura This Cambrian worm from the Burgess Shale probably belong to the extent group known as priapulids. They were burrowers that probably spent most of its buried N. Tamura Ctenoimbricata spinosa Echinodermata Middle Cambrian Length: 2 cm Echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins, sea lilies, etc...) are characterized by their fivefold radial symmetry in their adult form. However, they start their life as larvae with a bilateral symmetry, indicating that they must iPerspectives SPRING 2020 22 Being Human The care we received from others in the early stages of life, no matter how imperfect it may have been, gave each of our lives an initial sense of meaning. By Samuel McCormick W hat does it mean to be human? Thankfully, there are only three minimum requir Ltxiskf https://www.subpng.com/png-vyw6zi/ ...the way this experience inclines us to hold each other in common, especially in times of need. have a body which has not yet perished (though I cant promise you wont die of boredom before you reach the end of this essay or of laughter, for that matter iPerspectives SPRING 2020 24 Maths Actually If you have a spare moment, see if you can find the mathematics in everyday life. By Doug Speed N ot a Christmas passes in the Speed household without watching Love Actually. However, this years viewing had a twist, as I had recently finished reading W 25 LIFE: ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE iPerspectives SPRING 2020 26 The Origin or Destiny what does it mean to For me, the question leads to the following answer: to allow all emotions and feelings to come and go within us, knowing full well that whatever is happening will eventually pass. By Joshua Nash H aving come from an intellec ny of Life, or o be alive? 2018/2019 AIAS annual reports. AIAS-Research-Self muses on the role of useless knowledge generation in research and how during the start of my AIAS tenure I plunged into an academic and existential dark night of the soul. That is, a kind of breakdown which hopefully led me iPerspectives SPRING 2020 28 While I have no idea and am not overly concerned about the origin and destiny of life, I am definitely doing my best to derive meaning from being alive. Today. And as a friend and co-astronaut of the depths intimated to me on the phone today, affect leads to meaning. A By Alfonso Blázquez-Castro We are the representatives of the cosmos; we are an example of what hydrogen atoms can do, given 15 billion years of cosmic evolution. Were made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself. Carl Sagan 29 LIFE: ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE M any will raise an iPerspectives SPRING 2020 30 Image on the previous page: Banded iron formation, Karijini National Park, Western Australia. Note the horizontal red and brown strata, the result of iron oxidation by oxygen and its deposition as sediments over millennia. particularly complex geological process. Howev There are geological structures within our cells. DNA, for example, is a long string of phosphates and sugars from which the four bases are hanging. It can be considered a particular phosphate crystal, flexible and compactable, but at the same time regular and structured. A number of proteins requir iPerspectives SPRING 2020 32 Structure of [Fe4S4(SMe)4]2, a synthetic analogue of 4Fe4S cofactors found in several iron-sulfur proteins. Notice the crystalline structure, very similar to pyrite. Blue: iron atoms, yellow: sulfur atoms. Image: Smokefoot - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wiki It makes little sense to try to understand this planet on dichotomist terms. It is not only that everything is connected, everything influences everything else. available carbonates for plate tectonics and other geological process change along the year following this Earth breath. A similar process, iPerspectives SPRING 2020 34 How clocks shape our lives How important are circadian rhythms? If they are disrupted, can they really be problematic for our daily life functioning? Can circadian rhythms affect the trajectory of our very lives? By Lisa M. Wu H ave you ever noticed yourself experien Image: Adapted by CA from Scenic View of Mountains During Dawn by Simon Matzinger @pexels.com, Moon And Stars by Min An @pexels.com, Human head Silhouette Face @PNGFuel and Person Touching Black Two-bell Alarm Clock by Stas Knop @pexels.com and then decline in the early hours of the morning. Cortis iPerspectives SPRING 2020 36 Individual chronotypes Early chronotypes (morning larks) rise early and are most active in the morning, but feel tired late in the afternoon or early evening. Late chronotypes (night owls) are tired during the morning, but feel awake in the evening. Big deal? Why does effects on player receive. performance. In sum, Eastward jetlag circadian was worse than rhythms affect Westward jetlag. all aspects of our For those of us lives in both big at AIAS, jetlag and small ways. is almost an Understanding occupational the nature of hazard, these different especially facto iPerspectives SPRING 2020 38 Temporal Entanglem How Pasts, Presents, and Fut By Adeline Masquelier W hile rummaging through my field notes a month or so ago, I came across a newsletter someone (probably a friend) gave me during one of my recent trips to Niger. Entitled Echo des jeunes (Echo of ments: tures Interlock in Niger r Júnio Oliveira are described as institutions that, by breaking with traditions, nurture aspirations and sustain hopes of prosperity yet to come (Stambach and Hall 2017). Rather than focusing on the shared past, they constitute incubators of a common, and importan iPerspectives SPRING 2020 40 I take my daughter to school, its my duty. Do the same. In Niger, the least educated country on the planet, not all children attend school. Significantly, those children who will never see the inside of a classroom are more likely to be girls. Despite the governments is not only Zaras future, but also the future of the country, that is at stake. This model of education is based on the assumption that hard work and commitment are the key to individual success. Accordingly, students who make school their priority are a step closer to achieving their dreams. Yet th iPerspectives SPRING 2020 42 of spirit-centred practices. Spirit possession, once a central dimension of health-seeking practices and a popular form of entertainment as well as a wellspring of political resistance, became progressively vilified as a source of immorality and an index of backwardnes it is more accurately captured through its multiple, diffuse, enduring effects. After Mina, a seventeenyear-old girl I knew, became possessed by a spirit in the classroom, she was never the same. Her mother took her to a number of healers and spirit mediums, hoping they would make her better. Mina k Illustration: Cici Alexander CONTRIBUTORS @ AIAS The Origin and Destiny of LIFE PROGRAMME Presentations Thomas Tauris Life in Space Jennifer Galloway Earliest known life forms and what happened thereafter Søren Rud Keiding Water and Life Kei Hiruta The Meaning(lessness) of Life: Suicide, Death and Nonexistence Jennifer Galloway, Cici Alexander iPerspectives SPRING 2020 46 A word cloud generated from the articles in this issue of iPerspectives at https://wordart.com/ Images Front Cover: White flocculent mats in and around the extremely gassy, high-temperature (100C, 212F) white smokers at Champagne Vent Source: NOAA - http://oceanexplorer.noaa. gov/explorations/04fire/logs/hirez/champagne_vent_hirez.jpg Back Cover: Miniature représentant lAscension du Christ dan iPerspectives Issue 1 SPRING 2020 LIFE ORIGIN . MEANING . FUTURE An interdisciplinary magazine by Research Fellows at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Aarhus University, Denmark.