Exofrontiers

This book is a compendium of key scientific questions, challenges, and opportunities across different areas of exoplanetary science. The field is currently experiencing rapid growth, and the book provides a front-row view of the advancements at the cutting-edge of the field. Each chapter contains a short exposition on the most important open questions, challenges, and opportunities in a specific area from the perspective of one or more top experts in the area. It provides a starting point for researchers, experts and non-experts alike, to obtain a quick overview of the forefront of exoplanetary science and a vision for the future of the field. Topics range from observational developments and techniques, including exoplanet detection and characterisation methods and state-of-the-art and future missions, to exoplanet theory and modelling including planet formation, planetary interiors, atmospheres, habitability and the search for life. Key Features Provides a close-up view of the frontiers of exoplanetary science research Summarises key questions, challenges, and opportunities across different areas of the field Written by leading experts in the field Provides a valuable reference for early career researchers Topics span from state-of-the-art and emerging areas to long-term future directions

A scientist’s inspiring vision of our return to the Moon as humanity’s next thrilling step in space exploration Just over half a century since Neil Armstrong first stepped foot on the lunar surface, a new space race to the Moon is well underway and rapidly gaining momentum. Laying out a vision for the next fifty years, Back to the Moon is astrophysicist Joseph Silk’s persuasive and impassioned case for putting scientific discovery at the forefront of lunar exploration. The Moon offers opportunities beyond our wildest imaginings, and plans to return are rapidly gaining momentum around the world. NASA aims to build a habitable orbiting space station to coordinate lunar development and exploration, while European and Chinese space agencies are planning lunar villages and the mining of precious resources dwindling here on Earth. Powerful international and commercial interests are driving the race to revisit the Moon, but lunar infrastructures could also open breathtaking vistas onto the cosmos. Silk describes how the colonization of the Moon could usher in a thrilling new age of scientific exploration, and lays out what the next fifty years of lunar science might look like. With lunar telescopes of unprecedented size situated in permanently dark polar craters and on the far side of the Moon, we could finally be poised to answer some of the most profound questions confronting humankind, including whether we are alone in the Universe and what our cosmic origins are. Addressing both the daunting challenges and the immense promise of lunar exploration and exploitation, Back to the Moon reveals how prioritizing science, and in particular lunar astronomy, will enable us to address the deepest cosmic mysteries.

An astronomer "who writes like a poet" (Wall Street Journal) gives a sweeping, "beautifully written" (Nature) inquiry into how the night sky has shaped human history For as long as humans have lived, we have lived beneath the stars. But under the glow of today’s artificial lighting, we have lost the intimacy our ancestors once shared with the cosmos. In Starborn, cosmologist Roberto Trotta reveals how stargazing has shaped the course of human civilization. The stars have served as our timekeepers, our navigators, our muses—they were once even our gods. How radically different would we be, Trotta also asks, if our ancestors had looked up to the night sky and seen… nothing? He pairs the history of our starstruck species with a dramatic alternate version, a world without stars where our understanding of science, art, and ourselves would have been radically altered. Revealing the hidden connections between astronomy and civilization, Starborn summons us to the marvelous sight that awaits us on a dark, clear night—to lose ourselves in the immeasurable vastness above.

With their advantages of controlled delivery and modular flexibility, biomaterials have fundamentally revolutionized disease diagnosis and therapy. Bioactive nanomaterials are not simple miniaturizations of macroscopic materials. They exhibit unique and intrinsic bioactivities as they readily acquire a precise structure upon interaction with the biological environment. Nowadays, bioactive materials offer great potential in eliciting specific responses and regulations of living tissues for diagnostics, therapeutics, and regenerative medicine. We are optimistic that the increasing innovations and advances in bioactive and biomimetic materials with sophisticated bioactivities and controllable responsiveness will make an important contribution to the next generation of biomaterials and biomedical engineering.

Written by expert researchers, this book covers all the major aspects of research in Jupiter's moon Io, from the interior to its space environment. Io is one of the Solar System’s most exotic satellites. The book discusses Io's interior, geology, atmosphere, and, in particular, its active volcanism, which was discovered from observations by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1979, confirming a possibility suggested from theoretical studies based on Io’s orbit. Our knowledge of Io’s volcanism, composition, and space environment was significantly increased as a result of observations by other spacecrafts, including Galileo. More than a decade after the 1st edition, “Io After Galileo”, this 2nd edition of the book now includes results obtained by the New Horizons mission and, more recently, Juno. It also presents observational results from ground-based telescopes using adaptive optics having provided resolutions that rival those of spacecraft. The book provides a review of the current status of Io research and gives an outlook to planned future observations. It thus serves as reference for researchers in the field and an introduction for PhD students and newcomers planning to study this exotic Solar System moon.

The mystery of the diffuse interstellar bands has been variously a curiosity, a co nundrum, and a nuisance for astronomers in the seven decades since the features were first noticed, but recently they have become a forefront issue in astrophysics. Ever since Paul Merrill, in a series of papers starting in 1934, pointed out the interstellar and unidentified nature of the bands, a Who's Who of twentieth century astronomers have tried their hands at solving the problem of identifying the carriers. Henry Norris Russell, Pol Swings, Otto Struve, Paul Ledoux, W. W. Morgan, Walter Adams, Jesse Greenstein, Lawrence Aller, and Gerhard Herzberg all briefly entered the stage, only to move on quickly to other problems where the chances for progress appeared more realistic. In more recent times a number of equally prominent scientists have pursued the bands, but generally only as a sideline to their real astronomical research. But in the past decade, and particularly in the past three years, the view of the search for the diffuse band absorbers as an interesting but perhaps quixotic quest has changed. Today there are several astronomers, as well as laboratory chemists, who are devoting substantial research time and resources to the problem and, as perhaps the most reliable indicator of the newly elevated status of research in this field, some research grants have now been awarded for the study of the bands.

This 1998 study describes the most neglected site of political, religious and literary culture in early modern England: the court pulpits of Elizabeth I and James I. It unites the most fertile strains in early modern British history - the court and religion. Dr McCullough shows work previous to his own underestimated the place of religion in courtly culture, and presents evidence of the competing religious patronage not only of Elizabeth and James but also of Queen Anne, Prince Henry and Prince Charles. The book contextualises the political, religious and literary careers of court preachers such as Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne and William Laud, and presents evidence of the tensions between sermon- and sacrament-centred piety in the established Church period. Additional web resources provide the reader with a definitive calendar of court sermons for the period.