Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

2 results

  • 7 - Instantaneous Habitability

  • from Part III - Habitability
  • Manasvi Lingam, Florida Institute of Technology, Amedeo Balbi, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata'
  • Book:
    From Stars to Life
    Print publication:
    05 December 2024, pp 147-172

  • Summary

    This chapter discusses the requirements for a world to be deemed habitable at a given moment in time (instantaneous habitability), with an emphasis on the availability of energy sources and suitable physicochemical conditions. After a brief exposition of some concepts in thermodynamics, the significance of the molecule ATP (the ‘energy currency’ of the cell) and how it is synthesised in the cell by harnessing chemical gradients is described. The two major sources of energy used by life on Earth (chemical and light energy), and the various possible pathways for utilizing such forms of energy are sketched, most notably photosynthesis and methanogenesis. This is followed by delineating the diverse array of extremophiles that inhabit myriad niches on Earth that would be considered harsh for most life. The mechanisms that permit them to survive the likes of high/low temperatures, pressures, salinity, and radiation doses are reviewed.

Principles of Thermodynamics
  • Jean-Philippe Ansermet, Sylvain D. Brechet
  • Published online:
    14 December 2018
    Print publication:
    03 January 2019
  • In this introductory textbook, thermodynamics is presented as a natural extension of mechanics, so that the laws and concepts learned in mechanics serve to get acquainted with the theory. The foundations of thermodynamics are presented in the first part. The second part covers a wide range of applications, which are of central importance in the fields of physics, chemistry and engineering, including calorimetry, phase transitions, heat engines and chemical reactions. In the third part, devoted to continuous media, Fourier and Fick's laws, diffusion equations and many transport effects are derived using a unified approach. Each chapter concludes with a selection of worked examples and several exercises, to reinforce key concepts under discussion. A full solutions manual is available at the end of the book. It contains more than 150 problems based on contemporary issues faced by scientists and engineers that are solved in detail for undergraduate and graduate students.