Charles Cockell, a professor of astrobiology at the University
of Edinburgh, will teach a free course titled "Astrobiology and the Search
for Extraterrestrial Life" in January 2013.
The ten-class course covers life and the definitions of life,
its origin on Earth, how we've seen it adapt to cope with extreme
environments, the prospects for life in the solar system, how we
find Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars, and what the
possibilities are of intelligent life elsewhere.
It concludes by asking how humanity would deal with first
contact with an alien race, and how it would impact on society.
"The course will provide a foundation in astrobiology and introduce
students to concepts in a diversity of scientific fields," explains
No education credit is available for students already studying
at the University, but the course is free and available to anyone
across the world online through Stanford University's Coursera programme.
While it doesn't begin until January 2013, Cockell says that
anyone who's feeling ultra-keen should pick up a copy of Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction by Kevin Plaxco and
Michael Gross and work their way through that.
To sign up, head on over to Coursera.
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