Jun 18
Stray Cat Film Center Kansas City, MO
TicketsClaire Marshall
Associate Professor of Geospectroscopy, University of Kansas
Last Things— Touch stone alien duration
Program Description
The search for the evidence of the earliest life on Earth, a cautionary tale: Microstructures in the 3.5 Ga Apex Chert Formation were initially described as the oldest bacterial fossils on Earth over 30 years ago. We suggest that although the microstuctures analyzed are not microfossils, the presence of carbonaceous material in the surrounding matrix is consistent with the existence of microbial life at this time, and with evidence of early Archaean life.
Film Synopsis
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks.
Last Things looks at evolution and extinction from the perspective of the rocks and minerals that came before humanity and will outlast us. With scientists and thinkers like Lynn Margulis and Marcia Bjørnerud as guides and quoting from the proto-Sci-fi texts of J.H. Rosny, Deborah Stratman offers a stunning array of images, from microscopic forms to vast landscapes, and seeks a picture of evolution without humans at the center.
Credit: Pythagoras
About the Speaker
Claire Marshall (B.App.Sc (Hons) Materials Chemistry, Ph.D), Associate Professor of Geospectroscopy, is a solid-state Raman spectroscopist, and astrobiologist. She has been involved in Raman spectroscopy of crystalline solids, and the application of Raman spectroscopy in astrobiology and planetary science research since 2002. Her interests are in Raman spectroscopy, astrobiology, and exploring the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a life detection technique, and design, fabrication, and development of spectroscopic instrumentation for life detection. She has been awarded and managed over $4 million in grants throughout her career.