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What conditions determine the limits of life? Forms of energy required to support life, tolerances that influence limits on life, adaptive strategies of life, assessment of diverse resource essential to life.
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What is the functional diversity of life? Physiology and structure of extremophiles, stress responses to temperature and pH, community interactions, microbial diversity, evolutionary adaptation to extreme environments.
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How does life evolve from pre-biotic conditions? Origin of life in an extreme environment, modern analogues of the early Earth, physical and chemical prerequisites of life, looking for life elsewhere in the solar system.