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Dear planet enthusiasts,</div>
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We're excited to announce that the last MIT EAPS Planetary Lunch Seminar of the semester will be presented by Chris Carr (Georgia Tech). Chris will be talking about his continued efforts to advance our ability to detect life beyond the earth.</div>
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Join us at<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><b style="font-weight: 400;">12:30 PM on December 9th in 54-517 and on</b><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1" data-ogsc="" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="https://mit.zoom.us/j/97275591700" class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWAe6c7890d-cedb-de93-a6a0-86268fab51eb" target="_blank" href="https://mit.zoom.us/j/97275591700" style="font-weight: bold;">Zoom</a> (pw
54100). Lunch will be provided, and we encourage you to arrive a few minutes early to get food. </div>
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<u>Chris is available to meet with folks on Monday and Tuesday.</u> You can see his schedule and review a time <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ml5dsrPFYS3XWA_LZGvIdYxP1jjQriJ1CylewXrwW00/edit?gid=0#gid=0"><b>here</b></a>.</div>
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Best regard, </div>
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Jason Soderblom and the PLS Organizing Committee</div>
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<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><b>Talk: Distinguishing life from non-life via molecular frontier orbital energy gaps</b></font></div>
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<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><b>Abstract:
</b>In the 1960s, Fukui and Hoffmann first demonstrated how frontier orbitals, associated with the most loosely bound electrons and their associated unoccupied orbits (e.g., HOMO, LUMO), could be used to predict the course of chemical reactions. Building on
this, we propose frontier orbital-derived biosignatures (FOBs) and apply them to amino acids (AAs), key targets in life detection yet common in abiotic contexts. We introduce LUMOS (Life Unveiled via Molecular Orbital Signatures), a statistical framework using
the distribution of abundance-weighted HOMO-LUMO gaps (HLGs) in AAs. Abiotic samples exhibit near-uniform HLG distributions, while biotic samples show greater variance and trend towards lower HLGs, reflecting life’s need to regulate reactivity. Across diverse
environments, LUMOS distinguishes biotic from abiotic origins with >95% accuracy, suggesting molecular reactivity variation as a universal biosignature. Compatible with existing instruments, LUMOS supports in situ and sample-return analyses. FOBs address the
chemical system aspect of NASA’s life definition, offering a necessary but not sufficient criterion for life and guiding complementary measurements for detecting life beyond Earth</font><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><b>Biographical Sketch: </b><span style="background-color: white;">Christopher E. Carr is an Assistant Professor at</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://www.gatech.edu/" style="background-color: white; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><span style="color: rgb(168, 166, 161);">Georgia
Tech</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">in the</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://ae.gatech.edu/" style="background-color: white; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><span style="color: rgb(168, 166, 161);">Daniel
Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">with a secondary appointment in the</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://eas.gatech.edu/" style="background-color: white; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><span style="color: rgb(168, 166, 161);">School
of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences</span></a><span style="background-color: white;">. His research focuses on developing space instrumentation for life detection, particularly using single molecule technologies, and applying this to understanding the origin
and limits of life and supporting a sustainable human future on and off Earth.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Carr holds degrees in aeronautics/astronautics (SB 1999, SM 2001, MIT), electrical engineering
(SB 1999, MIT), and medical physics (ScD 2005, MIT/Harvard), with postdoctoral training in planetary science and molecular biology. He leads the Planetary eXploration Lab (PXL) and co-directs Georgia Tech’s</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://astrobiology.gatech.edu/" style="background-color: white; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><span style="color: rgb(166, 166, 166);">Center
for Astrobiology</span></a><span style="background-color: white;">. Dr. Carr also serves as a Scott M. Johnson Fellow in the</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://us-jf.org/en/usjlp" style="background-color: white; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><span style="color: rgb(166, 166, 166);">U.S.
Japan Leadership Program</span></a><span style="background-color: white;">; his prior work includes significant contributions in metabolism, aging, and bioastronautics. Recent service work includes advising NASA on space biology and astrobiology, and the National
Academies on</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DEPS-SSB-23-02" style="background-color: white; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><span style="color: rgb(166, 166, 166);">human Mars exploration</span></a><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></div>
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