Editorial

Astrobiology harbours a number of rather diverse disciplines combining expertise in astronomy and astrophysics, biophysics and biology, chemistry and biochemistry, geophysics and geology, as well as mathematics. The need to foster advances in astrobiology are two-fold. On the one hand, there are many scientific reasons: the discoveries of extra-solar planets which contribute to our understanding of the Solar System and the formation of Earth-like planets, the realization that life can thrive under rather extreme conditions making it more probable for life to exist elsewhere in the Solar System and beyond, and the fact that major resources are being spent in developing the technology to produce artificial life, which helps us to appreciate the range of possibilities that nature may have utilized on Earth or elsewhere. On the other hand, astrobiology touches upon some fundamental questions regarding our very existence, and it is perhaps this that attracts the broad interest of scientists and the public alike. As a result, astrobiology networks and astrobiology centres have been emerging all over the world.