The Planet Simulator, also known as a Planetary Simulator, is a

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

-controlled

simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

chamber designed to aid in the study of the

origin of life Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from abiotic component, non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to organism, living entities on ...

. The device was announced by researchers at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

on behalf of the Origins Institute on 4 October 2018. The project began in 2012 and was funded with $1 million from the

Canada Foundation for Innovation The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI; , ''FCI'') is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to invest in research facilities and equipment in Canada's universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research in ...

, the

Ontario government The Government of Ontario () is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. The term ''Government of Ontario'' refers specifically to the executive—political ministers of the Crown (the Cabinet/Executive ...

, and

. It was built and manufactured b
Angstrom Engineering Inc
of

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

. The device was designed and developed by

biophysicist Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

Maikel Rheinstadter and co-principal investigators

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

Yingfu Li and astrophysicist Ralph Pudritz for researchers to study a theory that suggests life on early Earth began in " warm little ponds" rather than in deep ocean vents nearly four billion years ago. The device can recreate conditions of the primitive Earth to see whether

cellular life The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word meaning ...

can be created, and then later, evolve. The Planet Simulator can mimic the environmental conditions consistent on the early Earth and other astronomical bodies, including other

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

s and

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first det ...

s by controlling

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

and

radiation levels Ionizing (ionising) radiation, including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have enough energy per individual photon or particle to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some par ...

within the simulation chamber.

References

External links

* at the Origins Institute of

* �
Angstrom Engineering Inc
* –

{{Authority control Astrobiology Evolutionary biology Origin of life Prebiotic chemistry