Ariel Taylor

Thermodynamics and the Origin of Life Ariel Taylor

Mentor: Irvin Osborne-Lee Department of Chemical Engineering

Introduction: Thermodynamics is an area of engineering science with wide-ranging applicability and power to provide insight to real-life situations and analytical capacity for solving problems of contemporary importance, such as climate change,1 weather,2 and biology.3 Yet, there remain unanswered questions about the nature of life, how it began, and its future trajectory. This project aims to leverage the tool of thermodynamics to address some of the crucial questions to develop an effective strategy for teaching the next and future generations of engineers and scientists to comprehend enough about thermodynamics to think more clearly about life on the planet going forward. The research team is as follows: Dr. Osborne-Lee is a professor of chemical engineering with research interests in thermodynamics, energy sustainability, and environmental processes; Ms. Ariel Taylor is a graduating senior in chemical engineering; Mr. Ozoemena Anyaegbu is a graduate student in chemical engineering. Materials and Methods: This project combines research primarily through training, literature study, and analysis in two lines of study with the development of teaching strategies and materials to lead students at the undergraduate and graduate levels to understand the origin of life through the lens of thermodynamics principles. The two lines of study follow [1] the history of the cosmos from its beginning to the origin of life events and through present-day and [2] thermodynamic principles going beyond the concepts traditionally taught in typical science and engineering programs. The work in Fall 2020 focused on item [2] entailing academic inquiry on the part of the undergraduate research assistant (URA, Ms. Taylor), with a graduate research assistant (GRA, O. Anyaegbu, not funded by RISE) focused on item [1], both led by a Professor Osborne-Lee as a faculty research mentor and the principal investigator (PI). Work products expected are conference presentations, publications, and course curriculum materials, including syllabi, lesson plans, and teaching modules such as screencasts. Results and Discussion: The URA and GRA each met with the PI remotely via Zoom to receive orientation, instruction, and direction. URA project activities are included in the summary of projected activities, as follow: • Taylor learned to conduct an investigation by searching the literature using keywords and indexed databases such as E. I. Compendex Web and Science Direct. She located and shared important new references that advanced the project.4

• Taylor completed training and gained certification in research with human subjects to qualify for studies using survey instruments and/or interviews with people. • Ms. Taylor learned to do a formal article review and used this skill to complete a written article review for key articles found by literature search.

References:

Lucarini, V., K. Fraedrich and F. Lunkeit, “Thermodynamics of Climate Change: Generalized Sensitivities,” Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 9729-9737, 2010. Nugent, A., D. DeCou, S. Russel and C. Karamperidou, “Chapter 3: Thermodynamics” in Atmospheric Processes and Phenomenon, Open Educational Resource http://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/atmo/ (last accessed December 31, 2020). Haynie, D., Biological Thermodynamics, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2013. 4 Schneider, E. and J. Kay, “Life as a Manifestation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics,” Mathl. Comput. Modelling,” 19, No. 6-8, pp. 25-48, 1994.

• The GRA co-authored a poster paper with the PI and presented it at a national conference.5

• A journal paper reporting findings to date, including information gathered by Ms. Taylor, is in progress.6

Summary: A comprehensible narrative has been assembled based on finding the origin of life and where it fits in the timeline for the evolution of the cosmos. It has been articulated initially in a poster paper presented at the NOBCChE 2020 conference this past September. Important progress extending our understanding of the role of thermodynamics in the origin of life process was made with the help of the URA funded by RISE and the GRA, both working with the PI. These additional findings are helping to reshape the paper in progress for publication (in an important journal or conference proceedings) and will be used in the development of course materials for teaching thermodynamics and the origin of life. The development of instructional materials is planned to start in the Spring 2021 semester.

5Anyaegbu, O. and I. Osborne-Lee, “Thermodynamics and the Origin of Life,” Proc. NOBCChE 2020 Annual Meeting, Virtual Conference held September 24-25, 2020. 6 Anyaegbu, O. and I. Osborne-Lee, “Origins of Life from a Teachable Thermodynamics Perspective,” in progress.