Astrovirology and terrestrial life survival

TL;DR

The paper explores how viruses and microbes may have influenced mass extinctions and how new theories can help understand virus evolution in diverse environments.

Contribution

It introduces the importance of non-linear theories in understanding virus dynamics and evolution in complex planetary environments.

Findings

Viruses likely worsened life decline during mass extinctions.

Exoplanet studies show diverse environments that could support novel life forms.

Non-linear theories are crucial for modeling virus evolution.

Abstract

Microbial organisms have been implicated in several mass extinction events throughout Earth's planetary history. Concurrently, it can
be reasoned from recent viral pandemics that viruses likely exacerbated the decline of life during these periods of mass extinction. The
fields of exovirology and exobiology have evolved significantly since the 20th century, with early investigations into the varied
atmospheric compositions of exoplanets revealing complex interactions between metallic and non-metallic elements. This diversity in
exoplanetary and stellar environments suggests that life could manifest in forms previously unanticipated by earlier, more simplistic
models of the 20th century. Non-linear theories of complexity, catastrophe, and chaos (CCC) will be important in understanding the
dynamics and evolution of viruses.