The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) in association with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) organized a planetary science workshop on Dec 27 and 28, here.

Astro-biologist, cosmologist, theoretical physicist and author Prof Paul Davies of Arizona State University, was present to deliver lectures on Mars Exploration and Origin of Life.

Davies, whose most recent book is 'The Erie Silence: Are we alone in the Universe', touched upon the improved experiments to detect living micro-organisms in deeper Martian surfaces, as well as issues of defining life in an extra-terrestrial context.

In his lecture on 'Origin of life', he presented the possibilities of life on earth in the form of micro-organisms as early as 3.6 billion years and/or transfer of these living cells through meteorite of the nearby Mars planet.

He also postulated the possibility of different form of living cells with totally different genetic codes, thereby creating a so-called 'Shadow biosphere'.

The sessions were held at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) and ISRO Head Quarters which were well attended by ISRO scientists within Bengaluru.

Both these lectures were telecast to different ISRO centers and units across the country.