TROY, N.Y. (AP) - An upstate university has launched a research center dedicated to the search for life in the outer universe.

With a $7.5 million grant from NASA, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is opening the New York Center for Astrobiology. The center will be part of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, a virtual institute of collaborating universities.

Faculty and student researchers at the RPI center will seek to understand the chemical, physical and geological conditions of early earth that set the stage for life on our planet. They'll also investigate whether those processes could be replicated elsewhere within the universe.

RPI physics and astronomy professor Douglas Whittet will lead the center, which will have regional partners at the University of Albany and Syracuse University.

On the Web: http://www.origins.rpi.edu

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