Saturday, December 25, 2004

Mistletoe, Star of Bethlehem and superconducting magnet technology

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars – A nice review of great achievements in astronomy during the past year appears at New Scientist’s Web site. See article.
g Abodes – The world's biggest earthquake in almost four years, measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale, was registered off the coast of Australia's southern island state of Tasmania yesterday. See article.
g Life – What part does mistletoe play in evolution on our planet? Well, it’s not just for kissing. See article.
g Intelligence – Presuming the Star of Bethlehem isn’t just a metaphor, what astronomical event some 2000 years ago could account for it? See article.
g Message – If ET ever phones us, would we recognize the call as anything other than random noise or a star? See article. Note: This article is a couple of weeks old.
g Cosmicus – New research recently has begun to examine the use of superconducting magnet technology to protect astronauts from radiation during long-duration space flights, such as an interplanetary mission to Mars. See article.
g Learning – Hopefully you received (or gave!) some great astronomy gifts this holiday season. Astronomy.com offers a nice collection of articles introducing newcomers to the field, such as how to read star maps and how to use that new telescope. See article.
g Imagining – There’s a fun discussion going on in the iscifistory.com forums about the possibility of hybrid extraterrestrials, specifically Mr. Spock of “Star Trek” fame. See discussion.

g Aftermath – We measure our place in the universe based on the part of it we sense around us. See article.

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