Earth without people, new microgenerator and Ralinius’ ecosystem

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 – Clear evidence in a Chinese meteorite for the past presence of chlorine-36, a short-lived radioactive isotope, lends further support to the controversial concept that a nearby supernova blast was involved in the formation of our solar system, according to a report forthcoming in the Feb. 1 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. See article.
g Abodes – Given the mounting toll of fouled oceans, overheated air, missing topsoil, and mass extinctions, we might sometimes wonder what our planet would be like if humans suddenly disappeared. Would Superfund sites revert to Gardens of Eden? Would the seas again fill with fish? Would our concrete cities crumble to dust from the force of tree roots, water, and weeds? How long would it take for our traces to vanish? And if we could answer such questions, would we be more in awe of the changes we have wrought, or of nature’s resilience? See article.
g Life – For the giant Australian cuttlefish, mating is a complicated undertaking complete with fighting, sneaking and deception. In this week's issue of the journal Nature, a Marine Biological Laboratory scientist and his colleagues demonstrate that for this species, deception while mating pays off. See article.
g Intelligence – Intellectual capacity in early adulthood is strongly related to subsequent risk of suicide in men, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal. Few previous studies have assessed the association of measures of intelligence with suicide, and results have often conflicted. See article.
g Message – Just exactly how does SETI work? See primer.
g Cosmicus – It may be tiny, but a new microgenerator developed at Georgia Tech can now produce enough power to run a small electronic device, like a cell phone, and may soon be able to power a laptop. What effect might this have on space exploration? See article.
g Learning – Once again, the creationists are threatening the science education standards of our public schools. For 2 ½ years, Cobb County, Ga., has had a disclaimer inserted in their biology textbooks stating that evolution is just a theory and should be treated as such. In Dover, Penn., the school board wants science teachers to talk about an “alternative” theory of creation called Intelligent Design. See this excellent op-ed, which appeared in yesterday’s Quad City (Iowa) Times.
g Imagining – A few days ago, I noted a neat science fiction alien reading list from Prof. Joan Slonczewski, who taught “Biology 103: Biology in Science Fiction” at Kenyon College in 2003. Her students, using astrobiological principles, attempted to create a number of plausible alien civilizations and worlds as a class project. Here’s another one, about the life in the ecosystem of planet Ralinius.
g Aftermath – Here’s an interesting book for some astrobiological reading: “After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life” by Albert A. Harrison. See reviews.

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