Infant stars, Project Argus and recommended ET reading

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 – Hubble astronomers have uncovered a population of infant stars in the Milky Way satellite galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud (visible to the naked eye in the southern constellation Tucana), located 210,000 light-years away. Such stars day one could bear planets that support alien life. See article.
g Abodes – The percentage of Earth's land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled from the 1970s to the early 2000s, according to a new analysis by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Rising global temperatures appear to be a major factor, says the study’s lead author. Understanding the affect technological civilizations have on their environments will affect the number of years they are capable of communication across space. See article.
g Life – Centuries of warfare have seen body armor develop from cowhides to Kevlar. Now scientists are using lab experiments and mathematics to discover a stronger bulletproof solution in the beautiful, helmet homes that seaweed-eating abalones make for themselves. See article.
g Intelligence – The next time you're at a party with the love of your life, don't spend a lot of time trying to identify other couples in love — chances are, you aren't very good at it. Golfers may be able to identify a sweet swing, and runners admire a lengthy stride in others, but a new study has found that when it comes to identifying couples in love, no one is worse than — well, couples in love. See article.
g Message – Project Argus, The SETI League's key technical initiative, has been called the most ambitious microwave SETI project ever undertaken without government equipment or funding. When fully operational, it will provide, for the first time ever, continuous monitoring of the entire sky, in all directions in real time. See article.
g Cosmicus – University of Hawaii astronomer Toby Owens is one of the original planners of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moon Titan. Owens talks about the history of the mission and the reasons scientists were interested in exploring Titan here.
g Imagining – Why weren’t there classes like this when I was in school? Last year, Prof. Joan Slonczewski at “Biology 103: Biology in Science Fiction” at Kenyon College. Here’s her book reading list. It’s all great reading, whether you’re in the class or not. Of course, if Slonczewski taught in Dover, Pa., her class would first have to be read the statement, “The theory that human authors wrote this book is not a fact and continues to be tested. Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of these books that differs from publishers’ views."
g Aftermath – There’s a neat transcription of a video conference interview with Dr. Frank Drake (whose famous equation this site is organized after), conducted by the class members of Penn State’s "Space Colonization” class. Drake touches on a variety of SETI topics, including the philosophical implication of extraterrestrial contact. Note: The interview took place in January 2001.

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