Sedna’s origins, primeval woods and artificial intelligence

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 – Initial studies of the planetoid Sedna's origin speculated that it might have been ejected from the giant planets region of our solar system far inside the orbit of Pluto, or perhaps was captured from a passing star's Kuiper Belt. In a report in this month’s The Astronomical Journal, a planetary scientist proposes how Sedna could have formed far beyond the distance of Pluto. See article.
g Abodes – Ancient woodlands in Europe may have been remarkably similar to the dense, dark forests of ancient folklore according to a paper published today in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Ecology. See article.
g Life – Microbes living in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park use primarily hydrogen for fuel, a discovery researchers say bodes well for life in extreme environments on other planets and could add to understanding of bacteria inside the human body. See article.
g Intelligence – Scientists have unearthed skeletal fossils of a human ancestor believed to have lived about 4.5 million years ago. From the Gona Study Area in northern Ethiopia, the fossils will help scientists piece together the mysterious transformation of primitive chimp-like hominids into more human forms. See article, which discusses the Radio Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, The Arecibo Search for Early Hydrogen and Optical SETI.
g Cosmicus – Experiments on moss grown aboard two space shuttle Columbia missions showed that the plants didn't behave as scientists expected them to in the near-absence of gravity. See article.
g Learning – A victory for our children today in Kansas: A committee rewriting the state's science education standards rebuffed efforts to expose students to stronger criticisms of evolution. The committee, appointed by the state board, is revising the Kansas' standards for science education, which currently describe evolution as a key concept students should learn. See article.
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 a form of “life” that many scientists think we’ll more apt to meet in the cosmos than extraterrestrials: artificial intelligence. See article.
g Aftermath – Will we ever find a primer for decoding messages from extraterrestrials? Last month, anthropologists who gathered for a major conference in Atlanta heard some news that will be sobering for SETI enthusiasts: it may be much more difficult to understand extraterrestrials than many scientists have thought before. See article.

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