Triple alpha reaction, Titan landing and the Kaylar

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 – All the carbon in the universe, including that needed for carbon-based life forms such as us, has been made in the hearts of stars through what is known as the “triple alpha reaction.” See article.
g Abodes – With the latest Titan images showing channels and fluid-like branching, scientists have begun the debate anew whether fluid might have shaped the Earth-like moon. Imaging science team leader for Cassini, Carolyn Porco, describes the initial surprise and excitement of seeing Titan up close. See article. Titan is of particular interest to astrobiologists. Because titan is the only known moon in the Solar System with a thick atmosphere, studying its organic chemistry may help scientists understand the origin of life on our planet. Understanding how life emerges from cosmic and planetary precursors is a primary goal of astrobiology. There’s also a great set of videos and audio feeds here.
g Life – For the first time, scientists have found that bacteria can use a sonar-like system to spot other cells (either normal body cells or other bacteria) and target them for destruction. Reported in Science’s Dec. 24 issue, this finding explains how some bacteria know when to produce a toxin that makes infection more severe. It may lead to the design of new toxin inhibitors. See article.
g Intelligence – To understand how intelligence might develop on alien worlds, we have only one example to study: The evolution of human intelligence on Earth. Since intelligent life took a long time to arrive on Earth, some believe it will take just as long on other worlds. The appearance of evolution seems aimed towards the development of intelligence, but what kinds and with what frequencies? See article. This site also has a neat feature where you can change the variables in the Drake Equation yourself. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Message – A team of American scientists note that recent astrophysical discoveries suggest that we should find ourselves in the midst of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations. Moreover, they argue it is a mistake to reject all UFO reports since some evidence for the theoretically predicted extraterrestrial visitors might just be found there. See article.
g Cosmicus – A new material designed for producing bendable transistors is practically invisible and simple to produce. It could lead to a new class of throwaway electronic devices, its inventors say. What will be the effect on space exploration? See article.
g Learning – There’s a nice beginner’s guide to astronomy at Astrocentral. It also has a section on the search for alien life.
g Imagining – Could the Kaylar (click here and then on “Kaylar on Rigel VII”), a Star Trek alien from “The Original Series’ pilot episode, “The Cage,” exist? Like the Gorn, this alien appears to be drawn from our nightmares and hence serves a more dramatic effect than offering any speculation on exobiology. A tall humanoid with intriguing jaw features, skinny legs and broad shoulders, the Kaylar on Rigel VII is reminiscent of a barbarian warrior or an ogre. Brushing aside the nearly impossible parallel evolution between Earth and the Kaylar’s home world for such a creature to come about, there are a couple of possible ways that it could have gained its great height and skinny legs. Its planet might have lighter gravity, which means an indigent alien wouldn’t fall as hard as we do on Earth; hence the supporting legs would not need to be as strong to hold up a little more weight than the typical human. In addition, we might speculate that as a humanoid, the Kaylar shared a similar primate evolution as humans, so possibly the savannah grass of its continental cradle simply was taller than on the African plain during the past few million years; that would have given taller proto-Kaylar an evolutionary advantage. Still, the Kaylar appears to be an unlikely alien.
g Aftermath – Could religions survive contact with extraterrestrials? The Medieval Church didn't think so, as the discovery would challenge mankind's central role in the cosmos. Today such ideas are considered old fashioned, and many theologians welcome the discovery of life — even intelligent life — among the stars. But if scientists were to find microscopic Martians or a signal from another world, would established religions really take it in stride? For a discussion, check out this past program of SETI’s “Are We Alone?” here. Note: An .mp3 player is required to play the audio files; you can download one at the site for free.


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