Where aliens would reside, life’s potential false positives and exopsychology

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 – Scientists say a ring-shaped region in the disc of the Milky Way shows the highest potential for life in our galaxy. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Abodes – If alien life had visited the Earth in the past, its mark still might be identifiable today, an Australian scientist says. See article.
g Life – Some hardy Earth microbes could survive long enough on Mars to complicate the search for alien life. The intense ultraviolet rays that bombard the Martian surface are quickly fatal to most Earth microbes. However, the new study shows that at least one tough Earth species, a type of blue-green algae, could live just long enough to leave a biological trace in the Martian soil — creating a potential false positive. See article.
g Intelligence – If you want your baby to be a country star, bounce it to the two-step right off the bat. If a waltz is more your preference, then rock it to sleep on every third beat. A new study finds that hearing and feeling different beats is an early step in a baby's appreciation and perception of music. See article.
g Message – While some scientists cautiously plan for ways to reply to extraterrestrial transmissions, others haven't waited for a signal to start talking. Sending messages from Earth into space to announce the existence of the human race is somewhat rare and controversial. Digital transmissions have been beamed into space from radio telescopes, and four spacecraft currently leaving the solar system bear messages for anyone who finds them. See article. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Cosmicus – NASA Administrator Michael Griffin plans to oust about 20 space agency officials by mid-August, including two leaders of the program making final preparations for the space shuttle's first trip in more than two years, the Washington Post reported in Saturday's edition. See article.
g Learning – No matter how many books you read or how you try and think about the distances involved, you can never quite picture the scale of our solar system until you go outside a build your own one. Now you can, using the “Computer of the Gods.” See article.
g Imagining – Could the Pak of Larry Niven's Ringworld universe possibly evolve? They've got a homepage to discuss that and other questions about the intriguing fiction alien race. See article.
g Aftermath – The next social science to be created might be "exopsychology" — the study of behavior, attitudes, personalities and thoughts of alien beings. Although necessarily speculative, exopsychology might eventually be a critical link between humans and aliens. In the meantime, such a study could also provide the additional benefit of informing us about earthbound prejudices. See article.

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