Thursday, August 11, 2005

Lost city of stars, exobiology jobs and the 'Uplift' series

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 - Like archaeologists unearthing a "lost city," astronomers using the 8-meter Gemini South telescope have revealed that the galaxy NGC 300 has a large, faint extended disk made of ancient stars, enlarging the known diameter of the galaxy by a factor of two or more. See article.
g Abodes - Although Mars has grabbed the headlines as a potential site of extraterrestrial life, Venus may have been the original source of life in our solar system, according to a University of Colorado astronomer. See article. Note: This article is from 1997.
g Life - As anyone whose nerves have been jangled by a baby's howl or who have been riveted by the sight of an attractive person knows, nature has evolved sensory systems to be exquisitely tuned to relevant input. A major question in neurobiology is how neurons tune the strength of their interconnections to optimally respond to such inputs. See article.
g Intelligence - To work properly, nerve cells need energy delivered to the right place at the right time. A particular gene in fruit flies governs the movement of cells' energy-producing units, called mitochondria, according to a new research. Even so, the mutant nerve cells could still transmit signals, although not as well. The findings are surprising because scientists had thought any disruption in normal mitochondrial behavior would be lethal in the embryo stage. See article.
g Message - What’s it like to be a SETI astronomer, listening for alien radio signals? See article. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Cosmicus - Days after the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia and the deaths of its seven crew members, scientists, engineers and politicians are asking the crucial questions: What went wrong? Why didn't anyone see this coming? Could it have been prevented? But there's another vital question: What were those people doing up there? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Learning - In field of exobiology entails many different disciplines. Physicists, biologists, and chemists are just a few of the types of occupations that have a place in exobiology. Indeed, exobiology is one of the most inter-disciplinary fields in the realm of science. With so many different types of jobs, exobiology is a fascinating field to work in, and because it is relatively new, it will be thriving for a long time to come. See article.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for David Brin’s Uplift Series: “Star Diver” (1980), “Startide Rising” (1983) and “The Uplift War” (1987), in which Earth takes its place in galactic politics, and from his New Uplift Trilogy: “Brightness Reef” (1995), “Infinity's Shore” (1997), in which six species live in harmony on an illegal colony world.
g Aftermath - Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that some form of alien life exists somewhere in the universe, according to a new survey. See article.

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