Discovery of exoplanets, emergence of photosynthesis and science under assault

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 - Nowadays, much of the universe's matter seems to be organized, as stars, solar systems, galaxies, and galaxy clusters are familiar sights of the local universe. However this was not always the case. See article.
g Abodes - Here’s a neat Web site to keep up on the discovery of exoplanets: ExoPlanets.org.
g Life - When did photosynthesis emerge on Earth? See article.
g Intelligence - A wealth of sleep research has regularly produced baffling paradoxes and conflicting lines of evidence about the uses, role and need for sleep. If sleep is primarily about providing mental rest, why do people's brains remain so active during sleep, as research in recent decades has found? See article.
g Message - Just how does SETI work? Here’s a good primer for those looking to get a basic overview.
g Cosmicus - Mars Society founder, Robert Zubrin, talks about how to terraform the red planet. His engineer's eye reveals his robust plans for not just getting to a new home, but also how to build one from scratch. See article. Note: This article is from 2004. For related stories, see "Magnetic Mars"; "The Changing Face of Mars"; and "Sprit’s Trail".
g Learning - A bitter debate about how to teach evolution in U.S. high schools is prompting a crisis of confidence among scientists, and some senior academics warn that science itself is under assault. See article.
g Imagining - Quote of the Day: "Nowhere in space will we rest our eyes upon the familiar shapes of trees and plants, or any of the animals that share our world. Whatsoever life we meet will be as strange and alien as the nightmare creatures of the ocean abyss, or of the insect empire whose horrors are normally hidden from us by their microscopic scale." — Sir Arthur C. Clarke
g Aftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.


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