Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - When the Allen Telescope Array comes online in a few years, its thousand-fold better radio search capabilities will soon exhaust previously cataloged stars with potentially habitable planets. So Margaret Turnbull and Jill Tarter have a new list, called HabCat: A Catalog of Nearby Habitable Stellar Systems. See http://www.
astrobio.net/news/article436.html. Note: This article is from April 2003.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.astrobio.net/cgi-bin/h2p.cgi?sid=1676&ext=.pdf.
g Life - One of the key motivations for revisiting the probability of life elsewhere in the universe is the surprising proclivity of life in hostile places on Earth. New findings suggest that modern organisms may possess useless DNA fragments today that once saved their ancestors’ lives in extreme environments. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1461&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Chimpanzees want to be just like their friends, at least when it comes to getting food. The social conformity displayed in a new study is a trait previously seen only in humans. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050822_chimps_social.html.
g Message - Here’s an article in which Dave DeBoer, project engineer for the Allen Telescope Array, discusses what the unique telescope will offer. The development of the Allen Telescope Array is marked by many innovations crafted with the express purpose of building a world-class state-of-the-art astronomical facility at a fraction of the price of existing radio telescopes. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/article623.html. Note: This article is from October 2003.
g Cosmicus - Mission controllers cross their fingers whenever the Sun is stormy and their spacecraft have to fly over the South Atlantic. There, even satellites in low orbits suffer many hits by atomic bullets from the Sun. Troublesome faults occur in electronic systems and astronauts see flashes in their eyes. See http://www.
rednova.com/news/display/?id=123067.
g Learning - An excellent op-ed column appeared in Sunday’s Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal-Gazette about why biology classes shouldn’t teach intelligent design. See http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/
news/editorial/12499058.htm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Christin Morris’ "Indians and Other Aliens: A Native American View of Science Fiction." It appeared in “Extrapolation 20” (1979).
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 http://
www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Robotic astrobiologist, bad news for germophiles and alien disinformation
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - The Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered significant amounts of icy organic materials sprinkled throughout several "planetary construction zones," or dusty planet-forming discs, which circle infant stars. See http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/
133.cfm. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Abodes - Carnegie Mellon University researchers and their colleagues from NASA's Ames Research Center, the universities of Tennessee, Arizona and Iowa, as well as Chilean researchers at Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta) are preparing for the final stage of a three-year project to develop a prototype robotic astrobiologist, a robot that can explore and study life in the driest desert on Earth. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/2071
73/trooper_zoe_a_prototype_robotic_astrobiologist/.
g Life - A new way of thinking about the dirt under our feet is sure to dismay germophobes everywhere. Scientists now think Earth's soil contains 100 times more bacteria species than previously thought. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050825_bacteria_
diversity.html.
g Intelligence - A study published in the August/October issue of Current Anthropology, reports on new archaeological evidence regarding the identities of human sacrifice victims of the Moche society of Peru. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050826075238.htm.
g Message - Here’s something neat: A site about Project Target, or the Telescope Antenna Researching Galactic Extraterrestrial Transmissions, from Hay River Radio, which boldly proclaims that such signals indeed exist! See http://space.about.com/gi/
dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.area31.org%2Ftarget.html.
g Cosmicus - What is “xenology” and how will our growing understanding of the field send us to the stars? See http://www.davidbrin.com/xenology1.html. Note: This article, by science fiction writer David Brin, is from the early 1980s.
g Learning - Many Americans, not just scientists, now worry that the teaching of biology will be replaced by religious indoctrination. The spread of fundamentalist Christianity is seen by many to be a force for a renewed far right political agenda, and in particular to be responsible for George W. Bush’s election victory. There is reason to be concerned — consider the recent challenges to teaching evolution in schools. See
http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/1308/Creationism_
pluralism_and_the_compromising_of_science.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Walter Earl Meyers’ “Aliens and linguists: language study and science fiction,” published in 1980 by Athens : University of Georgia Press. It’s a very useful and amusing survey of attempts to communicate with aliens in stories by Tolkein, Anderson, LeGuin, Vance, Asimov, Burroughs and Delany.
g Aftermath Add one more worry to the computerized world of the 21st century. Could a signal from the stars broadcast by an alien intelligence also carry harmful information, in the spirit of a computer virus? Could star folk launch a "disinformation" campaign -- one that covers up aspects of their culture? Perhaps they might even mask the "real" intent of dispatching a message to other civilizations scattered throughout the Cosmos. See http://www.space.com/science
astronomy/space_hackers_031111.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - The Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered significant amounts of icy organic materials sprinkled throughout several "planetary construction zones," or dusty planet-forming discs, which circle infant stars. See http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/
133.cfm. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Abodes - Carnegie Mellon University researchers and their colleagues from NASA's Ames Research Center, the universities of Tennessee, Arizona and Iowa, as well as Chilean researchers at Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta) are preparing for the final stage of a three-year project to develop a prototype robotic astrobiologist, a robot that can explore and study life in the driest desert on Earth. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/2071
73/trooper_zoe_a_prototype_robotic_astrobiologist/.
g Life - A new way of thinking about the dirt under our feet is sure to dismay germophobes everywhere. Scientists now think Earth's soil contains 100 times more bacteria species than previously thought. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050825_bacteria_
diversity.html.
g Intelligence - A study published in the August/October issue of Current Anthropology, reports on new archaeological evidence regarding the identities of human sacrifice victims of the Moche society of Peru. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050826075238.htm.
g Message - Here’s something neat: A site about Project Target, or the Telescope Antenna Researching Galactic Extraterrestrial Transmissions, from Hay River Radio, which boldly proclaims that such signals indeed exist! See http://space.about.com/gi/
dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.area31.org%2Ftarget.html.
g Cosmicus - What is “xenology” and how will our growing understanding of the field send us to the stars? See http://www.davidbrin.com/xenology1.html. Note: This article, by science fiction writer David Brin, is from the early 1980s.
g Learning - Many Americans, not just scientists, now worry that the teaching of biology will be replaced by religious indoctrination. The spread of fundamentalist Christianity is seen by many to be a force for a renewed far right political agenda, and in particular to be responsible for George W. Bush’s election victory. There is reason to be concerned — consider the recent challenges to teaching evolution in schools. See
http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/1308/Creationism_
pluralism_and_the_compromising_of_science.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Walter Earl Meyers’ “Aliens and linguists: language study and science fiction,” published in 1980 by Athens : University of Georgia Press. It’s a very useful and amusing survey of attempts to communicate with aliens in stories by Tolkein, Anderson, LeGuin, Vance, Asimov, Burroughs and Delany.
g Aftermath Add one more worry to the computerized world of the 21st century. Could a signal from the stars broadcast by an alien intelligence also carry harmful information, in the spirit of a computer virus? Could star folk launch a "disinformation" campaign -- one that covers up aspects of their culture? Perhaps they might even mask the "real" intent of dispatching a message to other civilizations scattered throughout the Cosmos. See http://www.space.com/science
astronomy/space_hackers_031111.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Humpback whales, gambling monkeys and Starship Daedelus
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Amateur astronomers are being asked to help a constellation of observatories unravel the mysteries of a puzzling binary star system. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/222381/
amateurs_help_astronomers_unravel_a_propeller_star/index.html.
g Abodes - British researchers have hit on a clever way to search for ancient ozone holes and their relationship to mass extinctions: measure the remains of ultraviolet-B absorbing pigments ancient plants left in their fossilized spores and pollen. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1678&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - SETI scientists studying the humpback whales’ social and working vocalizations say the creatures’ behaviors may be the most complex in the animal kingdom. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1351071.
g Intelligence - ASU researcher Ana Pinto is shedding some light on an age-old mystery in anthropology: What was the relationship between Neanderthals and early humans? See http://www.physorg.
com/news5995.html.
g Message - We often assume extraterrestrials will be smart enough to contact us. But what if they aren't? How do we find them then? See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa004&articleID=000BE95F-A014-1C75-9B81809EC588EF21. Note: this article is from 2001; it contains a good overview of the Drake Equation, which the format of this blog is based upon.
g Cosmicus - There’s a neat catalog and collection of links about extrasolar planets that we’ve discovered online at “Other Worlds, Distant Suns.” See http://astronautica.com/main.htm.
g Learning - An outstanding editorial appeared in the New Jersey newspaper The Record on Sunday. “Intelligent design is not science; it's not even a theory,” the editorial rightly states. “It's just a sneaky way to get religion into the classroom by ‘teaching the controversy’ that evolution can't explain all of life's complexities.” See http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVl
RUV5eTY3NTUxMTQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Brian Stableford’s Daedelus Series: “The Florians” (1976), “Critical Threshold” (1977), “Wildeblood's Empire” (1977), “City of the Sun” (1978), “Balance of Power” (1979) and “Paradox of the Sets” (1979). In the series, the Starship Daedelus recontacts lost colonies with biological mysteries.
g Aftermath To create interstellar messages that have a realistic chance of being understood across interstellar distances, we need to identify some information shared by humans and extraterrestrials. We need to identify a foundation for establishing a universal language that will let us bridge the gap between our world and theirs, all without the convenience of face-to-face contact. See http://www.
space.com/searchforlife/seti_altruism_vakoch_021219.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Stars - Amateur astronomers are being asked to help a constellation of observatories unravel the mysteries of a puzzling binary star system. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/222381/
amateurs_help_astronomers_unravel_a_propeller_star/index.html.
g Abodes - British researchers have hit on a clever way to search for ancient ozone holes and their relationship to mass extinctions: measure the remains of ultraviolet-B absorbing pigments ancient plants left in their fossilized spores and pollen. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1678&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - SETI scientists studying the humpback whales’ social and working vocalizations say the creatures’ behaviors may be the most complex in the animal kingdom. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1351071.
g Intelligence - ASU researcher Ana Pinto is shedding some light on an age-old mystery in anthropology: What was the relationship between Neanderthals and early humans? See http://www.physorg.
com/news5995.html.
g Message - We often assume extraterrestrials will be smart enough to contact us. But what if they aren't? How do we find them then? See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa004&articleID=000BE95F-A014-1C75-9B81809EC588EF21. Note: this article is from 2001; it contains a good overview of the Drake Equation, which the format of this blog is based upon.
g Cosmicus - There’s a neat catalog and collection of links about extrasolar planets that we’ve discovered online at “Other Worlds, Distant Suns.” See http://astronautica.com/main.htm.
g Learning - An outstanding editorial appeared in the New Jersey newspaper The Record on Sunday. “Intelligent design is not science; it's not even a theory,” the editorial rightly states. “It's just a sneaky way to get religion into the classroom by ‘teaching the controversy’ that evolution can't explain all of life's complexities.” See http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVl
RUV5eTY3NTUxMTQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Brian Stableford’s Daedelus Series: “The Florians” (1976), “Critical Threshold” (1977), “Wildeblood's Empire” (1977), “City of the Sun” (1978), “Balance of Power” (1979) and “Paradox of the Sets” (1979). In the series, the Starship Daedelus recontacts lost colonies with biological mysteries.
g Aftermath To create interstellar messages that have a realistic chance of being understood across interstellar distances, we need to identify some information shared by humans and extraterrestrials. We need to identify a foundation for establishing a universal language that will let us bridge the gap between our world and theirs, all without the convenience of face-to-face contact. See http://www.
space.com/searchforlife/seti_altruism_vakoch_021219.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Bipolar year, X-15 astronauts and ‘Cosmic Company’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have conducted the most comprehensive structural analysis of our galaxy and have found tantalizing new evidence that the Milky Way is much different from your ordinary spiral galaxy. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1685&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Pamela Conrad, an astrobiologist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has traveled to the ends of the Earth to study life. On June 16, Conrad gave a lecture entitled, "A Bipolar Year: What We Can Learn About Looking for Life on Other Planets by Working in Cold Deserts." In part 1 of this edited transcript, Conrad describes what sort of signs we could look for to see if there is life in an alien environment. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1683&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - It's an amazing, electrifying, even terrifying feeling: Stare into a starry night sky and ask yourself if someone, or something, might be staring back. Just the thought is enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. But even now, after centuries of wondering, and decades of actively looking, humans still don’t know the answer. See http://www.space.com/news/cosmic_life_020129-1.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Intelligence - Researchers at Stanford University have demonstrated a promising, minimally invasive optical technique that can capture micron-scale images from deep in the brains of live subjects. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050825070237.htm.
g Message - Recent discussions within the SETI community have thoroughly explored the issue of whether people with access to radio telescopes should send powerful signals to alien civilizations without some process of prior international consultation. In particular, those exchanges have focused on the question of "Active SETI." See http://www.setileague.org/editor/actvseti.htm.
g Cosmicus - In a turbulent era of 1960s Cold War confrontations, moon race headlines, and war in southeast Asia, eight military and civilian test pilots flew the radical X-15 rocket plane out of the atmosphere and into the record books, earning astronaut status. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/24x15/.
g Learning -The company that contracts to run the sprawling Kennedy Space Center visitor complex will soon give tourists an opportunity to experience a shuttle launch for themselves. See http://space.com/entertainment/050707_cs_shuttleexperience.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for the late Poul Anderson’s “The Byworlder” (1971), which examines metazoans, linked cilia and radial lifeforms.
g Aftermath Book alert: In “Cosmic Company,” Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of aliens visiting the Earth, as well as the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos proving we're neither alone, nor the most intelligent life forms. They explain why scientists think life might exist on other worlds, and how we might contact it. Shostak and Barnett, experienced writers of popular astronomy, provide an accessible overview of the science and technology behind the search for life in the universe. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521822335/ref=pd_sxp_f/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance&s=books.
g Stars - With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have conducted the most comprehensive structural analysis of our galaxy and have found tantalizing new evidence that the Milky Way is much different from your ordinary spiral galaxy. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1685&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Pamela Conrad, an astrobiologist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has traveled to the ends of the Earth to study life. On June 16, Conrad gave a lecture entitled, "A Bipolar Year: What We Can Learn About Looking for Life on Other Planets by Working in Cold Deserts." In part 1 of this edited transcript, Conrad describes what sort of signs we could look for to see if there is life in an alien environment. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1683&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - It's an amazing, electrifying, even terrifying feeling: Stare into a starry night sky and ask yourself if someone, or something, might be staring back. Just the thought is enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. But even now, after centuries of wondering, and decades of actively looking, humans still don’t know the answer. See http://www.space.com/news/cosmic_life_020129-1.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Intelligence - Researchers at Stanford University have demonstrated a promising, minimally invasive optical technique that can capture micron-scale images from deep in the brains of live subjects. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050825070237.htm.
g Message - Recent discussions within the SETI community have thoroughly explored the issue of whether people with access to radio telescopes should send powerful signals to alien civilizations without some process of prior international consultation. In particular, those exchanges have focused on the question of "Active SETI." See http://www.setileague.org/editor/actvseti.htm.
g Cosmicus - In a turbulent era of 1960s Cold War confrontations, moon race headlines, and war in southeast Asia, eight military and civilian test pilots flew the radical X-15 rocket plane out of the atmosphere and into the record books, earning astronaut status. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/24x15/.
g Learning -The company that contracts to run the sprawling Kennedy Space Center visitor complex will soon give tourists an opportunity to experience a shuttle launch for themselves. See http://space.com/entertainment/050707_cs_shuttleexperience.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for the late Poul Anderson’s “The Byworlder” (1971), which examines metazoans, linked cilia and radial lifeforms.
g Aftermath Book alert: In “Cosmic Company,” Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of aliens visiting the Earth, as well as the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos proving we're neither alone, nor the most intelligent life forms. They explain why scientists think life might exist on other worlds, and how we might contact it. Shostak and Barnett, experienced writers of popular astronomy, provide an accessible overview of the science and technology behind the search for life in the universe. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521822335/ref=pd_sxp_f/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance&s=books.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Smallest genome, clashing sea anemones and trash bags pave way to Mars
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - A star that has begun eclipsing every 48 days shows the remarkable time scales of stellar evolution. The eclipsing star may be “winking,” according to Harvard-Smithsonian astronomers, because of a protoplanetary disk that beckons a solar system coming of age. Such changes may give scientists a first-row seat to witness what usually eludes a lifetime of study: planets as they form. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article552.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Abodes - We are alive because untold trillions of microbes have lived. How the world's microbes - the planet's richest trove of life - survive and shape our world is the key to understanding the origins of life on Earth, scientists from the University of Colorado and elsewhere say. The $720 million Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that launched Friday is NASA's latest bet that the same holds true elsewhere. See http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/08
/17/news/wyoming/72321a5befd78a3e8725705f0076c70b.txt.
g Life - Researchers at Oregon State University and Diversa Corporation have discovered that the smallest free-living cell known also has the smallest genome, or genetic structure, of any independent cell - and yet it dominates life in the oceans, thrives where most other cells would die, and plays a huge role in the cycling of carbon on Earth. In nature, apparently, bigger is not always better. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1689&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Clashing colonies of sea anemones fight as organized armies with distinct castes of warriors, scouts, reproductives and other types, according to a new study. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1691&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Message - In 2004, SETI scientist Jill Tarter was selected by the editors of TIME magazine as one of the world’s 100 most “influential and powerful people.” This selection was based on her prominent role in the search for evidence of life beyond earth, as well as her efforts promoting scientific literacy. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/awis%20-%20tarter.pdf.
g Cosmicus - We all use plastic trash bags; they're so common that we hardly give them a second thought. So who would have guessed that a lowly trash bag might hold the key to sending humans to Mars? See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/220862/protecting_
astronauts_with_plastic_spaceships/index.html.
g Learning - Red Nova offers a great glossary of astrobiology terms. See http://www.rednova.com/astrobio_glossary/a/.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for C.J. Cherryh’s series “The Foreigner Universe,” which includes “Foreigner” (1994), “Invader” (1995) and “Inheritor” (1996). The series traces our dealings with the proud Atevi from first contact, as the single ambassador they will allow on planet tries to prevent war.
g Aftermath How might interested parties envisage the design of a human team to prepare for an encounter with aliens — and improve the operational guidelines for that eventuality? See http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/alien4.php.
g Stars - A star that has begun eclipsing every 48 days shows the remarkable time scales of stellar evolution. The eclipsing star may be “winking,” according to Harvard-Smithsonian astronomers, because of a protoplanetary disk that beckons a solar system coming of age. Such changes may give scientists a first-row seat to witness what usually eludes a lifetime of study: planets as they form. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article552.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Abodes - We are alive because untold trillions of microbes have lived. How the world's microbes - the planet's richest trove of life - survive and shape our world is the key to understanding the origins of life on Earth, scientists from the University of Colorado and elsewhere say. The $720 million Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that launched Friday is NASA's latest bet that the same holds true elsewhere. See http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/08
/17/news/wyoming/72321a5befd78a3e8725705f0076c70b.txt.
g Life - Researchers at Oregon State University and Diversa Corporation have discovered that the smallest free-living cell known also has the smallest genome, or genetic structure, of any independent cell - and yet it dominates life in the oceans, thrives where most other cells would die, and plays a huge role in the cycling of carbon on Earth. In nature, apparently, bigger is not always better. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1689&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Clashing colonies of sea anemones fight as organized armies with distinct castes of warriors, scouts, reproductives and other types, according to a new study. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1691&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Message - In 2004, SETI scientist Jill Tarter was selected by the editors of TIME magazine as one of the world’s 100 most “influential and powerful people.” This selection was based on her prominent role in the search for evidence of life beyond earth, as well as her efforts promoting scientific literacy. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/awis%20-%20tarter.pdf.
g Cosmicus - We all use plastic trash bags; they're so common that we hardly give them a second thought. So who would have guessed that a lowly trash bag might hold the key to sending humans to Mars? See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/220862/protecting_
astronauts_with_plastic_spaceships/index.html.
g Learning - Red Nova offers a great glossary of astrobiology terms. See http://www.rednova.com/astrobio_glossary/a/.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for C.J. Cherryh’s series “The Foreigner Universe,” which includes “Foreigner” (1994), “Invader” (1995) and “Inheritor” (1996). The series traces our dealings with the proud Atevi from first contact, as the single ambassador they will allow on planet tries to prevent war.
g Aftermath How might interested parties envisage the design of a human team to prepare for an encounter with aliens — and improve the operational guidelines for that eventuality? See http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/alien4.php.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, phoning home intergalactically and ‘Ringworld’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - A University of Toronto scientist has found unexpectedly young material in meteorites — a discovery that breaks open current theory on the earliest events of the solar system. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1688&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - The much-anticipated Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission has launched astrobiologists on their next phase of their exploration of the Red Planet. See http://www.theaustralian.
news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16317731^29098,00.html.
g Life - Scientists have yearned to understand how the chirps and warbles of a young bird morph into the recognizable and very distinct melodies of its parents. Neuroscientists at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT now have come one step closer to understanding that process. They've shown for the first time how a particular brain region in birds serves as the source of vocal creativity. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
04/050425212914.htm.
g Intelligence - A few simple but important steps that have led to the manufacture of radio telescopes. In human evolution, the development of facilities and fire was critical in the establishment of a metal technology. Adequate resources derived from agriculture were essential for the development of advanced technology. At all stages, the ratio of cost to reward had to be small and the technological development had to follow an appropriate cultural preadaptation. Play would unquestionably have been important in technological innovation. The history of toys has yet to be written, but it may be a key to an understanding of the progressive development of human technology. See http://history.nasa.gov/CP-2156/ch4.4.htm.
g Message - Phoning home intergalactically may have one natural prerequisite if a civilization is hoping to connect: timing their precursor signal or 'ring' so that we might know that they're broadcasting. Dr. Robin Corbet, of the Universities' Space Research Association discusses his research findings on Synchronized SETI. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article285.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Cosmicus - Who can resist the poetry of Humanity’s Timeless Outward Urge? Space is the endless frontier, we say—it’s in our genes. It’s the next inevitable step in evolution. It’s our species-level insurance against global disasters. It’s the spread of life and intelligence from a pale blue dot to the 99.9… percent of the cosmos that isn’t Earth. Throw the bone, cue the music, match dissolve to orbit: thank you, Mr. Kubrick. See http://space.com/adastra/
adastra_hustle_part2_050824.html.
g Learning - At a time when industrial, academic, and business leaders are calling for more American students to train in engineering, mathematics, science and technology, we need to teach science in science classrooms. Let’s teach the scientific ideas that are supported by overwhelming evidence such as gravitation, relativity, quantum mechanics, and evolution. Creationist ideas/beliefs, such as intelligent design, don’t belong in science classrooms. In our haste to leave no child behind, let’s not leave science behind either. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/
content2.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1324903.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Larry Niven’s “Ringworld” (1970) and the sequel, “Ringworld Engineers” (1980).
g Aftermath A wide variety of steps should be taken to help the social sciences increase their visibility, status and contribution within the SETI field. The impact of social scientists will be profound if they contribute fresh ideas about the nature of ETI and how to detect it, bold insights into the variety of human reactions if the search succeeds, and far- sighted scenarios of humanity’s eventual relations with extraterrestrial intelligence. The quality of their thought, the ingenuity of their research designs and the depth of their findings will, in the long run, be particularly significant factors in their contribution to the SETI field. See http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4wvY91izFFYJ:www.ieti.org/tough/books/succeeds/sectV
p01.pdf+astrobiology+%22after+contact%22&hl=en.
g Stars - A University of Toronto scientist has found unexpectedly young material in meteorites — a discovery that breaks open current theory on the earliest events of the solar system. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1688&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - The much-anticipated Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission has launched astrobiologists on their next phase of their exploration of the Red Planet. See http://www.theaustralian.
news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16317731^29098,00.html.
g Life - Scientists have yearned to understand how the chirps and warbles of a young bird morph into the recognizable and very distinct melodies of its parents. Neuroscientists at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT now have come one step closer to understanding that process. They've shown for the first time how a particular brain region in birds serves as the source of vocal creativity. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
04/050425212914.htm.
g Intelligence - A few simple but important steps that have led to the manufacture of radio telescopes. In human evolution, the development of facilities and fire was critical in the establishment of a metal technology. Adequate resources derived from agriculture were essential for the development of advanced technology. At all stages, the ratio of cost to reward had to be small and the technological development had to follow an appropriate cultural preadaptation. Play would unquestionably have been important in technological innovation. The history of toys has yet to be written, but it may be a key to an understanding of the progressive development of human technology. See http://history.nasa.gov/CP-2156/ch4.4.htm.
g Message - Phoning home intergalactically may have one natural prerequisite if a civilization is hoping to connect: timing their precursor signal or 'ring' so that we might know that they're broadcasting. Dr. Robin Corbet, of the Universities' Space Research Association discusses his research findings on Synchronized SETI. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article285.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Cosmicus - Who can resist the poetry of Humanity’s Timeless Outward Urge? Space is the endless frontier, we say—it’s in our genes. It’s the next inevitable step in evolution. It’s our species-level insurance against global disasters. It’s the spread of life and intelligence from a pale blue dot to the 99.9… percent of the cosmos that isn’t Earth. Throw the bone, cue the music, match dissolve to orbit: thank you, Mr. Kubrick. See http://space.com/adastra/
adastra_hustle_part2_050824.html.
g Learning - At a time when industrial, academic, and business leaders are calling for more American students to train in engineering, mathematics, science and technology, we need to teach science in science classrooms. Let’s teach the scientific ideas that are supported by overwhelming evidence such as gravitation, relativity, quantum mechanics, and evolution. Creationist ideas/beliefs, such as intelligent design, don’t belong in science classrooms. In our haste to leave no child behind, let’s not leave science behind either. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/
content2.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1324903.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Larry Niven’s “Ringworld” (1970) and the sequel, “Ringworld Engineers” (1980).
g Aftermath A wide variety of steps should be taken to help the social sciences increase their visibility, status and contribution within the SETI field. The impact of social scientists will be profound if they contribute fresh ideas about the nature of ETI and how to detect it, bold insights into the variety of human reactions if the search succeeds, and far- sighted scenarios of humanity’s eventual relations with extraterrestrial intelligence. The quality of their thought, the ingenuity of their research designs and the depth of their findings will, in the long run, be particularly significant factors in their contribution to the SETI field. See http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4wvY91izFFYJ:www.ieti.org/tough/books/succeeds/sectV
p01.pdf+astrobiology+%22after+contact%22&hl=en.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Star hot spots, New Mexico spaceport and women as aliens in science fiction
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Thanks to data from ESA’s XMM-Newton spacecraft, European astronomers for the first time have observed rotating “hot spots” on the surfaces of three nearby neutron stars. See article.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050811104910.htm.
g Life - Our world may hold clues to the existence of life on other planets, writes astrtobiologist Paul Davies. See http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-search-for-alien-life-on-earth/2005/07/31/1122748521189.html?oneclick=true.
g Intelligence - Empathy allows us to feel the emotions of others, to identify and understand their feelings and motives and see things from their perspective. How we generate empathy remains a subject of intense debate in cognitive science. Some scientists now believe they may have finally discovered its root. We're all essentially mind readers, they say. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050427_mind_readers.html.
g Message - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox: http://shayol.bartol.udel.edu/~rhdt/diploma/lecture_12/.
g Cosmicus - The first official meeting of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority met in Las Cruces last week to begin work establishing the Southwest Regional Spaceport in New Mexico as a major departure site for commercial space launches, including proposed passenger-carrying rockets offering suborbital and orbital treks. See http://space.com/news/050825_newmexico_spaceport.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of classroom activities, courtesy of the Discovery channel: “Destination Mars.” In these activities, students learn: that while Mars is just a stone’s throw across the solar system, a manned mission there is still just a dream; for such a mission to become a reality, we would need, among other things, a means of transportation that would allow us to move over the surface of the planet; and both the surface and the surrounding space of the planet Mars have characteristics that challenge existing technologies to create such a means of transportation. See http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/destinationmars/.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Robin Roberts’ “A new species: gender and science in science fiction” (1993) an analysis of women as aliens in SF.
g Aftermath The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See http://ieti.org/articles/security.htm.
g Stars - Thanks to data from ESA’s XMM-Newton spacecraft, European astronomers for the first time have observed rotating “hot spots” on the surfaces of three nearby neutron stars. See article.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050811104910.htm.
g Life - Our world may hold clues to the existence of life on other planets, writes astrtobiologist Paul Davies. See http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-search-for-alien-life-on-earth/2005/07/31/1122748521189.html?oneclick=true.
g Intelligence - Empathy allows us to feel the emotions of others, to identify and understand their feelings and motives and see things from their perspective. How we generate empathy remains a subject of intense debate in cognitive science. Some scientists now believe they may have finally discovered its root. We're all essentially mind readers, they say. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050427_mind_readers.html.
g Message - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox: http://shayol.bartol.udel.edu/~rhdt/diploma/lecture_12/.
g Cosmicus - The first official meeting of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority met in Las Cruces last week to begin work establishing the Southwest Regional Spaceport in New Mexico as a major departure site for commercial space launches, including proposed passenger-carrying rockets offering suborbital and orbital treks. See http://space.com/news/050825_newmexico_spaceport.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of classroom activities, courtesy of the Discovery channel: “Destination Mars.” In these activities, students learn: that while Mars is just a stone’s throw across the solar system, a manned mission there is still just a dream; for such a mission to become a reality, we would need, among other things, a means of transportation that would allow us to move over the surface of the planet; and both the surface and the surrounding space of the planet Mars have characteristics that challenge existing technologies to create such a means of transportation. See http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/destinationmars/.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Robin Roberts’ “A new species: gender and science in science fiction” (1993) an analysis of women as aliens in SF.
g Aftermath The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See http://ieti.org/articles/security.htm.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Solar nebula’s lifetime, extreme lifeforms and social dynamics of friendly aliens
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - The oxygen and magnesium content of some of the oldest objects in the universe are giving clues to the lifetime of the solar nebula, the mass of dust and gas that eventually led to the formation of our solar system. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050504180243.htm.
g Abodes - While volcanologists can see the dome of the Soufriere Hills Volcano on the island of Montserrat grow and collapse, it takes instrumentation to delve beneath the surface. Now, Penn State geologists, using tiltmeter measurements, have investigated a shallow area under the dome and what they found was not quite what they expected. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050811104441.htm.
g Life - The relentless heat cooks the Badwater region of California's Death Valley so thoroughly that some expanses are textured like dry serpent skin. At some 284 feet below sea level-North America's lowest point-it is perhaps the hottest place on the surface of the earth: the temperature once peaked at a record 53.01 degrees Celsius (127. 4 degrees Fahrenheit). Out here, blood-pumping mammals are scarce. It may seem unfitting to find a Nobel Prize winner, renowned for hepatitis B work, in this scorching pit. But Baruch Blumberg's latest challenge takes him beyond human subjects. As the first director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, he is searching for extreme lifeforms, the kind the space agency aims to someday find on other worlds. See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa007&articleID=00072444-3A0B-1C74-9B81809EC588EF21. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Intelligence - It takes a lot more than testosterone to make a father out of a man. See http://articles.health.msn.com/id/100108086.
g Message - Non-professional involvement in SETI science, which is encouraged by the nonprofit SETI League, Inc., increases the opportunity for the perpetration of hoaxes. The SETI League has already been peripherally involved in three separate false claims of ETI contact. Two were simple cases of mistaken identity, easily rectified. But the third was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an Internet hacker who broke into a closed signal verification e-mail list. Such claims call for a prompt but measured response, so as not to subject the SETI community to charges of complicity in conspiracy or cover-up activities. In this presentation SETI League Executive Director H. Paul Shuch explores the dilemma of encouraging grass-roots participation, while avoiding association with fraudulent and pseudo-scientific claims. See http://www.setileague.org/articles/setihoax.htm. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Cosmicus - Humankind's aspiration for exploring the infinite world of space has led to a new breed of larger telescope, currently under construction right on a college campus. See http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/98/159/01_3.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “How Much Do You Weigh on Distant Planets?” In this activity, students study the effects of gravity on the planets of the solar system. See http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Weight/weight1.htm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: John Huntington’s "Discriminating Among Friends: The Social Dynamics of the Friendly Aliens," in “Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction," George E. Slusser, ed., 1987). It includes a discussion of Weinbaum's classic short story "Martian Odyssey."
g Aftermath Humans live and die by approximations. We are seldom as perfect or as accurate as we would like to be. And as we contemplate what we might say to an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, maybe that's a point we should emphasize. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article10.html.
g Stars - The oxygen and magnesium content of some of the oldest objects in the universe are giving clues to the lifetime of the solar nebula, the mass of dust and gas that eventually led to the formation of our solar system. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050504180243.htm.
g Abodes - While volcanologists can see the dome of the Soufriere Hills Volcano on the island of Montserrat grow and collapse, it takes instrumentation to delve beneath the surface. Now, Penn State geologists, using tiltmeter measurements, have investigated a shallow area under the dome and what they found was not quite what they expected. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050811104441.htm.
g Life - The relentless heat cooks the Badwater region of California's Death Valley so thoroughly that some expanses are textured like dry serpent skin. At some 284 feet below sea level-North America's lowest point-it is perhaps the hottest place on the surface of the earth: the temperature once peaked at a record 53.01 degrees Celsius (127. 4 degrees Fahrenheit). Out here, blood-pumping mammals are scarce. It may seem unfitting to find a Nobel Prize winner, renowned for hepatitis B work, in this scorching pit. But Baruch Blumberg's latest challenge takes him beyond human subjects. As the first director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, he is searching for extreme lifeforms, the kind the space agency aims to someday find on other worlds. See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa007&articleID=00072444-3A0B-1C74-9B81809EC588EF21. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Intelligence - It takes a lot more than testosterone to make a father out of a man. See http://articles.health.msn.com/id/100108086.
g Message - Non-professional involvement in SETI science, which is encouraged by the nonprofit SETI League, Inc., increases the opportunity for the perpetration of hoaxes. The SETI League has already been peripherally involved in three separate false claims of ETI contact. Two were simple cases of mistaken identity, easily rectified. But the third was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an Internet hacker who broke into a closed signal verification e-mail list. Such claims call for a prompt but measured response, so as not to subject the SETI community to charges of complicity in conspiracy or cover-up activities. In this presentation SETI League Executive Director H. Paul Shuch explores the dilemma of encouraging grass-roots participation, while avoiding association with fraudulent and pseudo-scientific claims. See http://www.setileague.org/articles/setihoax.htm. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Cosmicus - Humankind's aspiration for exploring the infinite world of space has led to a new breed of larger telescope, currently under construction right on a college campus. See http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/98/159/01_3.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “How Much Do You Weigh on Distant Planets?” In this activity, students study the effects of gravity on the planets of the solar system. See http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Weight/weight1.htm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: John Huntington’s "Discriminating Among Friends: The Social Dynamics of the Friendly Aliens," in “Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction," George E. Slusser, ed., 1987). It includes a discussion of Weinbaum's classic short story "Martian Odyssey."
g Aftermath Humans live and die by approximations. We are seldom as perfect or as accurate as we would like to be. And as we contemplate what we might say to an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, maybe that's a point we should emphasize. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article10.html.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Early universe, ancient ozone holes and the Torino Scale
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Designing and constructing a telescope that can capture faint particles of light from the early periods of the universe has its share of obstacles. One challenge was to design lightweight mirrors durable enough to withstand extreme cold. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/ap_050826_webb_telescope.html.
g Abodes - British researchers have hit on a clever way to search for ancient ozone holes and their relationship to mass extinctions: measure the remains of ultraviolet-B absorbing pigments ancient plants left in their fossilized spores and pollen. Since the 1960s, spores from living land plants have shown a three-fold increase in the concentration of UV-B absorbing pigments to protect themselves against a 14 percent decrease in stratospheric ozone. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810135814.htm.
g Life - A recent finding by biologists at the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution added important evidence to the radical conclusion that a group of diminutive aquatic animals called bdelloid rotifers have evolved for tens of millions of years without sexual reproduction, in apparent violation of the rule that abandonment of sexual reproduction is a biological dead end. Now, MBL scientists are beginning to understand just what's different about these creatures' DNA that has enabled them to succeed where other asexual species have failed. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17577.
g Intelligence - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Sheri Tepper’s “Long Silence” (1987), about gigantic crystals that converse through music.
g Message - The privatization of SETI has resulted in global participation in signal detection and analysis activities by a wide range of non-professionals. The SETI community welcomes this grass-roots support, every bit as much as the optical observing community honors the significant scientific contributions of the world's amateur astronomers. However, as SETI observatories spring up on college campuses and in home gardens worldwide, a need emerges for establishing rigorous signal verification protocols and stringent standards of proof. See http://www.setileague.org/articles/proof.htm. Note: This article from 1999.
g Cosmicus - Research published in the journal Space Weather warns that massive gaps in our understanding and monitoring of space weather will effectively block U.S. plans for a manned mars space mission. The study, led by a University of Warwick researcher, draws on work that she and colleagues carried out for the European Space Agency on radiation hazards and space weather. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17536.
g Learning - There are some great teacher resources on space biology at http://www.spacebio.net/modules/index.html. The modules cover such topics as “Life in the Universe,” “Radiation Biology” and “Life in Space Environments.” Each module includes an introduction, readings and references, teaching resources and research and applications.
g Imagining - During the past several years, evolutionary biologists have proved that the disparate creatures of our planet are, at a fundamental genetic level, very similar to one another. The genes that differentiate the top and the bottom of a bug, for instance, are the same ones that differentiate our fronts from our backs. According to the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, this new understanding is among "the most stunning evolutionary discoveries of the decade," and is clearly "a dominant theme in evolution." The same law applies, it appears, to the extraterrestrial creatures that come out of Hollywood. See http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
popcult/handouts/alienorig/aliens.html. Note: This article is from 1997.
g Aftermath How might we characterize the political significance of any announcement of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence? How about using the Torino Scale, which characterizes asteroid impacts, as a model to assist the discussion and interpretation of any claimed discovery of ETI? See http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:BuuaRaF64gUJ:www.konkoly.hu/staff/almar/almar_rio.doc+%22Interpreting+and+Reporting+on+a+SETI+discovery%22&hl=en.
g Stars - Designing and constructing a telescope that can capture faint particles of light from the early periods of the universe has its share of obstacles. One challenge was to design lightweight mirrors durable enough to withstand extreme cold. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/ap_050826_webb_telescope.html.
g Abodes - British researchers have hit on a clever way to search for ancient ozone holes and their relationship to mass extinctions: measure the remains of ultraviolet-B absorbing pigments ancient plants left in their fossilized spores and pollen. Since the 1960s, spores from living land plants have shown a three-fold increase in the concentration of UV-B absorbing pigments to protect themselves against a 14 percent decrease in stratospheric ozone. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810135814.htm.
g Life - A recent finding by biologists at the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution added important evidence to the radical conclusion that a group of diminutive aquatic animals called bdelloid rotifers have evolved for tens of millions of years without sexual reproduction, in apparent violation of the rule that abandonment of sexual reproduction is a biological dead end. Now, MBL scientists are beginning to understand just what's different about these creatures' DNA that has enabled them to succeed where other asexual species have failed. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17577.
g Intelligence - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Sheri Tepper’s “Long Silence” (1987), about gigantic crystals that converse through music.
g Message - The privatization of SETI has resulted in global participation in signal detection and analysis activities by a wide range of non-professionals. The SETI community welcomes this grass-roots support, every bit as much as the optical observing community honors the significant scientific contributions of the world's amateur astronomers. However, as SETI observatories spring up on college campuses and in home gardens worldwide, a need emerges for establishing rigorous signal verification protocols and stringent standards of proof. See http://www.setileague.org/articles/proof.htm. Note: This article from 1999.
g Cosmicus - Research published in the journal Space Weather warns that massive gaps in our understanding and monitoring of space weather will effectively block U.S. plans for a manned mars space mission. The study, led by a University of Warwick researcher, draws on work that she and colleagues carried out for the European Space Agency on radiation hazards and space weather. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17536.
g Learning - There are some great teacher resources on space biology at http://www.spacebio.net/modules/index.html. The modules cover such topics as “Life in the Universe,” “Radiation Biology” and “Life in Space Environments.” Each module includes an introduction, readings and references, teaching resources and research and applications.
g Imagining - During the past several years, evolutionary biologists have proved that the disparate creatures of our planet are, at a fundamental genetic level, very similar to one another. The genes that differentiate the top and the bottom of a bug, for instance, are the same ones that differentiate our fronts from our backs. According to the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, this new understanding is among "the most stunning evolutionary discoveries of the decade," and is clearly "a dominant theme in evolution." The same law applies, it appears, to the extraterrestrial creatures that come out of Hollywood. See http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/
popcult/handouts/alienorig/aliens.html. Note: This article is from 1997.
g Aftermath How might we characterize the political significance of any announcement of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence? How about using the Torino Scale, which characterizes asteroid impacts, as a model to assist the discussion and interpretation of any claimed discovery of ETI? See http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:BuuaRaF64gUJ:www.konkoly.hu/staff/almar/almar_rio.doc+%22Interpreting+and+Reporting+on+a+SETI+discovery%22&hl=en.
Monday, August 22, 2005
An Earth-like Venus, moondust and galactic space corps
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted of a collection of galaxies with more variety than a candy store. See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8826579/.
g Abodes - The hellish climate of Venus may have arisen far more recently than previously supposed, suggests new research. If so, pleasant Earth-like conditions probably persisted for 2 billion years after the planet's birth - plenty of time for life to have developed. See http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4136.
g Life - Questions about the existence of life in outer space may have a surprisingly close-to-home answer, according to one University of Houston professor. Understanding how life evolved on Earth is important in obtaining clues as to where else in the universe one might find life and what it might be like, said George E. Fox, a UH professor of biology and biochemistry. Fox is finishing work on a three-year research grant from NASA's Exobiology Program that seeks to understand life's origin. See http://i-newswire.com/pr41832.html.
g Intelligence - A person's prior knowledge of the geometry of faces affects his or her ability to estimate distance and complete visually guided reaching tasks according to a study published in the June issue of Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050622235451.htm.
g Message - "Where are they?" Physicist Enrico Fermi famously posed this question when asked about intelligent extraterrestrials. If such beings exist, why have we (presumably) not been contacted or visited? Fermi's Paradox, as it is now known, is more profound than it may appear. Calculations suggest that if our galaxy has even one extraterrestrial civilization with the interest and ability to colonize new star systems, such a civilization could spread far and wide in a period far shorter than the age of the galaxy. See http://www.tech/centralstation.com/111203B.html.
g Cosmicus - The new book "Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth" shows how the Apollo program changed the lives of the astronauts who walked on the Moon. This leap to another world also colored our perception of what it means to be stuck on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1680&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Learning -Do you have what it takes to keep a trio of astronauts healthy? Play Space Doctor and see if you can make it to Mars alive. See http://
www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/playspace/games/spacedoctor/.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Rebecca Ore’s “Becoming Alien” (1988) and “Being Alien” (1989), which chronicle the adventures of the first Earth cadet in the galactic space corps.
g Aftermath While formal principles have been adopted for the eventuality of detecting intelligent life in our galaxy, no such guidelines exist for the discovery of non-intelligent extraterrestrial life within the solar system. Current scientifically based planetary protection policies for solar system exploration address how to undertake exploration, but do not provide clear guidance on what to do if and when life is detected. Considering that Martian life could be detected under several different robotic and human exploration scenarios in the coming decades, it is appropriate to anticipate how detection of non-intelligent, microbial life could impact future exploration missions and activities, especially on Mars. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
g Stars - The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted of a collection of galaxies with more variety than a candy store. See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8826579/.
g Abodes - The hellish climate of Venus may have arisen far more recently than previously supposed, suggests new research. If so, pleasant Earth-like conditions probably persisted for 2 billion years after the planet's birth - plenty of time for life to have developed. See http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4136.
g Life - Questions about the existence of life in outer space may have a surprisingly close-to-home answer, according to one University of Houston professor. Understanding how life evolved on Earth is important in obtaining clues as to where else in the universe one might find life and what it might be like, said George E. Fox, a UH professor of biology and biochemistry. Fox is finishing work on a three-year research grant from NASA's Exobiology Program that seeks to understand life's origin. See http://i-newswire.com/pr41832.html.
g Intelligence - A person's prior knowledge of the geometry of faces affects his or her ability to estimate distance and complete visually guided reaching tasks according to a study published in the June issue of Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050622235451.htm.
g Message - "Where are they?" Physicist Enrico Fermi famously posed this question when asked about intelligent extraterrestrials. If such beings exist, why have we (presumably) not been contacted or visited? Fermi's Paradox, as it is now known, is more profound than it may appear. Calculations suggest that if our galaxy has even one extraterrestrial civilization with the interest and ability to colonize new star systems, such a civilization could spread far and wide in a period far shorter than the age of the galaxy. See http://www.tech/centralstation.com/111203B.html.
g Cosmicus - The new book "Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth" shows how the Apollo program changed the lives of the astronauts who walked on the Moon. This leap to another world also colored our perception of what it means to be stuck on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1680&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Learning -Do you have what it takes to keep a trio of astronauts healthy? Play Space Doctor and see if you can make it to Mars alive. See http://
www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/playspace/games/spacedoctor/.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Rebecca Ore’s “Becoming Alien” (1988) and “Being Alien” (1989), which chronicle the adventures of the first Earth cadet in the galactic space corps.
g Aftermath While formal principles have been adopted for the eventuality of detecting intelligent life in our galaxy, no such guidelines exist for the discovery of non-intelligent extraterrestrial life within the solar system. Current scientifically based planetary protection policies for solar system exploration address how to undertake exploration, but do not provide clear guidance on what to do if and when life is detected. Considering that Martian life could be detected under several different robotic and human exploration scenarios in the coming decades, it is appropriate to anticipate how detection of non-intelligent, microbial life could impact future exploration missions and activities, especially on Mars. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Life’s origin, NASA’s new road map and ‘Metamorphoses of the Dragon’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - When a binary star system starts to transfer mass, one of the twins may well win out, leaving its companion to occupy a strange region half way between a star and a planet. A new star-type of this sort has been found, which resembles the infrared ash of a stillborn star. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1676&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Questions about the existence of life in outer space may have a surprisingly close-to-home answer, according to one University of Houston professor. Understanding how life evolved on Earth is important in obtaining clues as to where else in the universe one might find life and what it might be like, said George E. Fox, a UH professor of biology and biochemistry. Fox is finishing work on a three-year research grant from NASA's Exobiology Program that seeks to understand life's origin. See http://i-newswire.com/pr41832.html.
g Intelligence - Alongside language, the ability of inventing and making new tools is considered one of the most distinctive features of Homo. No other living animals have these abilities, and probably the extinct hominids had them in a primitive, initial stage, setting the difference with other non-human primates. Therefore, the emergence of a technology to manufacture stone tools during the evolution of hominids represents a radical social and behavioral departure from apes, and is the first documented evidence for a cultural tradition with value for survival, i.e., based upon learning. See http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n13/mente/evolution/
evolution06_i.html.
g Message - A “portrait of humanity” recently was taken by Simon Bell, a photographer from Toronto. It is half of a stereo pair, two images that when properly focused together, reveal the scene’s third dimension. The photograph was envisioned as part of a message for the Cassini mission to Saturn and its moon Titan, launched in late 1997. It would have been an artifact in the tradition of the Voyager Record and the “Visions of Mars” CD ROM. Unlike the Voyager Record it was not intended to leave the solar system to be found by the crew of an advanced starship. Unlike Visions it was not for humans in the next few centuries. Its fate would have been to remain on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan, waiting for eons of time against the slim chance that life might someday appear on that strange world, or that some other space traveler might visit Titan and find it. The image, inscribed on a diamond wafer about the size of a coin, was intended to show an intelligent alien on Titan viewer a little about our bodies, about our relationships with each other, and about our planet. See http://contactincontext.org/cic/v2i1/portrait.pdf.
g Cosmicus - NASA's new road map for the human exploration of space would land four astronauts on the moon by 2018 as the first step toward an eventual six-person voyage to Mars. See http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050814/NEWS06/508140516/1012.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site: Solar System Live. It allows you to observe the locations of planets at various (modern) dates. See http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: George E. Slusser’s "Metamorphoses of the Dragon," in “Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction," (Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds., 1987). It critiques LeGuin's ideas about dragons as fantasy creatures, then goes on to discuss dragon-like aliens in SF in Clarke's “Childhood's End” and Herbert's “Dune” and “Dragon in the Sea” series, bringing in contexts as wide-ranging as Beowulf, the work of Escher, subatomic physics and Sagan's “Dragons of Eden.”
g Aftermath What would an intelligent signal from another planet change about human destiny? This large question is the topic of the book “The SETI Factor,” by Frank White, who also analyzes how to announce such an historic finding and whether it would unite or divide nations. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article646.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - When a binary star system starts to transfer mass, one of the twins may well win out, leaving its companion to occupy a strange region half way between a star and a planet. A new star-type of this sort has been found, which resembles the infrared ash of a stillborn star. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1676&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Questions about the existence of life in outer space may have a surprisingly close-to-home answer, according to one University of Houston professor. Understanding how life evolved on Earth is important in obtaining clues as to where else in the universe one might find life and what it might be like, said George E. Fox, a UH professor of biology and biochemistry. Fox is finishing work on a three-year research grant from NASA's Exobiology Program that seeks to understand life's origin. See http://i-newswire.com/pr41832.html.
g Intelligence - Alongside language, the ability of inventing and making new tools is considered one of the most distinctive features of Homo. No other living animals have these abilities, and probably the extinct hominids had them in a primitive, initial stage, setting the difference with other non-human primates. Therefore, the emergence of a technology to manufacture stone tools during the evolution of hominids represents a radical social and behavioral departure from apes, and is the first documented evidence for a cultural tradition with value for survival, i.e., based upon learning. See http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n13/mente/evolution/
evolution06_i.html.
g Message - A “portrait of humanity” recently was taken by Simon Bell, a photographer from Toronto. It is half of a stereo pair, two images that when properly focused together, reveal the scene’s third dimension. The photograph was envisioned as part of a message for the Cassini mission to Saturn and its moon Titan, launched in late 1997. It would have been an artifact in the tradition of the Voyager Record and the “Visions of Mars” CD ROM. Unlike the Voyager Record it was not intended to leave the solar system to be found by the crew of an advanced starship. Unlike Visions it was not for humans in the next few centuries. Its fate would have been to remain on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan, waiting for eons of time against the slim chance that life might someday appear on that strange world, or that some other space traveler might visit Titan and find it. The image, inscribed on a diamond wafer about the size of a coin, was intended to show an intelligent alien on Titan viewer a little about our bodies, about our relationships with each other, and about our planet. See http://contactincontext.org/cic/v2i1/portrait.pdf.
g Cosmicus - NASA's new road map for the human exploration of space would land four astronauts on the moon by 2018 as the first step toward an eventual six-person voyage to Mars. See http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050814/NEWS06/508140516/1012.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site: Solar System Live. It allows you to observe the locations of planets at various (modern) dates. See http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: George E. Slusser’s "Metamorphoses of the Dragon," in “Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction," (Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds., 1987). It critiques LeGuin's ideas about dragons as fantasy creatures, then goes on to discuss dragon-like aliens in SF in Clarke's “Childhood's End” and Herbert's “Dune” and “Dragon in the Sea” series, bringing in contexts as wide-ranging as Beowulf, the work of Escher, subatomic physics and Sagan's “Dragons of Eden.”
g Aftermath What would an intelligent signal from another planet change about human destiny? This large question is the topic of the book “The SETI Factor,” by Frank White, who also analyzes how to announce such an historic finding and whether it would unite or divide nations. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article646.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Microcompartments, paradox of intelligence and ‘The Alien Way’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - The European Space Agency’s Markus Landgraf and his colleagues have found the first direct evidence that a bright disc of dust surrounds our Solar System, starting beyond the orbit of Saturn. Remarkably, their discovery gives astronomers a way to determine which other stars in the galaxy are most likely to harbor planets and allows mission planners to draw up a 'short-list' of stars to be observed by future planet-search missions, such as Eddington and Darwin. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article280.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Abodes - Interplanetary geologists are busy this week analyzing the first sets of data from an Italian subsurface sounding radar currently orbiting Mars, as a crucial counterpart sits on a Florida launch pad ready to join the hunt for conjectured underground ice and water. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/10marsradar/.
g Life - UCLA biochemists reveal the first structural details of a family of mysterious objects called microcompartments that seem to be present in a variety of bacteria, and the first high resolution insights into how they function. The discovery blurs the distinction between eukaryotic cells and those of prokaryotes by showing that bacterial cells are more complex than imagined. See http://www.
sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050811104729.htm.
g Intelligence - The appearance of intelligence in Earth entails a paradox: We only recognize it and appraise it directly because we are intelligent. Other forms of life, the environment, and now, even the sidereal space, are at the receiving end of our intelligence, our acts and doings, but they cannot understand it. See http://www.cerebro/
mente.org.br/n13/mente/evolution/evolution08_i.html.
g Message - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for “Life Beyond Earth,” by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849372/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance.
g Cosmicus - What are the possibilities of the human exploration and colonization of space, beginning with the moon and Mars? Here’s a highly speculative piece that raises such questions as "Would it ever be possible?" "Would it be desirable?" "What parallels are there between such an effort and the Polynesian exploration and colonization of the Pacific?" "Would it be more desirable for global human society to make an effort to develop a sustainable culture within the limits of the resources of earth, rather than continue to expand?" This provocative article is the starting point for debate about the future of humanity. See http://www.pvs-hawaii.com/newsletters/nl_onespecies.htm. Note: The article does get the wrong date for Sputnik’s launch (it was 1957).
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Gravity Hurts.” In this activity, students can sample some of the sensations of space right here on Earth, using the "weightless arms" isometric exercise and a good old-fashioned headstand. See http://www.thursdays/classroom.com/02aug01/corner.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Gordon Dickson’s “The Alien Way” (1965). See http://www.ffbooks.co.uk/n0/n4089.htm.
g Aftermath How to predict reactions to receipt of evidence for an otherworldly intelligence? Some scientists argue that any unpredictable outcomes can only be judged against our own history. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article118.html.
g Stars - The European Space Agency’s Markus Landgraf and his colleagues have found the first direct evidence that a bright disc of dust surrounds our Solar System, starting beyond the orbit of Saturn. Remarkably, their discovery gives astronomers a way to determine which other stars in the galaxy are most likely to harbor planets and allows mission planners to draw up a 'short-list' of stars to be observed by future planet-search missions, such as Eddington and Darwin. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article280.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Abodes - Interplanetary geologists are busy this week analyzing the first sets of data from an Italian subsurface sounding radar currently orbiting Mars, as a crucial counterpart sits on a Florida launch pad ready to join the hunt for conjectured underground ice and water. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/10marsradar/.
g Life - UCLA biochemists reveal the first structural details of a family of mysterious objects called microcompartments that seem to be present in a variety of bacteria, and the first high resolution insights into how they function. The discovery blurs the distinction between eukaryotic cells and those of prokaryotes by showing that bacterial cells are more complex than imagined. See http://www.
sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050811104729.htm.
g Intelligence - The appearance of intelligence in Earth entails a paradox: We only recognize it and appraise it directly because we are intelligent. Other forms of life, the environment, and now, even the sidereal space, are at the receiving end of our intelligence, our acts and doings, but they cannot understand it. See http://www.cerebro/
mente.org.br/n13/mente/evolution/evolution08_i.html.
g Message - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for “Life Beyond Earth,” by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849372/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance.
g Cosmicus - What are the possibilities of the human exploration and colonization of space, beginning with the moon and Mars? Here’s a highly speculative piece that raises such questions as "Would it ever be possible?" "Would it be desirable?" "What parallels are there between such an effort and the Polynesian exploration and colonization of the Pacific?" "Would it be more desirable for global human society to make an effort to develop a sustainable culture within the limits of the resources of earth, rather than continue to expand?" This provocative article is the starting point for debate about the future of humanity. See http://www.pvs-hawaii.com/newsletters/nl_onespecies.htm. Note: The article does get the wrong date for Sputnik’s launch (it was 1957).
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Gravity Hurts.” In this activity, students can sample some of the sensations of space right here on Earth, using the "weightless arms" isometric exercise and a good old-fashioned headstand. See http://www.thursdays/classroom.com/02aug01/corner.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Gordon Dickson’s “The Alien Way” (1965). See http://www.ffbooks.co.uk/n0/n4089.htm.
g Aftermath How to predict reactions to receipt of evidence for an otherworldly intelligence? Some scientists argue that any unpredictable outcomes can only be judged against our own history. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article118.html.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Freeze-dried microbes, Mars Foundation settlement and
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
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 http://www.rednova.com/news/space/203906/gemini_
uncovers_lost_city_of_stars/index.html.
g Abodes - New discoveries about the timing and speed of gigantic, 6,500-foot thick lava flows that poured out of the ground 65 million years ago could shift the blame for killing the dinosaurs. The Deccan Traps of India are one of Earth's largest lava flows ever, with the potential of having wreaked havoc with the climate of the Earth - if they erupted and released climate-changing gases quickly enough. French and Indian geologists have now identified a 2,000-foot thick portion of the lava that may have piled up in as little as 30,000 years - fast enough to have possibly caused a deadly global climate shift. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/0508101
30729.htm.
g Life - Microbes freeze-dried in Antarctica for two decades sprang to life when scientists added water, revealing yet another extreme ecosystem that shows life's incredible resiliency. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050809_freeze_dry.html.
g Intelligence - Putative extraterrestrial planets are being discovered at the rate of one a month. A subset of these exist in the liquid water zone and are thus capable of evolving life similar to that with which we are familiar. While perhaps not common, the development of technological civilizations seems possible for some of these worlds. If we are typical, the evolution of technological civilizations proceeds from a condition where physical laws are unknown to a state where the limits imposed by those laws are reached within a few hundred years. These limits (molecular nanotechnology on solar system scales) allow the construction of Dyson shell supercomputers ("Matrioshka Brains''1) with thought capacities a trillion trillion times greater than that of a human brain and longevities measured in billions to trillions of years. Natural selection at stellar and galactic scales would, over time, eliminate any civilizations lacking these prodigious capabilities. We must consider that astronomical observations such as the missing baryonic dark matter and the gravitational microlensing observations may indicate that many such entities exist and that our galaxy is currently a Kardashev Type III civilization. See http://www.aeiveos.com/~bradbury/
MatrioshkaBrains/Blois2000/LatLoPL.html.
g Message - In 2001, California astronomers broadened the search for extraterrestrial intelligence with a new experiment to look for powerful light pulses beamed our way from other star systems. Scientists from the University of California's Lick Observatory, the SETI Institute, UC-Santa Cruz, and UC-Berkeley used the Lick Observatory's 40-inch Nickel Telescope with a new pulse-detection system capable of finding laser beacons from civilizations many light-years distant. Unlike other optical SETI searches, this new experiment is largely immune to false alarms that slow the reconnaissance of target stars. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/
viewpr.html?pid=5634.
g Cosmicus - The Mars Foundation presented plans for a permanent settlement they believe can be built using near-term technologies and resources already available on Mars. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/050810_mars_homestead.html.
g Learning - A new section of the Journal of Geophysical Research will focus on biogeosciences of the Earth system in the past, present and future and its applicability to planetary studies. See http://www.agu.org/journals/jg/.
g Imagining - The man behind the Sims and SimCity is about to unleash his latest creation, a game wildly anticipated by the $10 billion gaming industry. Not set for release until next fall, the project has already begun to garner buzz. Called "Spore," it gives "the game of life" new meaning. In short, players begin as a single cell, then evolve, build a civilization and ultimately blast off into space to colonize (or wreak havoc or destroy) other planets. Players have control over the creature from its first breath, advancing the species by adding legs, wings, horns and other body parts. See http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/12381586.htm.
g Aftermath If and when life is discovered beyond Earth, non-scientific dimensions may strongly influence decisions about the nature andscope of future missions and activities. It is appropriate to encourage international discussion and consideration of the issues prior to an event of such historical significance. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
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 http://www.rednova.com/news/space/203906/gemini_
uncovers_lost_city_of_stars/index.html.
g Abodes - New discoveries about the timing and speed of gigantic, 6,500-foot thick lava flows that poured out of the ground 65 million years ago could shift the blame for killing the dinosaurs. The Deccan Traps of India are one of Earth's largest lava flows ever, with the potential of having wreaked havoc with the climate of the Earth - if they erupted and released climate-changing gases quickly enough. French and Indian geologists have now identified a 2,000-foot thick portion of the lava that may have piled up in as little as 30,000 years - fast enough to have possibly caused a deadly global climate shift. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/0508101
30729.htm.
g Life - Microbes freeze-dried in Antarctica for two decades sprang to life when scientists added water, revealing yet another extreme ecosystem that shows life's incredible resiliency. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050809_freeze_dry.html.
g Intelligence - Putative extraterrestrial planets are being discovered at the rate of one a month. A subset of these exist in the liquid water zone and are thus capable of evolving life similar to that with which we are familiar. While perhaps not common, the development of technological civilizations seems possible for some of these worlds. If we are typical, the evolution of technological civilizations proceeds from a condition where physical laws are unknown to a state where the limits imposed by those laws are reached within a few hundred years. These limits (molecular nanotechnology on solar system scales) allow the construction of Dyson shell supercomputers ("Matrioshka Brains''1) with thought capacities a trillion trillion times greater than that of a human brain and longevities measured in billions to trillions of years. Natural selection at stellar and galactic scales would, over time, eliminate any civilizations lacking these prodigious capabilities. We must consider that astronomical observations such as the missing baryonic dark matter and the gravitational microlensing observations may indicate that many such entities exist and that our galaxy is currently a Kardashev Type III civilization. See http://www.aeiveos.com/~bradbury/
MatrioshkaBrains/Blois2000/LatLoPL.html.
g Message - In 2001, California astronomers broadened the search for extraterrestrial intelligence with a new experiment to look for powerful light pulses beamed our way from other star systems. Scientists from the University of California's Lick Observatory, the SETI Institute, UC-Santa Cruz, and UC-Berkeley used the Lick Observatory's 40-inch Nickel Telescope with a new pulse-detection system capable of finding laser beacons from civilizations many light-years distant. Unlike other optical SETI searches, this new experiment is largely immune to false alarms that slow the reconnaissance of target stars. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/
viewpr.html?pid=5634.
g Cosmicus - The Mars Foundation presented plans for a permanent settlement they believe can be built using near-term technologies and resources already available on Mars. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/050810_mars_homestead.html.
g Learning - A new section of the Journal of Geophysical Research will focus on biogeosciences of the Earth system in the past, present and future and its applicability to planetary studies. See http://www.agu.org/journals/jg/.
g Imagining - The man behind the Sims and SimCity is about to unleash his latest creation, a game wildly anticipated by the $10 billion gaming industry. Not set for release until next fall, the project has already begun to garner buzz. Called "Spore," it gives "the game of life" new meaning. In short, players begin as a single cell, then evolve, build a civilization and ultimately blast off into space to colonize (or wreak havoc or destroy) other planets. Players have control over the creature from its first breath, advancing the species by adding legs, wings, horns and other body parts. See http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/12381586.htm.
g Aftermath If and when life is discovered beyond Earth, non-scientific dimensions may strongly influence decisions about the nature andscope of future missions and activities. It is appropriate to encourage international discussion and consideration of the issues prior to an event of such historical significance. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Free oxygen, developing plans for Mars and the Singularity
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Scientists have found that a star that exploded in 1979 is as bright today in X-ray light as it was when it was discovered years ago, a surprise finding because such objects usually fade significantly after only a few months. See article.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See article.
g Life - On Mars, plants would have to tolerate conditions that usually cause them a great deal of stress - severe cold, drought, low air pressure, soils that they didn't evolve for. But a plant physiologist and a microbiologist believe they can develop plants that can live in these conditions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050807105422.htm.
g Intelligence - Perhaps the reason we haven’t contacted any extraterrestrial civilizations as of yet is because within a few hundred years, industrial civilizations reach a phase known in science fiction circles as the “Singularity.” See http://www.faughnan.com/setifail.
html#Response.
g Message - Could intelligent beings in another solar system have hidden their sun by knocking their planets apart and using the pieces to build a hollow ball around their sun? For more on “Dyson Spheres,” see http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM.
g Cosmicus -The U.S. Department of Defense has signed off on NASA’s plan to use major space shuttle components as the basis for separate vehicles that will launch the agency’s new crew transport and 100-ton loads of Moon-bound cargo. See http://space.com/news/050810_dod_launcher.html.
g Learning - Americans love science in their movies and TV shows, yet recent reports indicate we are losing our scientific dominance to the rest of the world. Can science-themed entertainment get Americans off the couch and into the lab? See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1032.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Piers Anthony’s “Omnivore” (1968), which examines fungal life forms.
g Aftermath Before it was published, Richard Zare suspected that the paper proposing that a meteorite from Mars once hosted alien life would be a media sensation. It was. What Zare didn't expect was the course that the scientific debate has taken. He thought that the resulting discourse would be skeptical and opinionated, but also highly reasoned and dispassionate. But because of the high stakes nothing less than the first discovery of alien life and the intensity of the media spotlight, the scientific interchange has proven to be highly emotional and highly disruptive, he said. See http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/news9.html. Note: This article is from 1997.
g Stars - Scientists have found that a star that exploded in 1979 is as bright today in X-ray light as it was when it was discovered years ago, a surprise finding because such objects usually fade significantly after only a few months. See article.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See article.
g Life - On Mars, plants would have to tolerate conditions that usually cause them a great deal of stress - severe cold, drought, low air pressure, soils that they didn't evolve for. But a plant physiologist and a microbiologist believe they can develop plants that can live in these conditions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050807105422.htm.
g Intelligence - Perhaps the reason we haven’t contacted any extraterrestrial civilizations as of yet is because within a few hundred years, industrial civilizations reach a phase known in science fiction circles as the “Singularity.” See http://www.faughnan.com/setifail.
html#Response.
g Message - Could intelligent beings in another solar system have hidden their sun by knocking their planets apart and using the pieces to build a hollow ball around their sun? For more on “Dyson Spheres,” see http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM.
g Cosmicus -The U.S. Department of Defense has signed off on NASA’s plan to use major space shuttle components as the basis for separate vehicles that will launch the agency’s new crew transport and 100-ton loads of Moon-bound cargo. See http://space.com/news/050810_dod_launcher.html.
g Learning - Americans love science in their movies and TV shows, yet recent reports indicate we are losing our scientific dominance to the rest of the world. Can science-themed entertainment get Americans off the couch and into the lab? See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1032.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Piers Anthony’s “Omnivore” (1968), which examines fungal life forms.
g Aftermath Before it was published, Richard Zare suspected that the paper proposing that a meteorite from Mars once hosted alien life would be a media sensation. It was. What Zare didn't expect was the course that the scientific debate has taken. He thought that the resulting discourse would be skeptical and opinionated, but also highly reasoned and dispassionate. But because of the high stakes nothing less than the first discovery of alien life and the intensity of the media spotlight, the scientific interchange has proven to be highly emotional and highly disruptive, he said. See http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/news9.html. Note: This article is from 1997.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Mars at Yellowstone, bilateral symmetry and space tourism
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - A new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows that a galaxy once thought to be rather plain and old is actually endowed with a gorgeous set of young spiral arms. The unusual galaxy, called NGC 4625, is a remarkable find because it is relatively nearby. Until now, astronomers had thought that this kind of youthful glow in galaxies was a thing of the past. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050728061016.htm.
g Abodes - Home of the spewing Old Faithful geyser, Yellowstone National Park may also be an analog for happenings even on far-flung worlds like Mars. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050809_
mars_on_earth.html.
g Life - Microscopic fossils found in China emerge as the oldest examples of animals that display bilateral symmetry - two halves that are mirror images of each other. The find by a USC paleontologist and his peers focused on critters that date back millions of years. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805192
316.htm.
g Intelligence - Book alert: The value of “Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind,” by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey, hasn't diminished with the passage of time. It's compelling story of the growth of paleoanthropology in the 20th Century remains unmatched. Johanson's role should be known to most, but this personal relation endures as a landmark for those interested in the development of humanity. He's given us a lucid story of the life and work of the paleoanthropologist both in the field and laboratory. He is candid in assessing other workers and himself in tracing the line of descent from ape-like creatures to modern humans. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671724991/ref=pd_sim_b_1/104-6321981-8799138?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance.
g Message - Forget waiting for ET to call — the most likely place to find an alien message is in our DNA, according to an expert in Australia. See http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/break ing_news/breaking_news__international_news&articleid=134442. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The company responsible for brokering the first two space tourist missions to the International Space Station announced plans for a mission that will send space tourists to the far side of the moon at the cost of $100 million per person. See http://space.com/news/050810_dse_alpha.html.
g Learning - Harvard University is launching a broad initiative to discover how life began, joining an ambitious scientific assault on age-old questions that are central to the debate over the theory of evolution. See http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/
2005/08/14/project_on_the_origins_of_life_launched/.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Hal Clement’s "The Creation of Imaginary Beings," in “Science Fiction: Today and Tomorrow” (Reginald Bretnor, ed., 1974). It’s a classic, hard SF account of how to conceptualize believable aliens.
g Aftermath If we establish communication with a civilization even as close as 100 light years from Earth, the round-trip time for a message and its reply is 200 years. What will be the psychology of a civilization that can engage in a meaningful conversation with this sort of delay? How is such a conversation to be established? What should the content of such a conversation be? These are the questions which motivate our title: "Minds and Millennia: The Psychology of Interstellar Communication." See http://web.archive.
org/web/20010217051450/204.240.36.10/radobs/vol1no3/minds.htm.
g Stars - A new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows that a galaxy once thought to be rather plain and old is actually endowed with a gorgeous set of young spiral arms. The unusual galaxy, called NGC 4625, is a remarkable find because it is relatively nearby. Until now, astronomers had thought that this kind of youthful glow in galaxies was a thing of the past. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050728061016.htm.
g Abodes - Home of the spewing Old Faithful geyser, Yellowstone National Park may also be an analog for happenings even on far-flung worlds like Mars. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050809_
mars_on_earth.html.
g Life - Microscopic fossils found in China emerge as the oldest examples of animals that display bilateral symmetry - two halves that are mirror images of each other. The find by a USC paleontologist and his peers focused on critters that date back millions of years. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805192
316.htm.
g Intelligence - Book alert: The value of “Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind,” by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey, hasn't diminished with the passage of time. It's compelling story of the growth of paleoanthropology in the 20th Century remains unmatched. Johanson's role should be known to most, but this personal relation endures as a landmark for those interested in the development of humanity. He's given us a lucid story of the life and work of the paleoanthropologist both in the field and laboratory. He is candid in assessing other workers and himself in tracing the line of descent from ape-like creatures to modern humans. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671724991/ref=pd_sim_b_1/104-6321981-8799138?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance.
g Message - Forget waiting for ET to call — the most likely place to find an alien message is in our DNA, according to an expert in Australia. See http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/break ing_news/breaking_news__international_news&articleid=134442. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The company responsible for brokering the first two space tourist missions to the International Space Station announced plans for a mission that will send space tourists to the far side of the moon at the cost of $100 million per person. See http://space.com/news/050810_dse_alpha.html.
g Learning - Harvard University is launching a broad initiative to discover how life began, joining an ambitious scientific assault on age-old questions that are central to the debate over the theory of evolution. See http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/
2005/08/14/project_on_the_origins_of_life_launched/.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Hal Clement’s "The Creation of Imaginary Beings," in “Science Fiction: Today and Tomorrow” (Reginald Bretnor, ed., 1974). It’s a classic, hard SF account of how to conceptualize believable aliens.
g Aftermath If we establish communication with a civilization even as close as 100 light years from Earth, the round-trip time for a message and its reply is 200 years. What will be the psychology of a civilization that can engage in a meaningful conversation with this sort of delay? How is such a conversation to be established? What should the content of such a conversation be? These are the questions which motivate our title: "Minds and Millennia: The Psychology of Interstellar Communication." See http://web.archive.
org/web/20010217051450/204.240.36.10/radobs/vol1no3/minds.htm.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Exotic biology on Venus, SETI at Home and conversation by changing colors
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - A University of Michigan-led research team has discovered that for the first time in history, scientists will be able to observe how the Earth's gravity will disrupt a massive asteroid's spin. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1686&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Thick Venusian clouds mask a dense greenhouse atmosphere that is inhospitably hot. But 30 miles up from the surface, conditions suggest a more temperate zone. Some scientists wonder what strange equilibrium sustains a reactive gas mixture that shouldn't co-exist there: exotic biology or not? See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/article311.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Life - Scientists trying to figure out the origin of life on Earth are getting nearer to their goal, but they concede that they may never solve this profound mystery. See http://www.kansascity.com/
mld/kansascity/news/12400302.htm.
g Intelligence - Intelligence - A rose by any other name may smell just as sweet, but tilt it at an unexpected angle and it may still be easy to smell, just not recognize. That is, unless you saw another object — even an unrelated one — presented at the same angle. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050720063406.htm.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free SETI at Home software. Using Internet-connected computers, the program downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your desktop when it is idle. The program has been so successful in plowing through data that other scientific researchers, especially in medicine, are adopting it to their fields. See http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ for the program.
g Cosmicus - As stunning Martian panoramas captivate the world's attention, some interplanetary scientists are also glancing back over time to other surface landers on exotic horizons. Visiting Venus up-close however is not something to do without a camera and flame-retardant gear handy. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/
41665/planetary_panoramas_the_other_neighbor/. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Learning - Set your VCR to record “CNN Presents Classroom Edition: Is Anybody Out There?” when it airs commercial-free on August 22, from 4-5 a.m. on CNN. See http://www.cnn.com/2005/
EDUCATION/08/17/cnnpce.anybody.out.there/.
g Imagining - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Michael Bishop’s “Transfigurations” (1979), in which ET converses by changing colors.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing essay that discusses what might happen if we do too little to contact extraterrestrials; as the authors argue, “…skepticism regarding SETI is at best unfounded and at worst can seriously damage the long-term prospects of humanity. If ETIs exist, no matter whether friendly or adversarial (or even beyond such simple distinctions), they are relevant for our future. To neglect this is contraryy to the basic tenets of transhumanism. To appreciate this, it is only sufficient to imagine the consequences of SETI success for any aspect of transhumanist interests, and then to affirm that such a success can only be achieved without trying if they come to us, which would obviously mean that we are hopelessly lagging in the race for galactic colonization.” See http://www.jetpress.org/
volume13/cirkovic.html.
g Stars - A University of Michigan-led research team has discovered that for the first time in history, scientists will be able to observe how the Earth's gravity will disrupt a massive asteroid's spin. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1686&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Thick Venusian clouds mask a dense greenhouse atmosphere that is inhospitably hot. But 30 miles up from the surface, conditions suggest a more temperate zone. Some scientists wonder what strange equilibrium sustains a reactive gas mixture that shouldn't co-exist there: exotic biology or not? See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/article311.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Life - Scientists trying to figure out the origin of life on Earth are getting nearer to their goal, but they concede that they may never solve this profound mystery. See http://www.kansascity.com/
mld/kansascity/news/12400302.htm.
g Intelligence - Intelligence - A rose by any other name may smell just as sweet, but tilt it at an unexpected angle and it may still be easy to smell, just not recognize. That is, unless you saw another object — even an unrelated one — presented at the same angle. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050720063406.htm.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free SETI at Home software. Using Internet-connected computers, the program downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your desktop when it is idle. The program has been so successful in plowing through data that other scientific researchers, especially in medicine, are adopting it to their fields. See http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ for the program.
g Cosmicus - As stunning Martian panoramas captivate the world's attention, some interplanetary scientists are also glancing back over time to other surface landers on exotic horizons. Visiting Venus up-close however is not something to do without a camera and flame-retardant gear handy. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/
41665/planetary_panoramas_the_other_neighbor/. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Learning - Set your VCR to record “CNN Presents Classroom Edition: Is Anybody Out There?” when it airs commercial-free on August 22, from 4-5 a.m. on CNN. See http://www.cnn.com/2005/
EDUCATION/08/17/cnnpce.anybody.out.there/.
g Imagining - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Michael Bishop’s “Transfigurations” (1979), in which ET converses by changing colors.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing essay that discusses what might happen if we do too little to contact extraterrestrials; as the authors argue, “…skepticism regarding SETI is at best unfounded and at worst can seriously damage the long-term prospects of humanity. If ETIs exist, no matter whether friendly or adversarial (or even beyond such simple distinctions), they are relevant for our future. To neglect this is contraryy to the basic tenets of transhumanism. To appreciate this, it is only sufficient to imagine the consequences of SETI success for any aspect of transhumanist interests, and then to affirm that such a success can only be achieved without trying if they come to us, which would obviously mean that we are hopelessly lagging in the race for galactic colonization.” See http://www.jetpress.org/
volume13/cirkovic.html.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Meteor impacts, SETA and feline aliens
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - One of the thousands of asteroids orbiting the sun has been found to have a mini planetary system of its own. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1681&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Meteor impacts are generally regarded as monstrous killers and one of the causes of mass extinctions throughout the history of life. But there is a chance the heavy bombardment of Earth by meteors during the planet's youth actually spurred early life on our planet, say Canadian geologists. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1673&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The theory of panspermia proposes that life really gets around, jumping from planet to planet - or even from star to star. Life might be everywhere! Assuming this is true, how do single-celled bacteria make the journey through the vacuum of space? Easy, they use chunks of rock as space ships, in a process called lithopanspermia. And now, researchers from Princeton and the University of Michigan think that life carrying rocks might have been right there at the beginning of our solar system, keeping their tiny astronauts safe and sound, frozen in statis until the planets formed and the right conditions let them thaw out, stretch their proteins, and begin a process leading from microbe to mankind. See http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/lithopanspermia.html?452005.
g Intelligence - When people see violent or erotic images, they fail to process whatever they see next, according to new research. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050811_attention_
problem.html.
g Message - The Search for Extraterrestrial Artifacts, or SETA, is about delineating between the artificial and the real. In the case of radio detection from other stellar systems, the artificial is what is labeled the real signal that intelligent communications are on-air. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article84.html. Note: This article is a couple of years old.
g Cosmicus - Proponents of small satellites say that tiny spacecraft have potentially big roles to play in planetary exploration. See http://space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_050808.html.
g Learning - Exobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe. Exobiologists investigate how the formation of stars and solar systems led to the existence of planets suitable for life, how life originated on Earth and perhaps elsewhere, and which factors influenced biological evolution. The understanding of these events shapes the study of how life arises and evolves in the universe. Here’s a basic primer on what also is known as astrobiology. See http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563487/
Exobiology.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Mary Gentle’s “Golden Witchbreed” (1983) and “Ancient Light” (1987), which examines a culture of feline aliens.
g Aftermath - Looking for some interesting reading on “first contact”? Try the science fiction anthology “First Contact,” edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff. The book came out in 1997. Here’s a review at http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/first.html (though it’s less than flattering).
g Stars - One of the thousands of asteroids orbiting the sun has been found to have a mini planetary system of its own. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1681&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Meteor impacts are generally regarded as monstrous killers and one of the causes of mass extinctions throughout the history of life. But there is a chance the heavy bombardment of Earth by meteors during the planet's youth actually spurred early life on our planet, say Canadian geologists. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1673&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The theory of panspermia proposes that life really gets around, jumping from planet to planet - or even from star to star. Life might be everywhere! Assuming this is true, how do single-celled bacteria make the journey through the vacuum of space? Easy, they use chunks of rock as space ships, in a process called lithopanspermia. And now, researchers from Princeton and the University of Michigan think that life carrying rocks might have been right there at the beginning of our solar system, keeping their tiny astronauts safe and sound, frozen in statis until the planets formed and the right conditions let them thaw out, stretch their proteins, and begin a process leading from microbe to mankind. See http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/lithopanspermia.html?452005.
g Intelligence - When people see violent or erotic images, they fail to process whatever they see next, according to new research. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050811_attention_
problem.html.
g Message - The Search for Extraterrestrial Artifacts, or SETA, is about delineating between the artificial and the real. In the case of radio detection from other stellar systems, the artificial is what is labeled the real signal that intelligent communications are on-air. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article84.html. Note: This article is a couple of years old.
g Cosmicus - Proponents of small satellites say that tiny spacecraft have potentially big roles to play in planetary exploration. See http://space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_050808.html.
g Learning - Exobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe. Exobiologists investigate how the formation of stars and solar systems led to the existence of planets suitable for life, how life originated on Earth and perhaps elsewhere, and which factors influenced biological evolution. The understanding of these events shapes the study of how life arises and evolves in the universe. Here’s a basic primer on what also is known as astrobiology. See http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563487/
Exobiology.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology/cultures? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Mary Gentle’s “Golden Witchbreed” (1983) and “Ancient Light” (1987), which examines a culture of feline aliens.
g Aftermath - Looking for some interesting reading on “first contact”? Try the science fiction anthology “First Contact,” edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff. The book came out in 1997. Here’s a review at http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/first.html (though it’s less than flattering).
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Where life originated, ‘Life Beyond Earth’ and ‘Way Station’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - From chemical fingerprints preserved in primitive meteorites, scientists at UCSD have determined that the collapsing gas cloud that eventually became our sun was glowing brightly during the formation of the first material in the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1682&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth reached a significant goal earlier this month when scientists drilled into a seismically active section of the fault approximately two miles below the surface of the Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2005/08/050804123453.htm.
g Life - There are many different theories about where the origin of life occurred. These theories range from life beginning in deep-sea thermal vents to bacterial life arriving from other places in the universe, among others. Some of these theories are more credible than others, yet all provide an interesting explanation for life's beginnings. See http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/
Exobiology/sites.html.
g Intelligence - Tell a man that he's not "man enough" and he may exhibit extremely macho behavior to compensate, new study findings suggest. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/205002/doubt_a_
mans_masculinity_and_hell_get_macho/index.html.
g Message - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for “Life Beyond Earth,” by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849372/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance.
g Cosmicus - It remains a resolute axiom of the space business: “Failure is not an option.” However, there are a host of terrible tales of misfiring rockets, lost-to-space satellites and interplanetary probes gone awry. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/050808_failures_
in_space.html.
g Learning - A new section of the Journal of Geophysical Research will focus on biogeosciences of the Earth system in the past, present and future and its applicability to planetary studies. See http://www.agu.org/journals/jg/.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Clifford Simak’s ”Way Station” (1963), which examines many different kinds of potential aliens.
g Aftermath - Should we really expect extraterrestrials to be sympathetic to our pleas to be altruistic because of the symbolic kinship we might share with them? See http://www.space.com/
searchforlife/seti_vakoch_030321.html. Note: This article is from March 2003.
g Stars - From chemical fingerprints preserved in primitive meteorites, scientists at UCSD have determined that the collapsing gas cloud that eventually became our sun was glowing brightly during the formation of the first material in the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1682&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth reached a significant goal earlier this month when scientists drilled into a seismically active section of the fault approximately two miles below the surface of the Earth. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2005/08/050804123453.htm.
g Life - There are many different theories about where the origin of life occurred. These theories range from life beginning in deep-sea thermal vents to bacterial life arriving from other places in the universe, among others. Some of these theories are more credible than others, yet all provide an interesting explanation for life's beginnings. See http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/
Exobiology/sites.html.
g Intelligence - Tell a man that he's not "man enough" and he may exhibit extremely macho behavior to compensate, new study findings suggest. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/205002/doubt_a_
mans_masculinity_and_hell_get_macho/index.html.
g Message - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for “Life Beyond Earth,” by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849372/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance.
g Cosmicus - It remains a resolute axiom of the space business: “Failure is not an option.” However, there are a host of terrible tales of misfiring rockets, lost-to-space satellites and interplanetary probes gone awry. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/050808_failures_
in_space.html.
g Learning - A new section of the Journal of Geophysical Research will focus on biogeosciences of the Earth system in the past, present and future and its applicability to planetary studies. See http://www.agu.org/journals/jg/.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Clifford Simak’s ”Way Station” (1963), which examines many different kinds of potential aliens.
g Aftermath - Should we really expect extraterrestrials to be sympathetic to our pleas to be altruistic because of the symbolic kinship we might share with them? See http://www.space.com/
searchforlife/seti_vakoch_030321.html. Note: This article is from March 2003.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Robotic astrobiologist, ‘Aliens and Knowability’ and what to say to ET
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have conducted the most comprehensive structural analysis of our galaxy and have found tantalizing new evidence that the Milky Way is much different from your ordinary spiral galaxy. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1685&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Carnegie Mellon researchers and their colleagues from NASA's Ames Research Center, the universities of Tennessee, Arizona and Iowa, as well as Chilean researchers at Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta) are preparing for the final stage of a three-year project to develop a prototype robotic astrobiologist, a robot that can explore and study life in the driest desert on Earth. The mission runs from Aug. 22 to Oct. 22. See http://www.science
daily.com/releases/2005/08/050810134231.htm.
g Life - By the 1950s, scientists were in hot pursuit of the origin of life. Around the world, the scientific community was examining what kind of environment would be needed to allow life to begin. In 1953, Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey, working at the University of Chicago, conducted an experiment, which would change the approach of scientific investigation into the origin of life. See http://www.
chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/miller.html.
g Intelligence - It's no secret that men and women tend to spend their time on the Internet quite differently. But British researchers suggest it's not just a Web site's subject or function that determines whether it will draw more men or women. The appearance of the site also might play a subtle role. See http://www.
livescience.com/technology/ap_050811_web_gender.html.
g Message - By publicly promoting exobiology, Joshua Lederberg almost single-handedly gained a place for biologists in the burgeoning U.S. space program, as well as a share of its ample research funds. He pressed upon NASA the need to include biological science in its mission and research designs, and represented the interests of biologists on the agency's Lunar and Planetary Missions Board between 1960 and 1977. In this role he helped define the scientific objectives for the Mariner Mars missions, launched between 1964 and 1971 to map the planet's surface and study its atmosphere from close-in orbits. Here are his papers: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/
BB/Views/Exhibit/narrative/exobio.html.
g Cosmicus - The (un)likelihood of extraterrestrial visitation is probably one of the most debated aspects of the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, the answer being an essential component to the validity of the ETH. After all, the assumed unlikeliness of interstellar travel has become the cornerstone of those who resist the ETH as an explanation for UFOs. So, does extraterrestrial visitation necessarily require all sorts of "unlikely" science, or is it possible to accomplish interstellar travel using conventional wisdom? See http://www.nicap.dabsol.co.uk/eth.htm.
g Learning - Here’s a module that provides introductory teaching lessons for classroom coverage of astrobiology and the origin of life that is suitable for use in both general and advanced high school biology courses. See http://www.gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/astro/html/
Exobiology.html.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Gregory Benford’s "Aliens and Knowability: A Scientist's Perspective," in “Bridges to Science Fiction” (George E. Slusser, George R. Guffet and Mark Rose, eds., 1980).
g Aftermath - What should we say to an extraterrestrial? Try the World Wide Web. SETI astronomer Seth Shostak opines at http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&
b=194993&ct=308803.
g Stars - With the help of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have conducted the most comprehensive structural analysis of our galaxy and have found tantalizing new evidence that the Milky Way is much different from your ordinary spiral galaxy. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1685&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Carnegie Mellon researchers and their colleagues from NASA's Ames Research Center, the universities of Tennessee, Arizona and Iowa, as well as Chilean researchers at Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta) are preparing for the final stage of a three-year project to develop a prototype robotic astrobiologist, a robot that can explore and study life in the driest desert on Earth. The mission runs from Aug. 22 to Oct. 22. See http://www.science
daily.com/releases/2005/08/050810134231.htm.
g Life - By the 1950s, scientists were in hot pursuit of the origin of life. Around the world, the scientific community was examining what kind of environment would be needed to allow life to begin. In 1953, Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey, working at the University of Chicago, conducted an experiment, which would change the approach of scientific investigation into the origin of life. See http://www.
chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/miller.html.
g Intelligence - It's no secret that men and women tend to spend their time on the Internet quite differently. But British researchers suggest it's not just a Web site's subject or function that determines whether it will draw more men or women. The appearance of the site also might play a subtle role. See http://www.
livescience.com/technology/ap_050811_web_gender.html.
g Message - By publicly promoting exobiology, Joshua Lederberg almost single-handedly gained a place for biologists in the burgeoning U.S. space program, as well as a share of its ample research funds. He pressed upon NASA the need to include biological science in its mission and research designs, and represented the interests of biologists on the agency's Lunar and Planetary Missions Board between 1960 and 1977. In this role he helped define the scientific objectives for the Mariner Mars missions, launched between 1964 and 1971 to map the planet's surface and study its atmosphere from close-in orbits. Here are his papers: http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/
BB/Views/Exhibit/narrative/exobio.html.
g Cosmicus - The (un)likelihood of extraterrestrial visitation is probably one of the most debated aspects of the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, the answer being an essential component to the validity of the ETH. After all, the assumed unlikeliness of interstellar travel has become the cornerstone of those who resist the ETH as an explanation for UFOs. So, does extraterrestrial visitation necessarily require all sorts of "unlikely" science, or is it possible to accomplish interstellar travel using conventional wisdom? See http://www.nicap.dabsol.co.uk/eth.htm.
g Learning - Here’s a module that provides introductory teaching lessons for classroom coverage of astrobiology and the origin of life that is suitable for use in both general and advanced high school biology courses. See http://www.gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/astro/html/
Exobiology.html.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: Gregory Benford’s "Aliens and Knowability: A Scientist's Perspective," in “Bridges to Science Fiction” (George E. Slusser, George R. Guffet and Mark Rose, eds., 1980).
g Aftermath - What should we say to an extraterrestrial? Try the World Wide Web. SETI astronomer Seth Shostak opines at http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&
b=194993&ct=308803.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Early Sun cooks up soup of life, space exploration debate and ‘Memoirs of a Spacewoman’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Before the Sun was the Sun, it glowed brightly and began cooking up the soup of life, according to a new study. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050811_solar_nebula.html.
g Abodes - A researcher at Southwest Research Institute, working with scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on data from the NASA Cassini Saturn orbiter, has found heat leaking out of the south polar region of Saturn's tiny icy moon, Enceladus. This find makes Enceladus only the third place in the solar system, after Earth and Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, where "hot spots" associated with ongoing geological activity have been detected. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1668&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Many of them are tiny, all of them are tough, and they could be your most distant ancestors. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1256777.
g Intelligence - The figure is famous: a deceptively simple line drawing that at first glance resembles a vase and, at the next, a pair of human faces in profile. When you look at this figure, your brain must rapidly decide what the various lines denote. Are they the outlines of the vase or the borders of two faces? How does your brain decide? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/
050810130507.htm.
g Message - A new study suggests it is more energy efficient to communicate across interstellar space by sending physical material — a sort of message in a bottle — than beams of electromagnetic radiation. Solid matter can hold more information and journey farther than radio waves, which disperse as they travel. See http://www.winlab.rutgers.edu/~crose/press/natgeog_lovgren.html.
g Cosmicus - The big debate among those interested in outer space centers on a couple things: One, do we need humans in space when robots don't need air, water, or food; and secondly, the value of the multibillions of dollars we've spent on the International Space Station and the antique Space Shuttle. See http://space.com/adastra/adastra_
spacefirsts_050809.html.
g Learning - After months of debate over science and religion, the Kansas Board of Education has tentatively approved new state science standards that weaken the role evolution plays in teaching about the origin of life. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/
203695/kansas_moves_to_stem_role_of_evolution_in_teaching/
index.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Naomi Mitchinson’s “Memoirs of a Spacewoman” (1979) about a human’s attempts to contact various aliens through empathetic means (for example, radiates think with a five-based system of logic BET).
g Aftermath -Extraterrestrials might display either or both of two types of altruism: reciprocal altruism and nepotism. In reciprocal altruism, nice-ness is reciprocated with nice-ness, negativity with negativity. Reciprocal altruism is seen, for example, in chimpanzee grooming and food sharing. If Chimp A grooms Chimp B, Chimp A often gets a payback at dinner assuming no more than a couple hours has passed between personal hygiene and meal time. Even reciprocity has its limits such as those imposed by the constraints of memory. In nepotism, by contrast, altruism is extended to one's close relatives, not necessarily with the expectation of direct payback. Rather, by helping relatives, indirectly the altruist also benefits. By increasing the chances that relatives will survive to reproduce, the altruists genes also have an increased chance of being passed on to the next generation, simply because close relatives share a predictable percentage of genes, depending on how closely they are related. Nepotism may be even more common than reciprocal altruism in intelligence beyond Earth. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220948. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - Before the Sun was the Sun, it glowed brightly and began cooking up the soup of life, according to a new study. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050811_solar_nebula.html.
g Abodes - A researcher at Southwest Research Institute, working with scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on data from the NASA Cassini Saturn orbiter, has found heat leaking out of the south polar region of Saturn's tiny icy moon, Enceladus. This find makes Enceladus only the third place in the solar system, after Earth and Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, where "hot spots" associated with ongoing geological activity have been detected. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1668&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Many of them are tiny, all of them are tough, and they could be your most distant ancestors. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1256777.
g Intelligence - The figure is famous: a deceptively simple line drawing that at first glance resembles a vase and, at the next, a pair of human faces in profile. When you look at this figure, your brain must rapidly decide what the various lines denote. Are they the outlines of the vase or the borders of two faces? How does your brain decide? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/
050810130507.htm.
g Message - A new study suggests it is more energy efficient to communicate across interstellar space by sending physical material — a sort of message in a bottle — than beams of electromagnetic radiation. Solid matter can hold more information and journey farther than radio waves, which disperse as they travel. See http://www.winlab.rutgers.edu/~crose/press/natgeog_lovgren.html.
g Cosmicus - The big debate among those interested in outer space centers on a couple things: One, do we need humans in space when robots don't need air, water, or food; and secondly, the value of the multibillions of dollars we've spent on the International Space Station and the antique Space Shuttle. See http://space.com/adastra/adastra_
spacefirsts_050809.html.
g Learning - After months of debate over science and religion, the Kansas Board of Education has tentatively approved new state science standards that weaken the role evolution plays in teaching about the origin of life. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/
203695/kansas_moves_to_stem_role_of_evolution_in_teaching/
index.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Naomi Mitchinson’s “Memoirs of a Spacewoman” (1979) about a human’s attempts to contact various aliens through empathetic means (for example, radiates think with a five-based system of logic BET).
g Aftermath -Extraterrestrials might display either or both of two types of altruism: reciprocal altruism and nepotism. In reciprocal altruism, nice-ness is reciprocated with nice-ness, negativity with negativity. Reciprocal altruism is seen, for example, in chimpanzee grooming and food sharing. If Chimp A grooms Chimp B, Chimp A often gets a payback at dinner assuming no more than a couple hours has passed between personal hygiene and meal time. Even reciprocity has its limits such as those imposed by the constraints of memory. In nepotism, by contrast, altruism is extended to one's close relatives, not necessarily with the expectation of direct payback. Rather, by helping relatives, indirectly the altruist also benefits. By increasing the chances that relatives will survive to reproduce, the altruists genes also have an increased chance of being passed on to the next generation, simply because close relatives share a predictable percentage of genes, depending on how closely they are related. Nepotism may be even more common than reciprocal altruism in intelligence beyond Earth. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220948. Note: This article is from 2003.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Lost city of stars, exobiology jobs and the 'Uplift' series
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
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 http://www.rednova.com/news/space/203906/
gemini_uncovers_lost_city_of_stars/index.html.
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 http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA09/
venus297.html. 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 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050804074751.htm.
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 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/
050804074407.htm.
g Message - What’s it like to be a SETI astronomer, listening for alien radio signals? See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3077998/. 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 http://www.boston.com/news/packages/
shuttle/globe_stories/Should_we_be_up_there_at_all_+.shtml. 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 http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/
Exobiology/careers.html.
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 http://space.com/news/050531_alienlife_survey.html.
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 http://www.rednova.com/news/space/203906/
gemini_uncovers_lost_city_of_stars/index.html.
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 http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA09/
venus297.html. 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 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
08/050804074751.htm.
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 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/
050804074407.htm.
g Message - What’s it like to be a SETI astronomer, listening for alien radio signals? See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3077998/. 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 http://www.boston.com/news/packages/
shuttle/globe_stories/Should_we_be_up_there_at_all_+.shtml. 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 http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/
Exobiology/careers.html.
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 http://space.com/news/050531_alienlife_survey.html.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Pre-biotic Earth, zoo hypothesis and the spaceflight movement
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Using the Very Large Telescope in Chile, UC Berkeley and Paris Observatory astronomers have obtained images of the first triple asteroid system: two moonlets orbiting one of the largest of the main-belt asteroids, Sylvia. A detailed chart of their orbits yields a density for Sylvia, indicating it is a "rubble pile" asteroid probably disrupted by impact long ago and gravitationally re-accreted - except for the two large moons. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810135320.htm.
g Abodes - In order to attempt to understand how life started billions of years ago, we need to first look at what scientists believe to be the conditions of our pre-biotic Earth. See http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/PBearth.html.
g Life - A team of researchers working with colleagues from the Botswana National Museum shed new light on the questions of when cattle were brought to southern Africa and from where. A domestic cow bone, dated to about 2000 years ago was excavated from a site at Toteng, located in the Kalahari Desert of northern Botswana. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050804075101.htm.
g Intelligence - New information implies that early humans evolved and altered their diet according to seasonal and other changes in order to survive. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805111026.htm.
g Message - What is the “zoo hypothesis”? See http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/beyond.htm; http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/Z/zoohypoth.html; and http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Zoo-hypothesis.
g Cosmicus - The aim of the spaceflight movement - exploration and colonization of the universe - is so vast and revolutionary that it cannot be achieved by the ordinary operation of day-to-day social forces and institutions. Consequently, we must be prepared to think in imaginative ways if we are to understand how this "giant step" in human history may come about. See http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/beyond.htm.
g Learning - Digitalis Education Solutions has published 12 astronomy lesson plans for use with kindergarten through 12th grade students. Lessons are aligned with the National Science Education Standards and cover a variety of topics, including moon phases, solstices, equinoxes and debunking astrology. See http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/12/emw192169.htm.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for any of these fine novels by James White: “Hospital Station” (1962), “Star Surgeon” (1963), “Ambulance Ship” (1979), “Sector General” (1983) and “Code Blue–Emergency” (1987).
g Aftermath - Donald E. Tarter, a consultant in space policy and technology assessment, makes a persuasive case for developing the protocols and technology to reply to an extraterrestrial signal before news of the discovery is made public, in his article, “Advocating an Immediate Response.” Delay could be costly as technologically advanced fringe groups or ambitious nations could attempt to score a propaganda victory by being the first to reply, creating a mixed and perhaps embarrassing first message. This could be avoided by settling on a quick and simple message to let the extraterrestrial source know that we had received their message. See http://seti.planetary.org/Contact/ImmediateResponse.html. Note: This report is from 1996.
g Stars - Using the Very Large Telescope in Chile, UC Berkeley and Paris Observatory astronomers have obtained images of the first triple asteroid system: two moonlets orbiting one of the largest of the main-belt asteroids, Sylvia. A detailed chart of their orbits yields a density for Sylvia, indicating it is a "rubble pile" asteroid probably disrupted by impact long ago and gravitationally re-accreted - except for the two large moons. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810135320.htm.
g Abodes - In order to attempt to understand how life started billions of years ago, we need to first look at what scientists believe to be the conditions of our pre-biotic Earth. See http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/PBearth.html.
g Life - A team of researchers working with colleagues from the Botswana National Museum shed new light on the questions of when cattle were brought to southern Africa and from where. A domestic cow bone, dated to about 2000 years ago was excavated from a site at Toteng, located in the Kalahari Desert of northern Botswana. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050804075101.htm.
g Intelligence - New information implies that early humans evolved and altered their diet according to seasonal and other changes in order to survive. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805111026.htm.
g Message - What is the “zoo hypothesis”? See http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/beyond.htm; http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/Z/zoohypoth.html; and http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Zoo-hypothesis.
g Cosmicus - The aim of the spaceflight movement - exploration and colonization of the universe - is so vast and revolutionary that it cannot be achieved by the ordinary operation of day-to-day social forces and institutions. Consequently, we must be prepared to think in imaginative ways if we are to understand how this "giant step" in human history may come about. See http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/beyond.htm.
g Learning - Digitalis Education Solutions has published 12 astronomy lesson plans for use with kindergarten through 12th grade students. Lessons are aligned with the National Science Education Standards and cover a variety of topics, including moon phases, solstices, equinoxes and debunking astrology. See http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/12/emw192169.htm.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for any of these fine novels by James White: “Hospital Station” (1962), “Star Surgeon” (1963), “Ambulance Ship” (1979), “Sector General” (1983) and “Code Blue–Emergency” (1987).
g Aftermath - Donald E. Tarter, a consultant in space policy and technology assessment, makes a persuasive case for developing the protocols and technology to reply to an extraterrestrial signal before news of the discovery is made public, in his article, “Advocating an Immediate Response.” Delay could be costly as technologically advanced fringe groups or ambitious nations could attempt to score a propaganda victory by being the first to reply, creating a mixed and perhaps embarrassing first message. This could be avoided by settling on a quick and simple message to let the extraterrestrial source know that we had received their message. See http://seti.planetary.org/Contact/ImmediateResponse.html. Note: This report is from 1996.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Barnard’s Star, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and hot primordial soup
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - What’s the second closest star to Earth after the Alpha Centauri system? The dim Barnard’s Star, only 6 light years away. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/barnards.htm.
g Abodes - The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, set to launch on Wednesday, will search for evidence that liquid water once persisted on the surface of Mars. This orbiter also will provide detailed surveys of the planet, identifying any obstacles that could jeopardize the safety of future landers and rovers. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1672&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - A new theory that explains why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/
195921/scientists_crack_40yearold_dna_puzzle/index.html.
g Intelligence - Philosophers and mystics couldn’t figure it out. Now even physicists are taking a shot at understanding “consciousness.” See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050808_human_
consciousness.html.
g Message - It's not easy to look for life somewhere other than Earth. First, scientists searching for life in space have to come up with a working definition of 'extraterrestrial life'. Next, they need to develop a strategy identifying places and methods for their search. To make matters more complicated, all of this has to be done without contaminating the search site with life from Earth or contaminating Earth with potential extraterrestrial life. See http://chemistry.about.com/cs/astrochemistry/a/aa010404a.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA has decided that its next launch vehicle for getting humans into space will be based on the space shuttle system, including its main engines, solid rocket boosters and external tank. There will be one big difference, though, instead of riding along the side of the new rocket, astronauts in the future will be riding on top on top of their next launcher -- above any debris that might fall off. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/050803_shuttle-derived_cev.html.
g Learning - While sleek crime-scene TV shows have turned students on to forensic science, an investigation of today's high school laboratories shows that reality isn't so flattering. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/200768/study_rips_quality_
of_high_school_labs/index.html.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: George E. Slusser’s "Metamorphoses of the Dragon," in “Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction," (Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds., 1987). It critiques LeGuin's ideas about dragons as fantasy creatures, then goes on to discuss dragon-like aliens in SF in Clarke's “Childhood's End” and Herbert's “Dune” and “Dragon in the Sea” series, bringing in contexts as wide-ranging as Beowulf, the work of Escher, subatomic physics and Sagan's “Dragons of Eden.”
g Aftermath - Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence depends as much upon social support for the project as upon appropriate engineering design and upon the actual existence of a nearby extrasolar civilization. The results of a sociological survey of 1,465 American college students provide the first detailed analysis of the social and ideological factors that influence support for CETI, thereby suggesting ways that support might be increased. Linked to the most idealistic goals of the space program, notably interplanetary colonization, enthusiasm for CETI is little affected by attitudes toward technology or militarism. Few sciences or scholarly fields encourage CETI, with the exceptions of anthropology and astronomy. Support is somewhat greater among men than among women, but the sex difference is far less than in attitudes toward space flight in general. Evangelical Protestantism, represented by the "Born Again" movement, strongly discourages support for CETI. Just as exobiology begins with an understanding of terrestrial biology, exosociology on the question of how interstellar contact can be achieved should begin with serious sociological study of factors operating on our own world. See http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/cetijbis.htm.
g Stars - What’s the second closest star to Earth after the Alpha Centauri system? The dim Barnard’s Star, only 6 light years away. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/barnards.htm.
g Abodes - The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, set to launch on Wednesday, will search for evidence that liquid water once persisted on the surface of Mars. This orbiter also will provide detailed surveys of the planet, identifying any obstacles that could jeopardize the safety of future landers and rovers. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1672&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - A new theory that explains why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/
195921/scientists_crack_40yearold_dna_puzzle/index.html.
g Intelligence - Philosophers and mystics couldn’t figure it out. Now even physicists are taking a shot at understanding “consciousness.” See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050808_human_
consciousness.html.
g Message - It's not easy to look for life somewhere other than Earth. First, scientists searching for life in space have to come up with a working definition of 'extraterrestrial life'. Next, they need to develop a strategy identifying places and methods for their search. To make matters more complicated, all of this has to be done without contaminating the search site with life from Earth or contaminating Earth with potential extraterrestrial life. See http://chemistry.about.com/cs/astrochemistry/a/aa010404a.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA has decided that its next launch vehicle for getting humans into space will be based on the space shuttle system, including its main engines, solid rocket boosters and external tank. There will be one big difference, though, instead of riding along the side of the new rocket, astronauts in the future will be riding on top on top of their next launcher -- above any debris that might fall off. See http://space.com/businesstechnology/050803_shuttle-derived_cev.html.
g Learning - While sleek crime-scene TV shows have turned students on to forensic science, an investigation of today's high school laboratories shows that reality isn't so flattering. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/200768/study_rips_quality_
of_high_school_labs/index.html.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting critical examination of science fiction aliens that’s worth reading: George E. Slusser’s "Metamorphoses of the Dragon," in “Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction," (Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds., 1987). It critiques LeGuin's ideas about dragons as fantasy creatures, then goes on to discuss dragon-like aliens in SF in Clarke's “Childhood's End” and Herbert's “Dune” and “Dragon in the Sea” series, bringing in contexts as wide-ranging as Beowulf, the work of Escher, subatomic physics and Sagan's “Dragons of Eden.”
g Aftermath - Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence depends as much upon social support for the project as upon appropriate engineering design and upon the actual existence of a nearby extrasolar civilization. The results of a sociological survey of 1,465 American college students provide the first detailed analysis of the social and ideological factors that influence support for CETI, thereby suggesting ways that support might be increased. Linked to the most idealistic goals of the space program, notably interplanetary colonization, enthusiasm for CETI is little affected by attitudes toward technology or militarism. Few sciences or scholarly fields encourage CETI, with the exceptions of anthropology and astronomy. Support is somewhat greater among men than among women, but the sex difference is far less than in attitudes toward space flight in general. Evangelical Protestantism, represented by the "Born Again" movement, strongly discourages support for CETI. Just as exobiology begins with an understanding of terrestrial biology, exosociology on the question of how interstellar contact can be achieved should begin with serious sociological study of factors operating on our own world. See http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/cetijbis.htm.
Moon’s nitrogen, leaving no child behind on evolution and extremophiles on Venus
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Sol's three closest stellar neighbors are located in the southeastern corner of Constellation Centaurus. Learn more about Alpha Centauri at http://www.solstation.com/stars/alp-cent3.htm.
g Abodes - Scientists speculated today on a solution to a longstanding mystery of why the Moon is overloaded with nitrogen. It came from Earth, they say. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050803_moon_nitrogen.html.
g Life - The development of bone structures in alligator eggs raised under varying oxygen concentrations creates a link to fossil records of the evolution of vertebrates and prehistoric atmospheric oxygen concentrations, according to a paper to be presented at the Earth System Processes 2 meeting in Alberta, Canada. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050803134415.htm.
g Intelligence - If someone told you to "put the apple in the basket on the table," what would you do? Depending on how many apples and baskets are in your kitchen, it might not be clear. Would you move the apple in the basket to the table, or move the apple to the basket on the table? Had the speaker included the word "that's" after the word "apple," it would have eliminated any confusion. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805100906.htm.
g Message - Want to get a sense of SETI’s history and varying projects? Jodrell Bank Observatory offers an easy to follow yet informative primer at http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/research/seti/.
g Cosmicus - For many years people have asked the ever so important question, "Why Mars - why should we go to Mars?" For every individual who ponders this question there is a unique response. There is no correct answer to the conundrum and there is no single best answer either. Everyone must challenge their own intellect and form their own opinions on why, or why not, which brings about the focus of this rant. The driving question for those of us already dedicated to human space exploration should not be "Why Mars", but rather "What?" Mars. As in, what will you do to help set the human race on the path to Mars? It is as cliché as "everyone has to do their part" and as direct as John F. Kennedy’s famous speech "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." See http://space.com/adastra/adastra_mars_050802.html.
g Learning -
Evolution is fundamental to modern biology, geology and astronomy. Ignoring or discarding fundamental scientific understandings of the natural world does not prepare our children well for the future. As America strives to "leave no child behind," it’s time that evolution is not left behind in our science classrooms. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=948355.
g Imagining - Venus's battery-acid clouds might very well support microbial life - like the "extremophile" microorganisms that Earth scientists have found thriving near volcano outflows. See http://www.missouri.edu/~chemrg/current_news/Article_Hell.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
g Stars - Sol's three closest stellar neighbors are located in the southeastern corner of Constellation Centaurus. Learn more about Alpha Centauri at http://www.solstation.com/stars/alp-cent3.htm.
g Abodes - Scientists speculated today on a solution to a longstanding mystery of why the Moon is overloaded with nitrogen. It came from Earth, they say. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050803_moon_nitrogen.html.
g Life - The development of bone structures in alligator eggs raised under varying oxygen concentrations creates a link to fossil records of the evolution of vertebrates and prehistoric atmospheric oxygen concentrations, according to a paper to be presented at the Earth System Processes 2 meeting in Alberta, Canada. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050803134415.htm.
g Intelligence - If someone told you to "put the apple in the basket on the table," what would you do? Depending on how many apples and baskets are in your kitchen, it might not be clear. Would you move the apple in the basket to the table, or move the apple to the basket on the table? Had the speaker included the word "that's" after the word "apple," it would have eliminated any confusion. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805100906.htm.
g Message - Want to get a sense of SETI’s history and varying projects? Jodrell Bank Observatory offers an easy to follow yet informative primer at http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/research/seti/.
g Cosmicus - For many years people have asked the ever so important question, "Why Mars - why should we go to Mars?" For every individual who ponders this question there is a unique response. There is no correct answer to the conundrum and there is no single best answer either. Everyone must challenge their own intellect and form their own opinions on why, or why not, which brings about the focus of this rant. The driving question for those of us already dedicated to human space exploration should not be "Why Mars", but rather "What?" Mars. As in, what will you do to help set the human race on the path to Mars? It is as cliché as "everyone has to do their part" and as direct as John F. Kennedy’s famous speech "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." See http://space.com/adastra/adastra_mars_050802.html.
g Learning -
Evolution is fundamental to modern biology, geology and astronomy. Ignoring or discarding fundamental scientific understandings of the natural world does not prepare our children well for the future. As America strives to "leave no child behind," it’s time that evolution is not left behind in our science classrooms. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=948355.
g Imagining - Venus's battery-acid clouds might very well support microbial life - like the "extremophile" microorganisms that Earth scientists have found thriving near volcano outflows. See http://www.missouri.edu/~chemrg/current_news/Article_Hell.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Energetic X-rays, becoming a space activist and ‘The Last Planet’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Astronomers have found that the sky glows in very energetic X-rays. They think the X-rays are the last gasp of material being swallowed by massive black holes. These objects hide behind thick walls of gas and dust, walls so thick that only radio waves and very high-energy X-rays can escape. Even moderately energetic X-rays are blocked. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/
n0508/03xraysky/.
g Abodes - Terraforming was once solely the province of science fiction. Illustrator Thierry Lombry has produced some of the most fascinating and detailed visualizations showing how the Martian landscape might be modified over hundreds or thousands of years. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1667&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Researchers have obtained further evidence that one of the oldest biological laws can also be applied to bacteria living in the sump tank reservoirs of machines in an engineering workshop. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050802123222.htm.
g Intelligence - Book alert: In recent decades new fossil discoveries have redefined perceptions of human evolution at a remarkable pace, making it nearly impossible for the general reader to find an up-to-date account of the subject. The large-format book “From Lucy to Language,” by science writer Blake Edgar and paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson - discoverer of the famous partial skeleton of "Lucy," a female hominid who lived 3.2 million years ago - gives as complete a picture as is presently known. Much mystery remains, but the earlier view of human evolution as a linear progression from apes through the hominids to the various homo species has been replaced by a more treelike analogue, one with many branches of upright-walking hominids. Truly a photo album of hominid history, the volume includes more than 200 color pictures of the major fossil discoveries, each with explanatory text. For more reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684810239/ref=
ase_becominghuman20/104-6321981-8799138.
g Message - It has become somewhat accepted that an extrasolar contact could be interpreted as a good “artificial” signal if it arose from certain branches of mathematics. If another galactic civilization decided to reach us, they would send a beacon of bleeps akin to the digits of “pi” or only prime numbers, because they would realize that no natural process could mimic them. Renowned author and MacArthur “genius” award winner, Stephen Wolfram, argues for a new kind of science, and argues that the line between “artificial” and “natural” signals is not nearly so clear as first supposed. See http://www.astrobionet/news/article860.html. Note: This article is from March 2004.
g Cosmicus - Anyone can be a good space activist. It is also easy to do. It takes a little bit of time, occasionally costs a little money but most of all is the desire to make a difference. If you fit these criteria, then you are ready to start down a fun and exciting path. See http://space.com/adastra/adastra_advocacy_050805.html.
g Learning - There may be numerous intelligent civilizations on planets throughout our galaxy. That's the hypothesis driving SETI research. We seek evidence of extraterrestrial technology using optical and radio telescopes to search for signals that emanate from other civilized worlds. These places are far, far away. But, when discussing the search with school children, they often simply ask, "Why don't we just go there?" This can be a teachable moment. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_devore_distance_031204.
html. Note: This article is from Dec. 2003.
g Imagining -Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your bookstore for Andre Norton’s “The Last Planet” (1953), famous for the birdman or “The Beast Master” (1959), famous for the lizard men.
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 http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - Astronomers have found that the sky glows in very energetic X-rays. They think the X-rays are the last gasp of material being swallowed by massive black holes. These objects hide behind thick walls of gas and dust, walls so thick that only radio waves and very high-energy X-rays can escape. Even moderately energetic X-rays are blocked. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/
n0508/03xraysky/.
g Abodes - Terraforming was once solely the province of science fiction. Illustrator Thierry Lombry has produced some of the most fascinating and detailed visualizations showing how the Martian landscape might be modified over hundreds or thousands of years. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1667&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Researchers have obtained further evidence that one of the oldest biological laws can also be applied to bacteria living in the sump tank reservoirs of machines in an engineering workshop. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050802123222.htm.
g Intelligence - Book alert: In recent decades new fossil discoveries have redefined perceptions of human evolution at a remarkable pace, making it nearly impossible for the general reader to find an up-to-date account of the subject. The large-format book “From Lucy to Language,” by science writer Blake Edgar and paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson - discoverer of the famous partial skeleton of "Lucy," a female hominid who lived 3.2 million years ago - gives as complete a picture as is presently known. Much mystery remains, but the earlier view of human evolution as a linear progression from apes through the hominids to the various homo species has been replaced by a more treelike analogue, one with many branches of upright-walking hominids. Truly a photo album of hominid history, the volume includes more than 200 color pictures of the major fossil discoveries, each with explanatory text. For more reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684810239/ref=
ase_becominghuman20/104-6321981-8799138.
g Message - It has become somewhat accepted that an extrasolar contact could be interpreted as a good “artificial” signal if it arose from certain branches of mathematics. If another galactic civilization decided to reach us, they would send a beacon of bleeps akin to the digits of “pi” or only prime numbers, because they would realize that no natural process could mimic them. Renowned author and MacArthur “genius” award winner, Stephen Wolfram, argues for a new kind of science, and argues that the line between “artificial” and “natural” signals is not nearly so clear as first supposed. See http://www.astrobionet/news/article860.html. Note: This article is from March 2004.
g Cosmicus - Anyone can be a good space activist. It is also easy to do. It takes a little bit of time, occasionally costs a little money but most of all is the desire to make a difference. If you fit these criteria, then you are ready to start down a fun and exciting path. See http://space.com/adastra/adastra_advocacy_050805.html.
g Learning - There may be numerous intelligent civilizations on planets throughout our galaxy. That's the hypothesis driving SETI research. We seek evidence of extraterrestrial technology using optical and radio telescopes to search for signals that emanate from other civilized worlds. These places are far, far away. But, when discussing the search with school children, they often simply ask, "Why don't we just go there?" This can be a teachable moment. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_devore_distance_031204.
html. Note: This article is from Dec. 2003.
g Imagining -Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your bookstore for Andre Norton’s “The Last Planet” (1953), famous for the birdman or “The Beast Master” (1959), famous for the lizard men.
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 http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
What is a planet, nanotechnology and the day after ET land
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted of a collection of galaxies with more variety than a candy store. See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8826579/.
g Abodes - The new claim that a 10th planet has been discovered in our solar system has set off a fresh round of debate and international talks aimed at defining the most vexing term in astronomy: the word planet. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050802_planet_
definition.html.
g Life - A historic expedition of Census of Marine Life explorers to the planet's most northern reaches has revealed a surprising density and diversity of Arctic Ocean creatures, some believed new to science. News of the marine discoveries in the far north coincides with announcement of seed funds for a matching effort in the Antarctic. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050730094700.htm.
g Intelligence -Men whose masculinity is challenged become more inclined to support war or buy an SUV, a new study finds. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050802_masculinity.html.
g Message - Here’s a nice primer on the SETI@home project plus some information about how to download the program: http://www.impactsites2000.com/tekreview/SETI2004.htm.
g Cosmicus - When it comes to taking the next "giant leap" in space exploration, NASA is thinking small - really small: Nanotechnology. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/194741/the_next_
giant_leap_in_space_exploration/index.html.
g Learning - How are key concepts of astrobiology treated in science fiction? See http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=lesson05. Note: This article is from 2001 and intended to be used as part of a classroom lesson.
g Imagining - In nearly all popular science fiction dramatizations on television, most of the alien protagonists look remarkably like humans. In "Star Trek," if you forgave the Vulcan's their ears (and their hair-styles), the Klingons their foreheads and the Bajorans their ridged noses you'd think that they were all human. After all, they have two legs, two arms, 10 fingers and toes, two ears, two eyes and a nose. And while arms and eyes are universals, two arms and two legs are parochial. See http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=exobio09.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See http://www.nidsci.org/news/roper/roperpressrelease.html.
g Stars - The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted of a collection of galaxies with more variety than a candy store. See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8826579/.
g Abodes - The new claim that a 10th planet has been discovered in our solar system has set off a fresh round of debate and international talks aimed at defining the most vexing term in astronomy: the word planet. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050802_planet_
definition.html.
g Life - A historic expedition of Census of Marine Life explorers to the planet's most northern reaches has revealed a surprising density and diversity of Arctic Ocean creatures, some believed new to science. News of the marine discoveries in the far north coincides with announcement of seed funds for a matching effort in the Antarctic. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050730094700.htm.
g Intelligence -Men whose masculinity is challenged become more inclined to support war or buy an SUV, a new study finds. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050802_masculinity.html.
g Message - Here’s a nice primer on the SETI@home project plus some information about how to download the program: http://www.impactsites2000.com/tekreview/SETI2004.htm.
g Cosmicus - When it comes to taking the next "giant leap" in space exploration, NASA is thinking small - really small: Nanotechnology. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/194741/the_next_
giant_leap_in_space_exploration/index.html.
g Learning - How are key concepts of astrobiology treated in science fiction? See http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=lesson05. Note: This article is from 2001 and intended to be used as part of a classroom lesson.
g Imagining - In nearly all popular science fiction dramatizations on television, most of the alien protagonists look remarkably like humans. In "Star Trek," if you forgave the Vulcan's their ears (and their hair-styles), the Klingons their foreheads and the Bajorans their ridged noses you'd think that they were all human. After all, they have two legs, two arms, 10 fingers and toes, two ears, two eyes and a nose. And while arms and eyes are universals, two arms and two legs are parochial. See http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=exobio09.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See http://www.nidsci.org/news/roper/roperpressrelease.html.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Bacteria caused snowball Earth, ‘Why Mars?’ and ‘Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - A host of hidden black holes have been revealed in a narrow region of the sky, confirming astronomers' suspicions that the universe is loaded with many undetected gravity wells. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050803_blackholes_spitzer.html.
g Abodes - Earth has been through many cold spells since its birth 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists say some drastic episodes froze the planet all the way to the equator. Yet these "snowball Earth" scenarios expose a gaping lack of understanding: What caused them? Lowly bacteria, according to a new study. See http://www.livescience.com/
forcesofnature/050801_snowball_earth.html/.
g Life - New research into a certain fruit fly may be evidence that hybrids are more common in nature than thought. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050727_hybrid_flies.html.
g Intelligence - Weapon-wielding humans, and not warming temperatures, killed off the sloth and other giant mammals that roamed North America during the last Ice Age, a new study suggests. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050803_iceage_
extinct.html.
g Message - Today, it is widely recognized that the “contact pessimists” have a rather strong position; most of recent scholarly monographs on the subject are strongly skeptical towards the possibility of finding complex intelligent life elsewhere (e.g. Ward and Brownlee). Why is that so? See http://contactincontext.org/cic/
v2i1/irony.pdf.
g Cosmicus - Earth's first extended visit to the planet Mercury is now one step closer to success after the MESSENGER probe celebrated its birthday one day early on Tuesday with a speedy flyby of its home planet to tweak its course for arrival in orbit in 2011. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/02messenger/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Scour your used bookstore for Ian Watson’s “The Embedding” (1973).
g Aftermath - How might we characterize the political significance of any announcement of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence? How about using the Torino Scale, which characterizes asteroid impacts, as a model to assist the discussion and interpretation of any claimed discovery of ETI? See http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:BuuaRaF64gUJ:www.konkoly.hu/staff/almar/almar_rio.doc+%22Interpreting+and+Reporting+on+a+SETI+discovery%22&hl=en.
g Stars - A host of hidden black holes have been revealed in a narrow region of the sky, confirming astronomers' suspicions that the universe is loaded with many undetected gravity wells. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050803_blackholes_spitzer.html.
g Abodes - Earth has been through many cold spells since its birth 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists say some drastic episodes froze the planet all the way to the equator. Yet these "snowball Earth" scenarios expose a gaping lack of understanding: What caused them? Lowly bacteria, according to a new study. See http://www.livescience.com/
forcesofnature/050801_snowball_earth.html/.
g Life - New research into a certain fruit fly may be evidence that hybrids are more common in nature than thought. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050727_hybrid_flies.html.
g Intelligence - Weapon-wielding humans, and not warming temperatures, killed off the sloth and other giant mammals that roamed North America during the last Ice Age, a new study suggests. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/050803_iceage_
extinct.html.
g Message - Today, it is widely recognized that the “contact pessimists” have a rather strong position; most of recent scholarly monographs on the subject are strongly skeptical towards the possibility of finding complex intelligent life elsewhere (e.g. Ward and Brownlee). Why is that so? See http://contactincontext.org/cic/
v2i1/irony.pdf.
g Cosmicus - Earth's first extended visit to the planet Mercury is now one step closer to success after the MESSENGER probe celebrated its birthday one day early on Tuesday with a speedy flyby of its home planet to tweak its course for arrival in orbit in 2011. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/02messenger/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Like stories about communicating with aliens? Scour your used bookstore for Ian Watson’s “The Embedding” (1973).
g Aftermath - How might we characterize the political significance of any announcement of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence? How about using the Torino Scale, which characterizes asteroid impacts, as a model to assist the discussion and interpretation of any claimed discovery of ETI? See http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:BuuaRaF64gUJ:www.konkoly.hu/staff/almar/almar_rio.doc+%22Interpreting+and+Reporting+on+a+SETI+discovery%22&hl=en.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Martian methane, Dobson Space Telescope and an unintelligent decision on evolution
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - A new analysis of 'cool' spots in the cosmic microwave background may cast new doubts on a key piece of evidence supporting the big bang theory of how the universe was formed. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/02background/.
g Abodes - On Earth, methane is mostly produced by life. The recent detection of methane on Mars therefore has led to much speculation about the possibility for life on the Red Planet. The strategies that may resolve this issue are revealed in the final part of this series on Martian methane. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1665&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The oldest fossilized dinosaur embryos ever found reveal how the creatures grew from tiny hatchlings to become such giant land beasts. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/
050728_dino_embryo.html.
g Intelligence - A Penn State researcher is part of the team that developed techniques that have generated insights into dietary divergences between some of our human ancestors, allowing scientists to better understand the evolutionary path that led to the modern-day diets that humans consume. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050803173202.htm.
g Message - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for “Life Beyond Earth,” by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849372/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance.
g Cosmicus - A novel suitcase-sized telescope could revolutionize the way we see the Earth and other planets. ESA has supported the work of a group of students in developing the Dobson Space Telescope, being tested this month aboard ESA's parabolic flight campaign aircraft. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
07/050731233203.htm.
g Learning - To the chagrin of scientists, President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss "intelligent design'' alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life. See http://www.livescience.com/othernews/ap_
050802_bush_design.html.
g Imagining - Science fiction authors produce a lot of very strange critters. In the desperate dash to be different, many go way overboard to invent fantastic, outlandish species unlike anything anyone has ever seen. It’s an admirable expression of their artistic abilities, but there’s an inherent problem: They almost always lose the reader along the way. Sure, it sounds ultra-cool to have a whole herd of 80-foot quasi-limbed orb-stasis beings, but unless you draw me a picture of these things, the reader often has no idea what you’re talking about. However, if you write that your alien has four wings, 10 eyes and looks a little like a kangaroo, the reader is right there with you. Most readers need at least something familiar to draw on for their imagination, or they get lost. See http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue10/themealiens.htm.
g Aftermath - Here’s another “old” piece worth reading: “Consequences of Success in SETI: Lessons from the History of Science” (http://www.nidsci.org/articles/steve_dick.php), given during a Bioastronomy Symposium in 1993.
g Stars - A new analysis of 'cool' spots in the cosmic microwave background may cast new doubts on a key piece of evidence supporting the big bang theory of how the universe was formed. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0508/02background/.
g Abodes - On Earth, methane is mostly produced by life. The recent detection of methane on Mars therefore has led to much speculation about the possibility for life on the Red Planet. The strategies that may resolve this issue are revealed in the final part of this series on Martian methane. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1665&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The oldest fossilized dinosaur embryos ever found reveal how the creatures grew from tiny hatchlings to become such giant land beasts. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/
050728_dino_embryo.html.
g Intelligence - A Penn State researcher is part of the team that developed techniques that have generated insights into dietary divergences between some of our human ancestors, allowing scientists to better understand the evolutionary path that led to the modern-day diets that humans consume. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050803173202.htm.
g Message - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for “Life Beyond Earth,” by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849372/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-9154374-8730217?v=glance.
g Cosmicus - A novel suitcase-sized telescope could revolutionize the way we see the Earth and other planets. ESA has supported the work of a group of students in developing the Dobson Space Telescope, being tested this month aboard ESA's parabolic flight campaign aircraft. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
07/050731233203.htm.
g Learning - To the chagrin of scientists, President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss "intelligent design'' alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life. See http://www.livescience.com/othernews/ap_
050802_bush_design.html.
g Imagining - Science fiction authors produce a lot of very strange critters. In the desperate dash to be different, many go way overboard to invent fantastic, outlandish species unlike anything anyone has ever seen. It’s an admirable expression of their artistic abilities, but there’s an inherent problem: They almost always lose the reader along the way. Sure, it sounds ultra-cool to have a whole herd of 80-foot quasi-limbed orb-stasis beings, but unless you draw me a picture of these things, the reader often has no idea what you’re talking about. However, if you write that your alien has four wings, 10 eyes and looks a little like a kangaroo, the reader is right there with you. Most readers need at least something familiar to draw on for their imagination, or they get lost. See http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue10/themealiens.htm.
g Aftermath - Here’s another “old” piece worth reading: “Consequences of Success in SETI: Lessons from the History of Science” (http://www.nidsci.org/articles/steve_dick.php), given during a Bioastronomy Symposium in 1993.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Mars ice water, early hydrocarbons and Venus Express
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars -When it comes to mysterious X-rays from Saturn, the ringed planet may act as a mirror, reflecting explosive activity from the Sun, according to scientists using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0505/26sunxrays/.
g Abodes - New images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft show a patch of water ice sitting on the floor of an unnamed crater near the Martian north pole. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1663&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The stuff of burnt toast, auto emissions and life itself has been spotted in galaxies so far away they are seen at a time when our universe was just one-fourth its current age. The discovery of organic molecules, called hydrocarbons, shows that the raw materials for life were present long before our solar system formed. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050728_organic_stuff.html.
g Intelligence - Researchers have found that when adults are given "false memories" of getting sick from eating strawberry ice cream as a child, they may choose not to eat it as an adult. See http://www.live
science.com/humanbiology/050801_suggestive_diet.html.
g Message - Forget waiting for ET to call — the most likely place to find an alien message is in our DNA, according to an expert in Australia. See http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/break ing_news/breaking_news__international_news&articleid=134442. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Venus Express, the first European space probe to investigate the planet Venus has completed the development, integration and test phase in Toulouse. EADS Astrium as prime contractor for European Space Agency is manufacturing Venus Express. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/169343/
venus_express_ready_to_study_venusian_atmosphere/index.html.
g Learning - The White House dealt science another blow Tuesday: President Bush announced he backs the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. See http://www.livescience.com/othernews/ap_
050802_bush_design.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology and cultures? Scour your used bookstore for Michael Bishop’s "Transfigurations" (1979), which examines the deeply weird life cycle of the Asadi.
g Aftermath - Extraterrestrials might display either or both of two types of altruism: reciprocal altruism and nepotism. In reciprocal altruism, nice-ness is reciprocated with nice-ness, negativity with negativity. Reciprocal altruism is seen, for example, in chimpanzee grooming and food sharing. If Chimp A grooms Chimp B, Chimp A often gets a payback at dinner assuming no more than a couple hours has passed between personal hygiene and meal time. Even reciprocity has its limits such as those imposed by the constraints of memory. In nepotism, by contrast, altruism is extended to one's close relatives, not necessarily with the expectation of direct payback. Rather, by helping relatives, indirectly the altruist also benefits. By increasing the chances that relatives will survive to reproduce, the altruists genes also have an increased chance of being passed on to the next generation, simply because close relatives share a predictable percentage of genes, depending on how closely they are related. Nepotism may be even more common than reciprocal altruism in intelligence beyond Earth. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220948. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars -When it comes to mysterious X-rays from Saturn, the ringed planet may act as a mirror, reflecting explosive activity from the Sun, according to scientists using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0505/26sunxrays/.
g Abodes - New images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft show a patch of water ice sitting on the floor of an unnamed crater near the Martian north pole. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1663&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The stuff of burnt toast, auto emissions and life itself has been spotted in galaxies so far away they are seen at a time when our universe was just one-fourth its current age. The discovery of organic molecules, called hydrocarbons, shows that the raw materials for life were present long before our solar system formed. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050728_organic_stuff.html.
g Intelligence - Researchers have found that when adults are given "false memories" of getting sick from eating strawberry ice cream as a child, they may choose not to eat it as an adult. See http://www.live
science.com/humanbiology/050801_suggestive_diet.html.
g Message - Forget waiting for ET to call — the most likely place to find an alien message is in our DNA, according to an expert in Australia. See http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/break ing_news/breaking_news__international_news&articleid=134442. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Venus Express, the first European space probe to investigate the planet Venus has completed the development, integration and test phase in Toulouse. EADS Astrium as prime contractor for European Space Agency is manufacturing Venus Express. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/169343/
venus_express_ready_to_study_venusian_atmosphere/index.html.
g Learning - The White House dealt science another blow Tuesday: President Bush announced he backs the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. See http://www.livescience.com/othernews/ap_
050802_bush_design.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien anthropology and cultures? Scour your used bookstore for Michael Bishop’s "Transfigurations" (1979), which examines the deeply weird life cycle of the Asadi.
g Aftermath - Extraterrestrials might display either or both of two types of altruism: reciprocal altruism and nepotism. In reciprocal altruism, nice-ness is reciprocated with nice-ness, negativity with negativity. Reciprocal altruism is seen, for example, in chimpanzee grooming and food sharing. If Chimp A grooms Chimp B, Chimp A often gets a payback at dinner assuming no more than a couple hours has passed between personal hygiene and meal time. Even reciprocity has its limits such as those imposed by the constraints of memory. In nepotism, by contrast, altruism is extended to one's close relatives, not necessarily with the expectation of direct payback. Rather, by helping relatives, indirectly the altruist also benefits. By increasing the chances that relatives will survive to reproduce, the altruists genes also have an increased chance of being passed on to the next generation, simply because close relatives share a predictable percentage of genes, depending on how closely they are related. Nepotism may be even more common than reciprocal altruism in intelligence beyond Earth. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220948. Note: This article is from 2003.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Exploring inner Earth, Martian contamination and SETI protocols
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Scientists have found that a star that exploded in 1979 is as bright today in X-ray light as it was when it was discovered years ago, a surprise finding because such objects usually fade significantly after only a few months. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/
181960/the_supernova_that_just_wont_fade_away/index.html.
g Abodes - The heart of our planet is largely a mystery because scientists can't go there or see what's inside. Geologists have just one tool, seismology, with which to probe the inner Earth. The contents of the tool bag just doubled. See http://www.livescience.
com/forcesofnature/050727_earth_neutrinos.html.
g Life - A new study in the August 2005 issue of The American Naturalist is the first to provide a theoretical model showing that the two central measures of biodiversity - the number of species in a system and the number of genetic variants within a specific species - respond similarly to changes in their environment. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050727060325.htm.
g Intelligence - Every few years scientists unearth the bones of humanity's forefathers. From Lucy to the Hobbits of Flores Island - we are gradually seeing building the puzzle of mankind's evolution. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/top10_
missinglinks.html.
g Message - The Search for Extraterrestrial Artifacts, or SETA, is about delineating between the artificial and the real. In the case of radio detection from other stellar systems, the artificial is what is labeled the real signal that intelligent communications are on-air. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article84.html. Note: This article is a couple of years old.
g Cosmicus - During the decade ahead, NASA should develop and implement new methods and requirements to detect and eliminate microorganisms on robotic spacecraft sent to Mars to prevent possible contamination of the planet, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. If microbes aboard a spacecraft were to survive the trip to Mars and grow there, they could interfere with scientific investigations to detect any life that might be native to Mars. Existing techniques for cleaning spacecraft are outdated and typically eliminate only a fraction of microorganisms, said the committee that wrote the report. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050725185123.htm.
g Learning - Unclear how the celestial coordinate system, used by astronomers, works? Here’s a primer at http://csep10.phys.utk.
edu/astr161/lect/time/coordinates.html.
g Imagining - Quantum physics and biochemistry is real, hard as nails science, say many physicists and also, it appears, those who write SF books and screenplays. But, reproductive biologist Jack Cohen asks, “Is biology a science?” And what affect does the answer have on our ability to imagine and recognize extraterrestrial life? See http://www.concatenation.org/articles/cohen~isbiologya.html.
g Aftermath - Scientists such as the SETI Institute’s John Billingham and Jill Tarter have taken the lead in planning for the day we might receive a signal from life beyond Earth. Working with diplomats and space lawyers, they have helped develop protocols that guide the activities of SETI scientists who think they may have detected extraterrestrial intelligence. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_protocols_010228.html. Note: This story is a couple of years old.
g Stars - Scientists have found that a star that exploded in 1979 is as bright today in X-ray light as it was when it was discovered years ago, a surprise finding because such objects usually fade significantly after only a few months. See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/
181960/the_supernova_that_just_wont_fade_away/index.html.
g Abodes - The heart of our planet is largely a mystery because scientists can't go there or see what's inside. Geologists have just one tool, seismology, with which to probe the inner Earth. The contents of the tool bag just doubled. See http://www.livescience.
com/forcesofnature/050727_earth_neutrinos.html.
g Life - A new study in the August 2005 issue of The American Naturalist is the first to provide a theoretical model showing that the two central measures of biodiversity - the number of species in a system and the number of genetic variants within a specific species - respond similarly to changes in their environment. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050727060325.htm.
g Intelligence - Every few years scientists unearth the bones of humanity's forefathers. From Lucy to the Hobbits of Flores Island - we are gradually seeing building the puzzle of mankind's evolution. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/top10_
missinglinks.html.
g Message - The Search for Extraterrestrial Artifacts, or SETA, is about delineating between the artificial and the real. In the case of radio detection from other stellar systems, the artificial is what is labeled the real signal that intelligent communications are on-air. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/article84.html. Note: This article is a couple of years old.
g Cosmicus - During the decade ahead, NASA should develop and implement new methods and requirements to detect and eliminate microorganisms on robotic spacecraft sent to Mars to prevent possible contamination of the planet, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. If microbes aboard a spacecraft were to survive the trip to Mars and grow there, they could interfere with scientific investigations to detect any life that might be native to Mars. Existing techniques for cleaning spacecraft are outdated and typically eliminate only a fraction of microorganisms, said the committee that wrote the report. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050725185123.htm.
g Learning - Unclear how the celestial coordinate system, used by astronomers, works? Here’s a primer at http://csep10.phys.utk.
edu/astr161/lect/time/coordinates.html.
g Imagining - Quantum physics and biochemistry is real, hard as nails science, say many physicists and also, it appears, those who write SF books and screenplays. But, reproductive biologist Jack Cohen asks, “Is biology a science?” And what affect does the answer have on our ability to imagine and recognize extraterrestrial life? See http://www.concatenation.org/articles/cohen~isbiologya.html.
g Aftermath - Scientists such as the SETI Institute’s John Billingham and Jill Tarter have taken the lead in planning for the day we might receive a signal from life beyond Earth. Working with diplomats and space lawyers, they have helped develop protocols that guide the activities of SETI scientists who think they may have detected extraterrestrial intelligence. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_protocols_010228.html. Note: This story is a couple of years old.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Mars’ ice lake, space station harvest and ‘Mission of Gravity’
Welcome! First-time visitors may want to read the Jan. 1 entry to gain a better understanding of the blog's format.
g Stars - Applied physicists at the California Institute of Technology have devised a plasma experiment that shows how huge long, thin jets of material shoot out from exotic astrophysical objects such as young stars, black holes and galactic nuclei. See http://www.space
flight/now.com/news/n0507/06jets/now.com/news/n0507/06jets/
g Abodes - The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has snapped an image of a modest ice lake on the Red Planet. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050729_mars_ice.html.
g Life - A new study in the August 2005 issue of The American Naturalist investigates a game-theoretical model in which females gain a direct benefit by multiple mating from the paternal care they elicit for their offspring. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050727060446.htm.
g Intelligence - Love and friendship may have genetic roots, according to a study in twins that suggests DNA has a strong influence who individuals marry and pal around with. See http://www.rednova.com/news/health/192273/my_genes_love_
your_genes/index.html.
g Message - Could intelligent beings in another solar system have hidden their sun by knocking their planets apart and using the pieces to build a hollow ball around their sun? For more on “Dyson Spheres,” see http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM.
g Cosmicus - A space station harvest relieves crew's minds and appetites. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050719_ibmp_plants.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Gamma Ray Bursts”: Sing the “Gamma Ray Rap” in this set of lessons and activities about gamma ray bursts, one of the most puzzling mysteries of astrophysics today. See http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_13apr00.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your used bookstore for Hal Clement’s “Mission of Gravity” (1953).
g Aftermath - Some of the best discussion of the consequences of alien contact occurs in science fiction. Here’s a novel that ranks among the most important in that dialogue: Arthur C. Clark’s “Songs of a Distant Earth.” Look for it at your library or local used book store.
g Stars - Applied physicists at the California Institute of Technology have devised a plasma experiment that shows how huge long, thin jets of material shoot out from exotic astrophysical objects such as young stars, black holes and galactic nuclei. See http://www.space
flight/now.com/news/n0507/06jets/now.com/news/n0507/06jets/
g Abodes - The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has snapped an image of a modest ice lake on the Red Planet. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050729_mars_ice.html.
g Life - A new study in the August 2005 issue of The American Naturalist investigates a game-theoretical model in which females gain a direct benefit by multiple mating from the paternal care they elicit for their offspring. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050727060446.htm.
g Intelligence - Love and friendship may have genetic roots, according to a study in twins that suggests DNA has a strong influence who individuals marry and pal around with. See http://www.rednova.com/news/health/192273/my_genes_love_
your_genes/index.html.
g Message - Could intelligent beings in another solar system have hidden their sun by knocking their planets apart and using the pieces to build a hollow ball around their sun? For more on “Dyson Spheres,” see http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM.
g Cosmicus - A space station harvest relieves crew's minds and appetites. See http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050719_ibmp_plants.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Gamma Ray Bursts”: Sing the “Gamma Ray Rap” in this set of lessons and activities about gamma ray bursts, one of the most puzzling mysteries of astrophysics today. See http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_13apr00.html.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your used bookstore for Hal Clement’s “Mission of Gravity” (1953).
g Aftermath - Some of the best discussion of the consequences of alien contact occurs in science fiction. Here’s a novel that ranks among the most important in that dialogue: Arthur C. Clark’s “Songs of a Distant Earth.” Look for it at your library or local used book store.
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