Saturday, March 18, 2006

Assembling giant galaxies, water on Enceladus and meet the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Giant galaxies weren't assembled in a day. Neither was this Hubble Space Telescope image of the face-on Pinwheel Galaxy. The image is the largest and most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy ever released from Hubble. See article.
g Abodes - Could Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus have liquid water right below the icy surface? A new paper in the journal Science argues for the presence of such a reservoir, saying it is the most likely source for the plumes of particles ejected from the moon’s south pole. See article. For related story, see “Enceladus the storyteller”.
g Life - A few months after researchers on one team thought they had discovered a new family of rodent, another group snatched their glory by identifying the critter as a member of a family thought long extinct. See article.
g Intelligence - Forget about opposites attracting. We like people who look like us, because they tend to have personalities similar to our own. And, a new study suggests, the longer we are with someone, the more those similarities grow. See article. For related story, see “Facial Characteristics Indicative Of Personality Traits, Say Experts”.
g Cosmicus - Get to know MRO — Top 10 facts about NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. For related story, see “New manager for Mars rovers in challenging time”.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Anne McCaffrey’s novel “Decision at Doona,” published by Del Rey in 1969.
g Aftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.

Read this blogger’s books

No comments: