37 Geminorum’s habitability, Sun's effects on Earth and Mars, and how people will stay in touch in outer space

Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is 37 Geminorum: http://www.solstation.com/stars2/37gem.htm.
g Abodes - An atmospheric study shows similarities in the Sun's effects on Earth and Mars. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19956.
g Life - Would life forms on other worlds have to possess eyes, ears and limbs like higher organisms on Earth? Would they have to have a similar genetic code? Or can life exist not as we know it? These questions may be unanswerable now, but astrobiologists are anxious to answer the underlying question: How do you define life? See http://www.msnbc.com/news/389080.asp?cp1=1. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Intelligence - An international team, led by researchers at the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, have extracted and sequenced protein from a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq dating to approximately 75,000 years old. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329133310.htm.
g Message - Most SETI programs scan the sky looking for strong radio signals. Any signals that are deemed interesting are put on a list for follow-up observations weeks, months — even years later. Long delays in verification of potential ET signals sometimes generate tantalizing, but ultimately frustrating, stories. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_backus_rhythm_030320.html. Note: This article is from March 2003.
g Cosmicus - Research based at The University of Queensland is taking journalism where it hasn't gone before by asking the question: How will people stay in touch in outer space? See http://www.physorg.com/news67839914.html.
g Learning - What are SETI scientists doing to foment the study and understanding of astrobiology in our schools? See http://space.com/searchforlife/seti_phspace_051117.html.
g Imagining - Here are 10 alleged alien encounters — those brushes with aliens (or supposed aliens) that have been definitively debunked over the years. See http://www.space.com/top10_alienencounters_debunked.html.
g Aftermath - In a cross-cultural study conducted several years ago, to scientists looked at the attitudes of college students towards the possibility that extraterrestrial life might exist, and if it does, what it might be like for people to learn that it exists. See http://publish.seti.org/general/articles.phpid=54. Note: This article is from 2002.