Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - New observations of a great big cosmic collision provide the best evidence yet that invisible and mysterious dark matter really does exist. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060821_dark_matter.html.
g Abodes - Earth might have spun on its side to keep its balance in the distant past, and could do so again, scientists report. See http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/060825_earth_tilt.html.
g Life - Researchers have learned that the removal of just one important species in a freshwater ecosystem can seriously disrupt how that environment functions. This finding contradicts earlier notions that other species can jump in and compensate for the loss. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818175119.htm.
g Intelligence - Scientists have discovered a gene that has undergone accelerated evolutionary change in humans and is active during a critical stage in brain development. Although researchers have yet to determine the precise function of the gene, the evidence suggests that it may play a role in the development of the cerebral cortex and may even help explain the dramatic expansion of this part of the brain during human evolution. See http://www.astrobio.net/
news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2059
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Message - Would anyone deliberately beam high-powered signals into space? Can we assume that extraterrestrial societies would broadcast in ways that would mark their location as plainly as a flag on a golf green? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/shostak_quantum_030522.html.
g Cosmicus - A U.S.-Canadian venture to develop suborbital and orbital rocket ships has found a new launch site along the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia. See http://www.space.com/news/060821_planetspace_capebreton.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat lesson plan, “E.T. Can’t Phone Home,” that teaches some basic principles of astronomy: http://www.scpub.org/filelibrary/pdf/etact.pdf.
g Imagining - For a fascinating speculation about how one’s environment (in this case, astronomical surroundings) affects a race’s psychological evolution, be sure to read the classic short story “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov. Most science fiction fans consider it among the best — if not the best — science fiction story ever written. In this story, where the aliens’ planet is in a six-star system, the world’s inhabitants believe that life “is fundamentally dependent upon light.” You can find the story in “the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. One.”
g Aftermath - Clearly, if we are not alone in the universe, there are some unavoidable theological and philosophical consequences. We feel that the problem of extraterrestrial life is one of the most important questions raised in science to the present. We should reflect on the consequences of a positive result of either finding extraterrestrial microorganisms, or receiving a radio message form an extraterrestrial source: When such discovery occurs, the implications are likely to have an impact on our culture requiring adjustments possibly more radical than those arising form the evidence that humans descend from microorganisms. See http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~chelaf/searching_for_ascent.html. Note: This paper is from 1999.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
High clouds of Mars, new SETI strategies and Atlantis launch date
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - When they turned the Hubble Space Telescope on a distant globular cluster of stars, astronomers expected to find 15 or 20 planets. They found zero. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/mod
ules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=32. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Abodes - Mars is home to the highest clouds ever discovered above the surface of a planet, astronomers say. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060828_mars_clouds.html.
g Life - Piglets are sensitive to cold and shiver to maintain their body heat. Researchers at Uppsala University have uncovered a genetic reason why these newborns are less tolerant of the cold than other newborn mammals. It turns out that the gene that codes for the protein UCP1 was inactivated some 20 million years ago in the evolutionary line to which pigs belong. These findings are presented in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal PLoS Genetics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819111406.htm.
g Intelligence - It is hardly surprising that one of the medical programs most important exams is stressful for students. However, research now shows that this mental stress also affects the students immune defense systems, particularly amongst those suffering from allergies. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818174125.htm.
g Message - If extraterrestrials are out there, signals that would prove their existence are cascading over your body right now. Needless to say, you don’t notice. The challenge for SETI researchers is to build an instrument that will. Rising to the challenge, the SETI Institute and others are developing new search strategies and telescopes, encouraging some scientists to speculate that a signal detection will occur in the next decade or two. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_beingsure_010405.html.
g Cosmicus - If shuttle Atlantis weathers tropical storm Ernesto without any major problems, and if engineers can complete hurried preparations, NASA may be ready to make a launch attempt as early as Sept. 6, one day before the shuttle's launch window closes, officials said late Tuesday. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829postbrief/.
g Learning - Here’s an interesting idea for teachers: Use science fiction to teach economics. See http://www.swlearning.com/economics/mceachern/ teachingeconomist/wam10.html.
g Imagining - There are several species in the Star Trek universe that look exactly like humans. The unlikely fact that life on different planets has taken a similar, if not the same direction was sufficiently explained in The Next Generation episode "The Chase." In this key episode to the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's crew finds evidence that four billion years ago the first human civilization explored our galaxy, and they were disappointed because they found themselves alone. To preserve their heritage, they spread encoded DNA fragments across many Class-M planets throughout the galaxy, thereby triggering a development similar to their own. Aside from the evolution schedule the DNA fragments, correctly assembled, contain a message to their descendants, namely humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and all the other humanoid races of the galaxy that are in some way related to each other. As fascinating is this theory, a couple of problems remain. See http://www.exastrisscientia.org/inconsistencies1c.htm.
g Aftermath - Even if the public seems less than awestruck by the prospect that alien life is a bunch of microscopic bugs, astrobiologists say unequivocal discovery of microbial life beyond Earth will change human society in profound ways, some unfathomable today. See http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/news_stories/news_print.cfmID=138. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Stars - When they turned the Hubble Space Telescope on a distant globular cluster of stars, astronomers expected to find 15 or 20 planets. They found zero. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/mod
ules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=32. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Abodes - Mars is home to the highest clouds ever discovered above the surface of a planet, astronomers say. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060828_mars_clouds.html.
g Life - Piglets are sensitive to cold and shiver to maintain their body heat. Researchers at Uppsala University have uncovered a genetic reason why these newborns are less tolerant of the cold than other newborn mammals. It turns out that the gene that codes for the protein UCP1 was inactivated some 20 million years ago in the evolutionary line to which pigs belong. These findings are presented in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal PLoS Genetics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819111406.htm.
g Intelligence - It is hardly surprising that one of the medical programs most important exams is stressful for students. However, research now shows that this mental stress also affects the students immune defense systems, particularly amongst those suffering from allergies. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818174125.htm.
g Message - If extraterrestrials are out there, signals that would prove their existence are cascading over your body right now. Needless to say, you don’t notice. The challenge for SETI researchers is to build an instrument that will. Rising to the challenge, the SETI Institute and others are developing new search strategies and telescopes, encouraging some scientists to speculate that a signal detection will occur in the next decade or two. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_beingsure_010405.html.
g Cosmicus - If shuttle Atlantis weathers tropical storm Ernesto without any major problems, and if engineers can complete hurried preparations, NASA may be ready to make a launch attempt as early as Sept. 6, one day before the shuttle's launch window closes, officials said late Tuesday. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060829postbrief/.
g Learning - Here’s an interesting idea for teachers: Use science fiction to teach economics. See http://www.swlearning.com/economics/mceachern/ teachingeconomist/wam10.html.
g Imagining - There are several species in the Star Trek universe that look exactly like humans. The unlikely fact that life on different planets has taken a similar, if not the same direction was sufficiently explained in The Next Generation episode "The Chase." In this key episode to the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's crew finds evidence that four billion years ago the first human civilization explored our galaxy, and they were disappointed because they found themselves alone. To preserve their heritage, they spread encoded DNA fragments across many Class-M planets throughout the galaxy, thereby triggering a development similar to their own. Aside from the evolution schedule the DNA fragments, correctly assembled, contain a message to their descendants, namely humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and all the other humanoid races of the galaxy that are in some way related to each other. As fascinating is this theory, a couple of problems remain. See http://www.exastrisscientia.org/inconsistencies1c.htm.
g Aftermath - Even if the public seems less than awestruck by the prospect that alien life is a bunch of microscopic bugs, astrobiologists say unequivocal discovery of microbial life beyond Earth will change human society in profound ways, some unfathomable today. See http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/news_stories/news_print.cfmID=138. Note: This article is from 2001.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Primordial form of hydrogen, how Earth got its Moon and plasma-based life
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - The true abundance in the Milky Way of a heavy, primordial form of hydrogen has eluded scientists for decades, but it turns out that huge quantities of it have been hidden in the dust that is scattered between stars. See http://www.space.com/scienceastron
omy/060821_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - The mystery of how Earth got its Moon is one step closer to being solved. The European Space Agency's lunar-orbiting craft called SMART-1 has completed the first detailed chemical mapping of the lunar surface. The detected chemicals, such as calcium and magnesium, give a boost to the longstanding theory that the Moon formed from the debris flung into space after a collision between early Earth and a Mars-size planet. See http://www.space.com/
scienceastronomy/060822_science_tuesday.html.
g Life - As a leopard kitten matures into a prowling adult, its baby spots morph into more commanding rosette markings. Now scientists think they have uncovered the mechanism behind the transformation. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060808_leopard_spots.html.
g Intelligence - Researchers report they have mapped the activity of whole ensembles of neurons in multiple feeding-related brain areas across a full cycle of hunger-satiety-hunger. Their findings, open the way to understanding how these ensembles of neurons integrate to form a sort of distributed "code" that governs the motivation that drives organisms to satisfy their hunger. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819112326.htm.
g Message - How scientifically accurate was the ultimate astrobiology film, “Contact”? See http://www.coseti.org/klaescnt.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA announced Friday that it has picked El Segundo, Calif.-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Rocketplane Kistler of Oklahoma City to share $500 million the U.S. space agency intends to spend through 2010 to stimulate the development of new commercial delivery services for the International Space Station. See http://www.space.com/news/060818_nasa_cots_wrap.html.
g Learning - Here’s a great educational tool for teaching astrobiology and various principles of science: COTI. COTI is an educational experiment in creation — students design an integrated world, alien life form and culture, and simulate contact with a future human society. One team constructs a solar system, a world and its ecology, an alien life form and its culture, basing each step on the previous one and utilizing the principles of science as a guide to imagination. The other team designs a future human colony, planetary or spacefaring, "creating and evolving" its culture as an exercise in cultural structure, dynamics and adaptation. Through a structured system of progressive revelation, the teams then simulate — and experience — contact between the two cultures in real time, exploring the problems and possibilities involved in inter-cultural encounters. See http://www.contact-conference.com/archive/educoti.html.
g Imagining - You’ve heard of carbon-based and silicon-based lifeforms in science fiction. But what about plasma-based life? Is it plausible? See http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/plasma-based_life.html.
g Aftermath - How would proof of extraterrestrial intelligence affect humanity’s “world” view? Astronomer Steve Dick discusses the matter in this transcribed Smithsonian Institute lecture, from 1999, at http://www.sil.si.edu/silpublications/dibner-library-lectures/extraterrestrial-life/etcopy-kr.htm.
g Stars - The true abundance in the Milky Way of a heavy, primordial form of hydrogen has eluded scientists for decades, but it turns out that huge quantities of it have been hidden in the dust that is scattered between stars. See http://www.space.com/scienceastron
omy/060821_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - The mystery of how Earth got its Moon is one step closer to being solved. The European Space Agency's lunar-orbiting craft called SMART-1 has completed the first detailed chemical mapping of the lunar surface. The detected chemicals, such as calcium and magnesium, give a boost to the longstanding theory that the Moon formed from the debris flung into space after a collision between early Earth and a Mars-size planet. See http://www.space.com/
scienceastronomy/060822_science_tuesday.html.
g Life - As a leopard kitten matures into a prowling adult, its baby spots morph into more commanding rosette markings. Now scientists think they have uncovered the mechanism behind the transformation. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060808_leopard_spots.html.
g Intelligence - Researchers report they have mapped the activity of whole ensembles of neurons in multiple feeding-related brain areas across a full cycle of hunger-satiety-hunger. Their findings, open the way to understanding how these ensembles of neurons integrate to form a sort of distributed "code" that governs the motivation that drives organisms to satisfy their hunger. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819112326.htm.
g Message - How scientifically accurate was the ultimate astrobiology film, “Contact”? See http://www.coseti.org/klaescnt.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA announced Friday that it has picked El Segundo, Calif.-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Rocketplane Kistler of Oklahoma City to share $500 million the U.S. space agency intends to spend through 2010 to stimulate the development of new commercial delivery services for the International Space Station. See http://www.space.com/news/060818_nasa_cots_wrap.html.
g Learning - Here’s a great educational tool for teaching astrobiology and various principles of science: COTI. COTI is an educational experiment in creation — students design an integrated world, alien life form and culture, and simulate contact with a future human society. One team constructs a solar system, a world and its ecology, an alien life form and its culture, basing each step on the previous one and utilizing the principles of science as a guide to imagination. The other team designs a future human colony, planetary or spacefaring, "creating and evolving" its culture as an exercise in cultural structure, dynamics and adaptation. Through a structured system of progressive revelation, the teams then simulate — and experience — contact between the two cultures in real time, exploring the problems and possibilities involved in inter-cultural encounters. See http://www.contact-conference.com/archive/educoti.html.
g Imagining - You’ve heard of carbon-based and silicon-based lifeforms in science fiction. But what about plasma-based life? Is it plausible? See http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/plasma-based_life.html.
g Aftermath - How would proof of extraterrestrial intelligence affect humanity’s “world” view? Astronomer Steve Dick discusses the matter in this transcribed Smithsonian Institute lecture, from 1999, at http://www.sil.si.edu/silpublications/dibner-library-lectures/extraterrestrial-life/etcopy-kr.htm.
Monday, August 28, 2006
What If everybody is listening and nobody is transmitting, NASA’s future and comprehending an alien signal
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered that proteins that regulate brain-cell activity by controlling the flow of potassium ions behave more like volume controls on stereos rather than on/off power switches. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818175259.htm.
g Message - Whenever the director of SETI research presents a public lecture, she can almost guarantee that “What If everybody is listening and nobody is transmitting?” will be one of the questions the audience asks. See article.
g Cosmicus - In an exclusive interview, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, spoke to SPACE.com prior to his kickoff speech at the 20th Annual Conference on Small Satellites being held at Utah State University. Griffin addressed a range of space topics, including entrepreneurial space groups, the CEV, and the vulnerability of the space shuttle fleet. See http://www.space.com/news/060818_griffin_interview.html.
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 - 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 - What are the challenges to comprehension in initiating and maintaining strategic dialogue in highly uncertain situations — such as with extraterrestrials? See http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/alien3.php.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered that proteins that regulate brain-cell activity by controlling the flow of potassium ions behave more like volume controls on stereos rather than on/off power switches. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818175259.htm.
g Message - Whenever the director of SETI research presents a public lecture, she can almost guarantee that “What If everybody is listening and nobody is transmitting?” will be one of the questions the audience asks. See article.
g Cosmicus - In an exclusive interview, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, spoke to SPACE.com prior to his kickoff speech at the 20th Annual Conference on Small Satellites being held at Utah State University. Griffin addressed a range of space topics, including entrepreneurial space groups, the CEV, and the vulnerability of the space shuttle fleet. See http://www.space.com/news/060818_griffin_interview.html.
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 - 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 - What are the challenges to comprehension in initiating and maintaining strategic dialogue in highly uncertain situations — such as with extraterrestrials? See http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/alien3.php.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Rising cyberviolence, ‘Life on other Worlds’ and human interaction with ETI
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Intelligence - Cyberviolence, a form of vigilante "justice" in which a large group of Internet users post attacks against an individual, are increasing in South Korea. Science fiction writers anticipated the idea of cyberviolence a generation ago. In his classic 1975 novel Shockwave Rider, John Brunner wrote about a solution to cyberviolence. One way to do it was to create and set loose a tapeworm that would track down cyberviolent attacks. See http://
www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060818_cyberviolence.
html.
g Message - Estimating the frequency for communicating with an extrasolar civilization is a multi-dimensional challenge. The answer, according to two scientists at the Hungarian Astronomical Association, is less like an equation and more like a matrix. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=155mode=thread&order=0&
thold=0. Note: This article is from September 2003.
g Cosmicus - For the past three years a Sandia research team headed by Mat Celina has been investigating the performance of various piezoelectric polymer films that might one day serve as ultra-light mirrors in space telescopes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082621.htm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat teacher info source, courtesy of PBS: “Life on other Worlds: Our Solar System and Beyond.” See http://
www.pbs.org/teachersource/scienceline/archives/april00/feature.
shtm.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Robert L. Dragon's “Egg” (1980), which describes life on a neutron star.
g Aftermath - As we begin the new millennium, large elements of both the scientific and lay communities are sensitive to the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere. Whereas it is sensible to be cautious as to when unmistakable evidence of ETI will be acquired, some searchers expect this discovery to occur in the near future. From the perspective of our descendants 1,000 years hence, initial contact will be part of history and their attention will be directed somewhere else. At that time, any difficulties or dislocations that occurred during first contact will be long past. Interacting with other civilizations will be no more unusual than interacting with human colonies that will be sprinkled throughout our solar system. One thousand years from now people will be quite different than they are today. Human interaction with ETI could account for only some of these differences. See http://66.102.7.104/searchq=cache:
WWP5W8vC1zYJ:www.bigelowaerospace.com/fffgalacticclub.
doc+consequences+of+contacting+%22extraterrestrial+intelli
gence%22&hl=en&start=5.
g Intelligence - Cyberviolence, a form of vigilante "justice" in which a large group of Internet users post attacks against an individual, are increasing in South Korea. Science fiction writers anticipated the idea of cyberviolence a generation ago. In his classic 1975 novel Shockwave Rider, John Brunner wrote about a solution to cyberviolence. One way to do it was to create and set loose a tapeworm that would track down cyberviolent attacks. See http://
www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060818_cyberviolence.
html.
g Message - Estimating the frequency for communicating with an extrasolar civilization is a multi-dimensional challenge. The answer, according to two scientists at the Hungarian Astronomical Association, is less like an equation and more like a matrix. See http://seti.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=155mode=thread&order=0&
thold=0. Note: This article is from September 2003.
g Cosmicus - For the past three years a Sandia research team headed by Mat Celina has been investigating the performance of various piezoelectric polymer films that might one day serve as ultra-light mirrors in space telescopes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082621.htm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat teacher info source, courtesy of PBS: “Life on other Worlds: Our Solar System and Beyond.” See http://
www.pbs.org/teachersource/scienceline/archives/april00/feature.
shtm.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Robert L. Dragon's “Egg” (1980), which describes life on a neutron star.
g Aftermath - As we begin the new millennium, large elements of both the scientific and lay communities are sensitive to the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere. Whereas it is sensible to be cautious as to when unmistakable evidence of ETI will be acquired, some searchers expect this discovery to occur in the near future. From the perspective of our descendants 1,000 years hence, initial contact will be part of history and their attention will be directed somewhere else. At that time, any difficulties or dislocations that occurred during first contact will be long past. Interacting with other civilizations will be no more unusual than interacting with human colonies that will be sprinkled throughout our solar system. One thousand years from now people will be quite different than they are today. Human interaction with ETI could account for only some of these differences. See http://66.102.7.104/searchq=cache:
WWP5W8vC1zYJ:www.bigelowaerospace.com/fffgalacticclub.
doc+consequences+of+contacting+%22extraterrestrial+intelli
gence%22&hl=en&start=5.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Television painkiller, SpaceX’s return-to-flight and physics of an advanced, extraterrestrial civilization
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Intelligence - TV really does act like a painkiller when it comes to kids, reveals a small study published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060817102310.htm.
g Message - You don’t have to leave Earth to find intelligent life on other worlds. All you have to do is tune in ... at the right time ... on the right frequency ... in the right direction ... with the right spectrometer ... using the most powerful supercomputer on this planet. See http://www.xilinx.com/publications/xcellonline/
xcell_48/xc_seti48.htm. Note: this article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Unshaken by a launch failure of its Falcon 1, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is pressing forward on a return-to-flight of its privately-built booster. See http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060817_spacex_musk.html.
g Learning - Here’s a cool set of classroom lessons courtesy of NASA: Astroventure, in which students search for and design a habitable planet. See http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov/.
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 - Often the advanced science and technology of alien civilizations is touted as a benefit of contact with alien civilizations. So what type of physics would an advanced, extraterrestrial civilization likely possess? See what theoretical physicist Michio Kaku thinks that civilization might have at http://www.mkaku.org/articles/physics_of_alien_civs.shtml.
g Intelligence - TV really does act like a painkiller when it comes to kids, reveals a small study published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060817102310.htm.
g Message - You don’t have to leave Earth to find intelligent life on other worlds. All you have to do is tune in ... at the right time ... on the right frequency ... in the right direction ... with the right spectrometer ... using the most powerful supercomputer on this planet. See http://www.xilinx.com/publications/xcellonline/
xcell_48/xc_seti48.htm. Note: this article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Unshaken by a launch failure of its Falcon 1, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is pressing forward on a return-to-flight of its privately-built booster. See http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060817_spacex_musk.html.
g Learning - Here’s a cool set of classroom lessons courtesy of NASA: Astroventure, in which students search for and design a habitable planet. See http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov/.
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 - Often the advanced science and technology of alien civilizations is touted as a benefit of contact with alien civilizations. So what type of physics would an advanced, extraterrestrial civilization likely possess? See what theoretical physicist Michio Kaku thinks that civilization might have at http://www.mkaku.org/articles/physics_of_alien_civs.shtml.
Friday, August 25, 2006
NASA’s transition, introduction to astrobiology and predicting reactions to evidence of an otherworldly intelligence
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Intelligence - A protein once thought to play a role only in the immune system could hold a clue to one of the great puzzles of neuroscience: how do the highly malleable and plastic brains of youth settle down into a relatively stable adult set of neuronal connections? Harvard Medical School researchers report in the Aug. 17 Science Express that adult mice lacking the immune system protein paired-immunoglobulin like receptor-B had brains that retained the plasticity of much younger brains, suggesting that PirB inhibits such plasticity.
See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818012553.htm.
g Message - Since the invention of the radio, humans have been broadcasting signals into outer space. Other civilizations in our galaxy might be doing the same. They might even be deliberately sending out signals to find other civilizations. Someone out there may even be beaming a signal directly at the Earth. See http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/seti.php.
g Cosmicus - NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is known for being a straight shooter willing to make tough decisions. Brought on board by the Bush administration to implement a new initiative to return to the moon by the end of the next decade, Griffin is overseeing a difficult transition as NASA works to complete the international space station by 2010, phase out the space shuttle and develop a new manned spacecraft that will be safer and cheaper to operate. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060815griffin/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Robert Silverberg’s novel “Collision Course,” published by Avalon in 1961.
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 Intelligence - A protein once thought to play a role only in the immune system could hold a clue to one of the great puzzles of neuroscience: how do the highly malleable and plastic brains of youth settle down into a relatively stable adult set of neuronal connections? Harvard Medical School researchers report in the Aug. 17 Science Express that adult mice lacking the immune system protein paired-immunoglobulin like receptor-B had brains that retained the plasticity of much younger brains, suggesting that PirB inhibits such plasticity.
See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818012553.htm.
g Message - Since the invention of the radio, humans have been broadcasting signals into outer space. Other civilizations in our galaxy might be doing the same. They might even be deliberately sending out signals to find other civilizations. Someone out there may even be beaming a signal directly at the Earth. See http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/seti.php.
g Cosmicus - NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is known for being a straight shooter willing to make tough decisions. Brought on board by the Bush administration to implement a new initiative to return to the moon by the end of the next decade, Griffin is overseeing a difficult transition as NASA works to complete the international space station by 2010, phase out the space shuttle and develop a new manned spacecraft that will be safer and cheaper to operate. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060815griffin/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Robert Silverberg’s novel “Collision Course,” published by Avalon in 1961.
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.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Creatures that oxidize ammonia, expedition to Mars via the Arctic and social and political issues of first contact
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Life - A genetic analysis of soil samples indicates that a group of microorganisms called crenarchaeota are the Earth's most abundant land-based creatures that oxidize ammonia, according to an international team of researchers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060817103131.htm.
g Intelligence - Studying complex systems, such as the movement of robots on a factory floor, the motion of air over a wing, or the effectiveness of a security network, can present huge challenges. Mathematician Robert Ghrist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is developing advanced mathematical tools to simplify such tasks. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816004930.htm.
g Message - Since the beginning of astronomical observation, science has been viewing light on a curve. In a galaxy filled with thousands of eclipsing binary stars, we've refined our skills by measuring the brightness or intensity of so-called variable star as a function of time. The result is known as a "light curve." Through this type of study, we've discovered size, distance and orbital speed of stellar bodies and refined our ability to detect planetary bodies orbiting distant suns. Here on Earth, most of the time it's impossible for us to resolve such small objects even with the most powerful of telescopes, because their size is less than one pixel in the detector. But new research should let us determine the shape of an object... like a ringed planet, or an orbiting alien space station. See article.
g Cosmicus - High in the Arctic, just below Earth's north polar ice cap, a collaboration of nearly two dozen biologists, geologists and engineers have embarked on an expedition to Mars. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=2052mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
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 - Could the Pak of Larry Niven's "Ringworld" universe possibly evolve? They've got a homepage to discuss that and other questions about the intriguing fiction alien race. See http://www1.tip.nl/~t619162/pak.htm.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up "Sharing the Universe," by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials. See reviews.
g Life - A genetic analysis of soil samples indicates that a group of microorganisms called crenarchaeota are the Earth's most abundant land-based creatures that oxidize ammonia, according to an international team of researchers. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060817103131.htm.
g Intelligence - Studying complex systems, such as the movement of robots on a factory floor, the motion of air over a wing, or the effectiveness of a security network, can present huge challenges. Mathematician Robert Ghrist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is developing advanced mathematical tools to simplify such tasks. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816004930.htm.
g Message - Since the beginning of astronomical observation, science has been viewing light on a curve. In a galaxy filled with thousands of eclipsing binary stars, we've refined our skills by measuring the brightness or intensity of so-called variable star as a function of time. The result is known as a "light curve." Through this type of study, we've discovered size, distance and orbital speed of stellar bodies and refined our ability to detect planetary bodies orbiting distant suns. Here on Earth, most of the time it's impossible for us to resolve such small objects even with the most powerful of telescopes, because their size is less than one pixel in the detector. But new research should let us determine the shape of an object... like a ringed planet, or an orbiting alien space station. See article.
g Cosmicus - High in the Arctic, just below Earth's north polar ice cap, a collaboration of nearly two dozen biologists, geologists and engineers have embarked on an expedition to Mars. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=2052mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
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 - Could the Pak of Larry Niven's "Ringworld" universe possibly evolve? They've got a homepage to discuss that and other questions about the intriguing fiction alien race. See http://www1.tip.nl/~t619162/pak.htm.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up "Sharing the Universe," by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials. See reviews.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Calcium on lunar surface, smallsats and ‘Are We Alone?”
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - A heavy form of hydrogen created just moments after the Big Bang has been found to exist in larger quantities than expected in the Milky Way, a finding that could radically alter theories about star and galaxy formation, says a new international study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/14fusehydrogen/.
g Abodes - The D-CIXS instrument on ESA's Moon mission SMART-1 has produced the first detection from orbit of calcium on the lunar surface. By doing this, the instrument has taken a step towards answering the old question: did the Moon form from part of the Earth? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/0608
19110802.htm.
g Life - Descendants of extinct mammals like the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the Earth again. It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives. So far they've succeeded with mice—some frozen as long as 15 years—and lead researcher Atsuo Ogura says he would like to try experiments in larger animals. See http://www.livescience.com/animal
world/ap_060814_woolly_mammoth.html.
g Intelligence - Research on spineless creatures is unveiling the mechanics of how the brain regulates behavior. See http://www.
sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816020648.htm.
g Message - The search for extraterrestrial intelligence could be taking the wrong approach. Instead of listening for alien radio broadcasts, a better strategy may be to look for giant structures placed in orbit around nearby stars by alien civilizations. See http://www.newscientist.com/channel/space/mg18624944.800.
g Cosmicus - The building and exploitation of small satellites makes possible a diverse set of missions to satisfy academic, scientific, military and commercial needs. However, the U.S. community that develops small satellites — or smallsats — faces a perennial shortcoming of reliable, low-cost launchers — a long-term situation that stymies smallsat evolution and wider adoption of the technology. See http://www.space.com/includes/iab.htmlurl=/spacenews/
businessmonday_060814.html.
g Learning - Researchers have found that using multi-sensory training programs, a research technique that engages more than one of the senses, helps adults improve their performance of low-level perceptual tasks - such as visually detecting the motion of an object - significantly faster than methods that use only one stimulus. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816012250.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s “The Mote In God's Eye,” published by Simon & Shuster in 1974.
g Aftermath - Book alert: The authentic discovery of extraterrestrial life would usher in a scientific revolution on par with Copernicus or Darwin, writes Paul Davies in “Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life.” Just as these ideas sparked religious and philosophical controversy when they were first offered, so would proof of life arising away from Earth. With this brief book (160 pages, including two appendices and an index), Davies tries to get ahead of the curve and begin to sort out the metaphysical mess before it happens. Many science fiction writers have preceded him, of course, but here the matter is plainly put. This is a very good introduction to a compelling subject. See http://
www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465004180/ref=sid_dp_dp/103-7507272-1771804?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155.
g Stars - A heavy form of hydrogen created just moments after the Big Bang has been found to exist in larger quantities than expected in the Milky Way, a finding that could radically alter theories about star and galaxy formation, says a new international study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/14fusehydrogen/.
g Abodes - The D-CIXS instrument on ESA's Moon mission SMART-1 has produced the first detection from orbit of calcium on the lunar surface. By doing this, the instrument has taken a step towards answering the old question: did the Moon form from part of the Earth? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/0608
19110802.htm.
g Life - Descendants of extinct mammals like the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the Earth again. It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives. So far they've succeeded with mice—some frozen as long as 15 years—and lead researcher Atsuo Ogura says he would like to try experiments in larger animals. See http://www.livescience.com/animal
world/ap_060814_woolly_mammoth.html.
g Intelligence - Research on spineless creatures is unveiling the mechanics of how the brain regulates behavior. See http://www.
sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816020648.htm.
g Message - The search for extraterrestrial intelligence could be taking the wrong approach. Instead of listening for alien radio broadcasts, a better strategy may be to look for giant structures placed in orbit around nearby stars by alien civilizations. See http://www.newscientist.com/channel/space/mg18624944.800.
g Cosmicus - The building and exploitation of small satellites makes possible a diverse set of missions to satisfy academic, scientific, military and commercial needs. However, the U.S. community that develops small satellites — or smallsats — faces a perennial shortcoming of reliable, low-cost launchers — a long-term situation that stymies smallsat evolution and wider adoption of the technology. See http://www.space.com/includes/iab.htmlurl=/spacenews/
businessmonday_060814.html.
g Learning - Researchers have found that using multi-sensory training programs, a research technique that engages more than one of the senses, helps adults improve their performance of low-level perceptual tasks - such as visually detecting the motion of an object - significantly faster than methods that use only one stimulus. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060816012250.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s “The Mote In God's Eye,” published by Simon & Shuster in 1974.
g Aftermath - Book alert: The authentic discovery of extraterrestrial life would usher in a scientific revolution on par with Copernicus or Darwin, writes Paul Davies in “Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life.” Just as these ideas sparked religious and philosophical controversy when they were first offered, so would proof of life arising away from Earth. With this brief book (160 pages, including two appendices and an index), Davies tries to get ahead of the curve and begin to sort out the metaphysical mess before it happens. Many science fiction writers have preceded him, of course, but here the matter is plainly put. This is a very good introduction to a compelling subject. See http://
www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465004180/ref=sid_dp_dp/103-7507272-1771804?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Slime mold survival techniques, accelerated evolution of human DNA and responding to an extraterrestrial message
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers say the Sun has begun its next cycle of activity, part of an 11-year ebb and flow in sunspots and solar flares. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060818_sun_cycle.html.
g Life - In times of plenty, the uni-cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum leads a solitary life. But when slime molds starve, they collectively form a multicellular slug-like creature that locomotes en masse to a more favorable spot. Then they literally stand up, forming a tower designed to save the children. See http://www.astrobio.net/
news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2053
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - A detailed scan of the human genome has revealed a small snippet of DNA that has undergone accelerated evolution in humans. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060816_har1_gene.html.
g Message - SETI research isn’t limited to a single facility listening to radio signals. Another dimension of the program is The Mega-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay, which searched the Southern Hemisphere's skies briefly during the 1990s. To learn more about it, see http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATES/seti/META2/META-story.html.
g Cosmicus - How human the up-and-coming business of space tourism will be! Early space tourists will marvel at the view, but as orbital vacations become more affordable, space tourists will include couples who want to experience space and weightlessness together. Sex in Space is the ‘killer app’ that will transform space tourism into a mega business. Making love with a view of the Earth below may be the ultimate aphrodisiac for space buffs. But, let’s think about the implications of space-based sex for a moment. See http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_sexinspace_060804.html. For related story, see ”The First Female Space Tourist? U.S. Entrepreneur Determined to Reach Orbit” at http://www.space.com/news/060810_ansari_spaceprep.html.
g Learning - The research scientists aren’t the only ones getting excited about astrobiology. This new discipline has tremendous potential for revolutionizing science education. It is rich with exciting content to engage those who generally don’t consider themselves scientifically oriented, and also for opening the ears and minds of adults who may want a new reason to visit their local science center. See http://www.terc.edu/handsonIssues/f00/asbellclarke.html. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s short story "Loophole," appearing in the April 1946 issue of Astounding.
g Aftermath - If SETI is successful in detecting an extraterrestrial civilization, it will raise the question of whether and how humanity should attempt to communicate with the other civilization. How should that decision be made? What should be the content of such a message? Who should decide? The same questions would apply to proposals that signals be sent in the absence of detection, in the hope that they might be detected by an extraterrestrial civilization. See http://www.iaanet.org/p_papers/seti.html. Note: This paper was presented in October 1995.
g Stars - Astronomers say the Sun has begun its next cycle of activity, part of an 11-year ebb and flow in sunspots and solar flares. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060818_sun_cycle.html.
g Life - In times of plenty, the uni-cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum leads a solitary life. But when slime molds starve, they collectively form a multicellular slug-like creature that locomotes en masse to a more favorable spot. Then they literally stand up, forming a tower designed to save the children. See http://www.astrobio.net/
news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2053
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - A detailed scan of the human genome has revealed a small snippet of DNA that has undergone accelerated evolution in humans. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060816_har1_gene.html.
g Message - SETI research isn’t limited to a single facility listening to radio signals. Another dimension of the program is The Mega-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay, which searched the Southern Hemisphere's skies briefly during the 1990s. To learn more about it, see http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATES/seti/META2/META-story.html.
g Cosmicus - How human the up-and-coming business of space tourism will be! Early space tourists will marvel at the view, but as orbital vacations become more affordable, space tourists will include couples who want to experience space and weightlessness together. Sex in Space is the ‘killer app’ that will transform space tourism into a mega business. Making love with a view of the Earth below may be the ultimate aphrodisiac for space buffs. But, let’s think about the implications of space-based sex for a moment. See http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_sexinspace_060804.html. For related story, see ”The First Female Space Tourist? U.S. Entrepreneur Determined to Reach Orbit” at http://www.space.com/news/060810_ansari_spaceprep.html.
g Learning - The research scientists aren’t the only ones getting excited about astrobiology. This new discipline has tremendous potential for revolutionizing science education. It is rich with exciting content to engage those who generally don’t consider themselves scientifically oriented, and also for opening the ears and minds of adults who may want a new reason to visit their local science center. See http://www.terc.edu/handsonIssues/f00/asbellclarke.html. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s short story "Loophole," appearing in the April 1946 issue of Astounding.
g Aftermath - If SETI is successful in detecting an extraterrestrial civilization, it will raise the question of whether and how humanity should attempt to communicate with the other civilization. How should that decision be made? What should be the content of such a message? Who should decide? The same questions would apply to proposals that signals be sent in the absence of detection, in the hope that they might be detected by an extraterrestrial civilization. See http://www.iaanet.org/p_papers/seti.html. Note: This paper was presented in October 1995.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Faintest stars ever seen, online dating service for apes and what it would really mean if scientists found life beyond Earth
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - An international team of astronomers has uncovered the faintest stars ever seen in any globular star cluster, bringing scientists closer to revealing the formation time of one of the earliest generations of stars in the Universe. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818011321.htm.
g Abodes - As the Sun peeks above the horizon at the Martian south polar icecap, powerful jets of carbon-dioxide gas erupt through the icecap's topmost layer. If you were there, you'd feel a vibration through your spacesuit boots as, all around you, roaring jets of CO2 gas threw sand and dust hundreds of feet into the thin cold air. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=2055mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The most severe low-oxygen ocean conditions ever observed on the West Coast of the United States have turned parts of the seafloor off Oregon into a carpet of dead Dungeness crabs and rotting sea worms, a new survey shows. Virtually all of the fish appear to have fled the area. See http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2006/08/060812155855.htm.
g Intelligence - Single male (red hair, long arms, interests include hanging in trees and grooming) seeks female for long-distance relationship and possibility of meeting up in future to help save species. Zookeepers in the Netherlands are planning to hook up Dutch and Indonesian orangutans over the Internet and believe the link could at some stage be used as an online dating service where apes could get to know one another and keepers could work out whether they would be compatible mates. See http://www.livescience.com/
othernews/060816_ap_orangutan_dating.html.
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 - A sensor created by Utah State University engineers is up in space to protect astronauts against unwanted shocks. See http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/ap_060803_exp13_fpmu.
html.
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 first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “2001: A Space Odyssey,” published by NAL in 1968.
g Aftermath - Alien encounters and science fiction permeate pop culture, but what would it really mean if scientists found life beyond Earth? If even a single-celled organism on another planet was discovered, for many, this would be the last thread of evidence proving that life is simply chemistry. See http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/0402doser.shtml. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - An international team of astronomers has uncovered the faintest stars ever seen in any globular star cluster, bringing scientists closer to revealing the formation time of one of the earliest generations of stars in the Universe. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060818011321.htm.
g Abodes - As the Sun peeks above the horizon at the Martian south polar icecap, powerful jets of carbon-dioxide gas erupt through the icecap's topmost layer. If you were there, you'd feel a vibration through your spacesuit boots as, all around you, roaring jets of CO2 gas threw sand and dust hundreds of feet into the thin cold air. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=2055mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The most severe low-oxygen ocean conditions ever observed on the West Coast of the United States have turned parts of the seafloor off Oregon into a carpet of dead Dungeness crabs and rotting sea worms, a new survey shows. Virtually all of the fish appear to have fled the area. See http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2006/08/060812155855.htm.
g Intelligence - Single male (red hair, long arms, interests include hanging in trees and grooming) seeks female for long-distance relationship and possibility of meeting up in future to help save species. Zookeepers in the Netherlands are planning to hook up Dutch and Indonesian orangutans over the Internet and believe the link could at some stage be used as an online dating service where apes could get to know one another and keepers could work out whether they would be compatible mates. See http://www.livescience.com/
othernews/060816_ap_orangutan_dating.html.
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 - A sensor created by Utah State University engineers is up in space to protect astronauts against unwanted shocks. See http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/ap_060803_exp13_fpmu.
html.
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 first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “2001: A Space Odyssey,” published by NAL in 1968.
g Aftermath - Alien encounters and science fiction permeate pop culture, but what would it really mean if scientists found life beyond Earth? If even a single-celled organism on another planet was discovered, for many, this would be the last thread of evidence proving that life is simply chemistry. See http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/0402doser.shtml. Note: This article is from 2003.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Quintuplet stars, near-Earth space radiation and ‘Life on Earth … and Elsewhere?’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - For the first time, scientists have identified the cluster of quintuplet stars in the Milky Way's galactic center, next to the super massive black hole, as massive binary stars nearing the end of their life cycle, solving a mystery that had dogged astronomers for more than 15 years. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/17quintuplets/.
g Abodes - The Alps, the iconic rugged mountains that cover parts of seven European nations, might have reached their zenith millions of years ago, some scientists believe, and now are a mere shadow of their former selves. New research offers an explanation. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060815162222.htm.
g Life - In a study of sexually transmitted diseases, scientists have concluded that the length of time people stay together can determine which infectious diseases circulate in a community and therefore how diseases evolve multiple strains. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060810_illness_spread.html.
g Intelligence - As we yawn and open our eyes in the morning, the brain stem sends little puffs of nitric oxide to another part of the brain, the thalamus, which then directs it elsewhere. Like a computer booting up its operating system before running more complicated programs, the nitric oxide triggers certain functions that set the stage for more complex brain operations, according to a new study. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060817_brain_boot.html.
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.htmsite=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.area31.org%2Ftarget.html.
g Cosmicus - Four university teams will share $100 million to provide experiments and supporting hardware for a future NASA mission to study near-Earth space radiation. This type of radiation is hazardous to astronauts, orbiting satellites and aircraft flying high altitude polar routes. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/01rbsp/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom resource courtesy of NASA: “Life on Earth … and Elsewhere?” This booklet contains five classroom activities for grades 5-10 spanning topics from "Defining Life," to "Determining the Chances of Extraterrestrial Life." See http://www.erg.pdf/.
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 - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life — even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article163.html.
g Stars - For the first time, scientists have identified the cluster of quintuplet stars in the Milky Way's galactic center, next to the super massive black hole, as massive binary stars nearing the end of their life cycle, solving a mystery that had dogged astronomers for more than 15 years. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/17quintuplets/.
g Abodes - The Alps, the iconic rugged mountains that cover parts of seven European nations, might have reached their zenith millions of years ago, some scientists believe, and now are a mere shadow of their former selves. New research offers an explanation. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060815162222.htm.
g Life - In a study of sexually transmitted diseases, scientists have concluded that the length of time people stay together can determine which infectious diseases circulate in a community and therefore how diseases evolve multiple strains. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060810_illness_spread.html.
g Intelligence - As we yawn and open our eyes in the morning, the brain stem sends little puffs of nitric oxide to another part of the brain, the thalamus, which then directs it elsewhere. Like a computer booting up its operating system before running more complicated programs, the nitric oxide triggers certain functions that set the stage for more complex brain operations, according to a new study. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060817_brain_boot.html.
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.htmsite=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.area31.org%2Ftarget.html.
g Cosmicus - Four university teams will share $100 million to provide experiments and supporting hardware for a future NASA mission to study near-Earth space radiation. This type of radiation is hazardous to astronauts, orbiting satellites and aircraft flying high altitude polar routes. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/01rbsp/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom resource courtesy of NASA: “Life on Earth … and Elsewhere?” This booklet contains five classroom activities for grades 5-10 spanning topics from "Defining Life," to "Determining the Chances of Extraterrestrial Life." See http://www.erg.pdf/.
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 - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life — even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article163.html.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Galaxy's oldest and dimmest stars, rosy Hyperion and strategies for contact other than radio waves
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have imaged some of the galaxy's oldest and dimmest stars, offering a rare experimental glimpse of two mysterious star types tiny, slow burners less than one-tenth the size of our sun and once giant stars that still glow more than 10 billion years after their deaths. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/17dimmest/.
g Abodes - Unlike most of the dull grey moons in the solar system, Hyperion's color is a rosy tan. The origin of the moon's unusual hue is not known. Some scientists suspect the color comes from falling debris from moons further out. A similar origin has been suggested for the dark reddish material on Saturn's moon Iapetus. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/060810hyperion.html. For related story, see “Boosting Enceladus' signal” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/060810enceladus.html.
g Life - Some 15 years ago, blue mussels knew their enemies and had a rather peaceful life in the New England waters. But when an invasive crab species turned up, the mussels moved quickly to defend themselves against this new predator by thickening their shells. Such rapid evolutionary response is a "nanosecond" compared with the thousands of years that it normally takes for a species to respond to a predator. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060810
_mussel_evolve.html.
g Intelligence - Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found. See http://www.livescience.com/human
biology/ap_060807_raunchy_music.html.
g Message - When looking for ET, we may have to consider other strategies beyond radio waves. See http://www.zeitlin.net/OpenSETI/NewSearches.html. As a side note, one of those strategies might by looking for optical signals; see http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=174 for more.
g Cosmicus - Engineers are conducting research to help NASA develop rockets faster and less expensively for future missions to Mars and the moon. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060808182312.htm.
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.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=1032.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read James E. Gunn’s “The Listeners,” published by Scribner's in 1972.
g Aftermath - Though an older Web posting, “After Contact, Then What?” shows how little we’ve thought about this question. See http://www.setileague.org/askdr/whatnext.htm.
g Stars - Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have imaged some of the galaxy's oldest and dimmest stars, offering a rare experimental glimpse of two mysterious star types tiny, slow burners less than one-tenth the size of our sun and once giant stars that still glow more than 10 billion years after their deaths. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/17dimmest/.
g Abodes - Unlike most of the dull grey moons in the solar system, Hyperion's color is a rosy tan. The origin of the moon's unusual hue is not known. Some scientists suspect the color comes from falling debris from moons further out. A similar origin has been suggested for the dark reddish material on Saturn's moon Iapetus. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/060810hyperion.html. For related story, see “Boosting Enceladus' signal” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/060810enceladus.html.
g Life - Some 15 years ago, blue mussels knew their enemies and had a rather peaceful life in the New England waters. But when an invasive crab species turned up, the mussels moved quickly to defend themselves against this new predator by thickening their shells. Such rapid evolutionary response is a "nanosecond" compared with the thousands of years that it normally takes for a species to respond to a predator. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060810
_mussel_evolve.html.
g Intelligence - Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found. See http://www.livescience.com/human
biology/ap_060807_raunchy_music.html.
g Message - When looking for ET, we may have to consider other strategies beyond radio waves. See http://www.zeitlin.net/OpenSETI/NewSearches.html. As a side note, one of those strategies might by looking for optical signals; see http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=174 for more.
g Cosmicus - Engineers are conducting research to help NASA develop rockets faster and less expensively for future missions to Mars and the moon. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060808182312.htm.
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.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=1032.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read James E. Gunn’s “The Listeners,” published by Scribner's in 1972.
g Aftermath - Though an older Web posting, “After Contact, Then What?” shows how little we’ve thought about this question. See http://www.setileague.org/askdr/whatnext.htm.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Redefining planets, SETI 2020 and Voyager I
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - NASA could soon watch the Sun's violent behavior when the star's magnetic field becomes unstable shooting plasma and high-energy particles deep into space. See http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060817_stereo_launch.html.
g Abodes - A new "scientific and simple" proposal to define the word "planet" will be released Wednesday and astronomers will vote on it next week. It is not clear whether the definition will settle a long-running debate on the status of Pluto, however. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060814_pluto_fate.html.
g Life - Fossils of a new hoofed mammal that resembles a cross between a dog and a hare which once roamed the Andes Mountains in southern Bolivia around 13 million years ago has been discovered by scientists. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809233342.htm.
g Intelligence - Pictures of brain waves that reveal our ability to see color could provide a new objective way to diagnose and monitor diseases that affect human color perception. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809233807.htm.
g Message - Book alert: If you are interested in how researchers plan to search the heavens for signs of intelligent life, you should have “SETI 2020” on your bookshelf. Written by Ronald D. Ekers (editor), D. Kent Cullers and John Billingham, “SETI 2020: is a remarkably comprehensive study of how scientists busy with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should direct their efforts between now and the year 2020. Distilling the work of dozens of top SETI experts, astronomers and technology mavens, this book gives an overview of the problem of finding evidence for extraterrestrial technologies, and how to best address it. New radio telescopes consisting of large arrays of relatively small antennas are proposed and detailed. So are new types of antennas that can survey the entire sky at once. Of particular interest is the extensive treatment of optical SETI — the search for signals beamed our way using high-powered, pulsed lasers or their equivalent. A book that's interesting for both the layman and the technically sophisticated, “SETI 2020” is the definitive publication in this fascinating field. For more reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966633539/ qid=1114304424/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-3047561-6697665.
g Cosmicus - Voyager 1, already the most distant human-made object in the cosmos, reached 100 astronomical units from the sun on Aug. 15 at 2:13 p.m. Pacific time. That means the spacecraft, which launched nearly three decades ago, is 100 times more distant from the sun than Earth is. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2056
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
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 - 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 - 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 - NASA could soon watch the Sun's violent behavior when the star's magnetic field becomes unstable shooting plasma and high-energy particles deep into space. See http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060817_stereo_launch.html.
g Abodes - A new "scientific and simple" proposal to define the word "planet" will be released Wednesday and astronomers will vote on it next week. It is not clear whether the definition will settle a long-running debate on the status of Pluto, however. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060814_pluto_fate.html.
g Life - Fossils of a new hoofed mammal that resembles a cross between a dog and a hare which once roamed the Andes Mountains in southern Bolivia around 13 million years ago has been discovered by scientists. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809233342.htm.
g Intelligence - Pictures of brain waves that reveal our ability to see color could provide a new objective way to diagnose and monitor diseases that affect human color perception. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809233807.htm.
g Message - Book alert: If you are interested in how researchers plan to search the heavens for signs of intelligent life, you should have “SETI 2020” on your bookshelf. Written by Ronald D. Ekers (editor), D. Kent Cullers and John Billingham, “SETI 2020: is a remarkably comprehensive study of how scientists busy with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should direct their efforts between now and the year 2020. Distilling the work of dozens of top SETI experts, astronomers and technology mavens, this book gives an overview of the problem of finding evidence for extraterrestrial technologies, and how to best address it. New radio telescopes consisting of large arrays of relatively small antennas are proposed and detailed. So are new types of antennas that can survey the entire sky at once. Of particular interest is the extensive treatment of optical SETI — the search for signals beamed our way using high-powered, pulsed lasers or their equivalent. A book that's interesting for both the layman and the technically sophisticated, “SETI 2020” is the definitive publication in this fascinating field. For more reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966633539/ qid=1114304424/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-3047561-6697665.
g Cosmicus - Voyager 1, already the most distant human-made object in the cosmos, reached 100 astronomical units from the sun on Aug. 15 at 2:13 p.m. Pacific time. That means the spacecraft, which launched nearly three decades ago, is 100 times more distant from the sun than Earth is. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2056
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
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 - 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 - 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.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Rocky worlds beyond Neptune, Project Orion moniker and if a signal is found
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - A fundamental force that holds electrons inside atoms and governs how charged particles and light interact is a little weaker than previously thought. See http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060815_constant_weak.html.
g Abodes - Dozens of rocky bodies that are part of a sea of small rocky fragments never observed before have been spotted in the suburbs of our solar system beyond planet Neptune, thanks to a novel technique. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060814_tno_found.html.
g Life - Songbirds use multiple sources of directional cues to guide their seasonal migrations, including the Sun, star patterns, the earth's magnetic field and sky polarized light patterns. To avoid navigational errors as cue availability changes with time of day and weather conditions, these "compass" systems must be calibrated to a common reference. Experiments over the last 30 years have failed to resolve the fundamental question of how migratory birds integrate multiple sources of directional information into a coherent navigational system. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060810213154.htm.
g Intelligence - Exploring exactly why some individuals' memory skills are better than others has led researchers at Washington University in St. Louis to study the brain basis of learning strategies that healthy young adults select to help them memorize a series of objects. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers uncovered brain regions specifically correlated with the diverse strategies that subjects adopt. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082610.htm.
g Cosmicus - As collectSPACE.com first reported last month, NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle and moon landing program is expected to adopt the moniker Orion. The space agency hasn't yet announced the name, but a logo bearing the title has now been seen in a NASA internal document that labels the insignia as "approved." See http://www.space.com/includes/iab.html?url=/news/cs_060814_orion_logo.html. For related story, see “Readiness review clears Atlantis pending final issues” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060816frr/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “The Drake Equation.” Students estimate the number of civilizations in the galaxy by first estimating the number of craters on the Moon and then by performing estimates of multiple-variable systems culminating in the use of the Drake Equation. See article.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Isaac Asimov’s short story "Not Final!" published in the Oct. 1941 edition of Astounding.
g Aftermath - In the next two dozen years, the Allen Telescope Array will parse the nearest thousand light-years of space. If there are other occupants of this galactic neighborhood, we could turn up a signal. But then what? Would the discovery be put under wraps, either voluntarily or by government edict? If we found a signal, would you know? See article.
g Stars - A fundamental force that holds electrons inside atoms and governs how charged particles and light interact is a little weaker than previously thought. See http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060815_constant_weak.html.
g Abodes - Dozens of rocky bodies that are part of a sea of small rocky fragments never observed before have been spotted in the suburbs of our solar system beyond planet Neptune, thanks to a novel technique. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060814_tno_found.html.
g Life - Songbirds use multiple sources of directional cues to guide their seasonal migrations, including the Sun, star patterns, the earth's magnetic field and sky polarized light patterns. To avoid navigational errors as cue availability changes with time of day and weather conditions, these "compass" systems must be calibrated to a common reference. Experiments over the last 30 years have failed to resolve the fundamental question of how migratory birds integrate multiple sources of directional information into a coherent navigational system. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060810213154.htm.
g Intelligence - Exploring exactly why some individuals' memory skills are better than others has led researchers at Washington University in St. Louis to study the brain basis of learning strategies that healthy young adults select to help them memorize a series of objects. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers uncovered brain regions specifically correlated with the diverse strategies that subjects adopt. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082610.htm.
g Cosmicus - As collectSPACE.com first reported last month, NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle and moon landing program is expected to adopt the moniker Orion. The space agency hasn't yet announced the name, but a logo bearing the title has now been seen in a NASA internal document that labels the insignia as "approved." See http://www.space.com/includes/iab.html?url=/news/cs_060814_orion_logo.html. For related story, see “Readiness review clears Atlantis pending final issues” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060816frr/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “The Drake Equation.” Students estimate the number of civilizations in the galaxy by first estimating the number of craters on the Moon and then by performing estimates of multiple-variable systems culminating in the use of the Drake Equation. See article.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Isaac Asimov’s short story "Not Final!" published in the Oct. 1941 edition of Astounding.
g Aftermath - In the next two dozen years, the Allen Telescope Array will parse the nearest thousand light-years of space. If there are other occupants of this galactic neighborhood, we could turn up a signal. But then what? Would the discovery be put under wraps, either voluntarily or by government edict? If we found a signal, would you know? See article.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Pluto saved, spectrometry in SETI and face time with Earth
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - The latest photo from the Hubble Space Telescope, presented at the 2006 General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague this week, shows a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This sharp image reveals a large number of low-mass infant stars coexisting with young massive stars. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/14hubblestars/.
g Abodes - The tally of planets in our solar system would jump instantly to a dozen under a highly controversial new definition proposed by the International Astronomical Union. See http://
www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060816_planet_definition.
html.
g Life - Researchers have came up with a way to tease out the cause of environmental changes in where invasive species have taken hold. Cattails, they found in northern Michigan wetlands, alter the environment in ways that hinder native species but benefit the invaders. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2006/08/060809173730.htm.
g Intelligence - The same chemical in the body that is targeted by the drug Viagra also helps our brains "boot up" in the morning so we can process sights, sound, touch and other sensory information. The discovery could lead to a better understanding of major brain disorders, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2006/08/060808161139.htm.
g Message - The spectral approach is a universal tool of both astronomical observations and SETI. Furthermore, it has a clear physical meaning – a spectrometer finds the energy distribution of photons, in human sensing it is color and pitch. Under the hypothesis on identity of physical laws in our part of universe, it may be proposed that spectrometry also are using by those aliens, who know radio and lead their own SETI, too. See http://www.cplire.ru/html/ra&sr/irm/radio-signals.html.
g Cosmicus - Given the promise of privately built spaceships routinely skyrocketing from spaceports around the globe, rubbernecking customers will be afforded exceptional looks at Mother Earth and deep space. For some, it’s flat out thrill. There’s also the magic of microgravity as keepsake moments. And handheld photographs taken out windows can freeze-frame your personal space trek for later show-and-tell parties. But by all accounts, face time with Earth from space is a bonding experience. See http://www.space.com/news/060805_space_ecotourism.html.
g Learning - There’s a neat set of online activities, primarily for older teens or young adults, about communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence at http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~collins/astro/subjects/ceti.html. It helps students learn about SETI while they send one another messages then decode them, as if they were alien civilizations on distant worlds.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Hal Clement’s novel, “Needle,” published by Doubleday in 1951.
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 this article’s 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 - The latest photo from the Hubble Space Telescope, presented at the 2006 General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague this week, shows a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This sharp image reveals a large number of low-mass infant stars coexisting with young massive stars. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/14hubblestars/.
g Abodes - The tally of planets in our solar system would jump instantly to a dozen under a highly controversial new definition proposed by the International Astronomical Union. See http://
www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060816_planet_definition.
html.
g Life - Researchers have came up with a way to tease out the cause of environmental changes in where invasive species have taken hold. Cattails, they found in northern Michigan wetlands, alter the environment in ways that hinder native species but benefit the invaders. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2006/08/060809173730.htm.
g Intelligence - The same chemical in the body that is targeted by the drug Viagra also helps our brains "boot up" in the morning so we can process sights, sound, touch and other sensory information. The discovery could lead to a better understanding of major brain disorders, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2006/08/060808161139.htm.
g Message - The spectral approach is a universal tool of both astronomical observations and SETI. Furthermore, it has a clear physical meaning – a spectrometer finds the energy distribution of photons, in human sensing it is color and pitch. Under the hypothesis on identity of physical laws in our part of universe, it may be proposed that spectrometry also are using by those aliens, who know radio and lead their own SETI, too. See http://www.cplire.ru/html/ra&sr/irm/radio-signals.html.
g Cosmicus - Given the promise of privately built spaceships routinely skyrocketing from spaceports around the globe, rubbernecking customers will be afforded exceptional looks at Mother Earth and deep space. For some, it’s flat out thrill. There’s also the magic of microgravity as keepsake moments. And handheld photographs taken out windows can freeze-frame your personal space trek for later show-and-tell parties. But by all accounts, face time with Earth from space is a bonding experience. See http://www.space.com/news/060805_space_ecotourism.html.
g Learning - There’s a neat set of online activities, primarily for older teens or young adults, about communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence at http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~collins/astro/subjects/ceti.html. It helps students learn about SETI while they send one another messages then decode them, as if they were alien civilizations on distant worlds.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Hal Clement’s novel, “Needle,” published by Doubleday in 1951.
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 this article’s 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 15, 2006
Orion nebula, Red Planet's potential for life and volunteers sought for 520-day mock Mars mission
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in the sword of the famous hunter constellation. Yet, Orion is still full of secrets. A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope probes deep into the clouds of dust that permeate the nebula and its surrounding regions. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/14orion/.
g Abodes - In this interview, Chris McKay explains why future missions must dig deep into the ice of Mars to learn about the Red Planet's potential for life. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/mod
ules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2048mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - In the long, dark days of winter, gardeners are known to count the days until spring. Now, scientists have learned, some plants do exactly the same thing. See http://www.sciencedaily
.com/releases/2006/08/060809233009.htm.
g Intelligence - A brain protein that sustains nerve cells also regulates anxiety and alcohol consumption in rats, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago report in a study in the Journal of Neuroscience. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060808184435.htm.
g Message - What are the chances that an alien signal has been sent our way just at the right moment to splash upon our antennas during that brief interval? If the extraterrestrials beam their broadcasts to the whole galaxy (or at least a big chunk of it), the chances are 100 percent. See http://space.com/searchforlife/060112_shostak_transmit.html.
g Cosmicus - Russia's space agency is seeking volunteers for a 520-day mock Mars mission. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/
index.phpfeed=Science&article=UPI12006080423565800bcrus
siamarsmission.xml.
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 first contact stories? Then be sure to read Richard McKenna’s short story, "Mine Own Ways”, anthologized in “Casey Agonistes” (edited by Richard McKenna and published in 1960).
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue128/cool.html.
g Stars - Astronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in the sword of the famous hunter constellation. Yet, Orion is still full of secrets. A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope probes deep into the clouds of dust that permeate the nebula and its surrounding regions. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/14orion/.
g Abodes - In this interview, Chris McKay explains why future missions must dig deep into the ice of Mars to learn about the Red Planet's potential for life. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/mod
ules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2048mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - In the long, dark days of winter, gardeners are known to count the days until spring. Now, scientists have learned, some plants do exactly the same thing. See http://www.sciencedaily
.com/releases/2006/08/060809233009.htm.
g Intelligence - A brain protein that sustains nerve cells also regulates anxiety and alcohol consumption in rats, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago report in a study in the Journal of Neuroscience. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060808184435.htm.
g Message - What are the chances that an alien signal has been sent our way just at the right moment to splash upon our antennas during that brief interval? If the extraterrestrials beam their broadcasts to the whole galaxy (or at least a big chunk of it), the chances are 100 percent. See http://space.com/searchforlife/060112_shostak_transmit.html.
g Cosmicus - Russia's space agency is seeking volunteers for a 520-day mock Mars mission. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/
index.phpfeed=Science&article=UPI12006080423565800bcrus
siamarsmission.xml.
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 first contact stories? Then be sure to read Richard McKenna’s short story, "Mine Own Ways”, anthologized in “Casey Agonistes” (edited by Richard McKenna and published in 1960).
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue128/cool.html.
Monday, August 14, 2006
SETI@home, life on Mars and ‘In Cosmic Company’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - For a star to form, gravity has to overcome buoyant magnetic forces that fight to keep a cloud of gas and dust from collapsing. Theorists have long suspected that the competition between gravity pulling inward and magnetic pressure pushing outward would produce a warped, hourglass pattern to the magnetic field within these collapsed cores. Now they've finally found just such a shape. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060814
_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - It was a science fiction fantasy come true: Ten years ago this summer, NASA announced the discovery of life on Mars. Ten years later, the results have not been verified. Skeptics have found non-biological explanations for every piece of evidence that was presented on Aug. 6, 1996. And though they still vigorously defend their claim, the NASA scientists who advanced it now stand alone in their belief. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ap_060806_mars_rock.html.
g Life - The detailed images of embryos more than 500 million years old have been revealed by an international team of scientists. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809173905.htm.
g Intelligence - Next time someone complains about arithmetic being hard, math lovers can defend themselves by saying "even a six-month-old can do it." See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/
060808_math_infants.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 - Here’s a comprehensive list of the remaining space shuttle missions through the program's 2010 retirement. The flights will complete the orbital construction of the International Space Station. The listing also illustrates how the outpost will grow over the next few years. See http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/fdf/manifest.html. For related story, see “Shuttle communications antenna bolts a concern” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060813kubolts/.
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 - 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 - Book alert: In their November 2003 book "In Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe," authors Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of alien life and the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos. They explain why scientists think sentient life might exist on other worlds, how we could discover it and what it might be like. Entertaining and informative, this hard cover book is lavishly illustrated. See http://
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail//0521822335/qid=
1089658746/sr=81/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/1039993768686
7868?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 for reviews.
g Stars - For a star to form, gravity has to overcome buoyant magnetic forces that fight to keep a cloud of gas and dust from collapsing. Theorists have long suspected that the competition between gravity pulling inward and magnetic pressure pushing outward would produce a warped, hourglass pattern to the magnetic field within these collapsed cores. Now they've finally found just such a shape. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060814
_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - It was a science fiction fantasy come true: Ten years ago this summer, NASA announced the discovery of life on Mars. Ten years later, the results have not been verified. Skeptics have found non-biological explanations for every piece of evidence that was presented on Aug. 6, 1996. And though they still vigorously defend their claim, the NASA scientists who advanced it now stand alone in their belief. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ap_060806_mars_rock.html.
g Life - The detailed images of embryos more than 500 million years old have been revealed by an international team of scientists. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809173905.htm.
g Intelligence - Next time someone complains about arithmetic being hard, math lovers can defend themselves by saying "even a six-month-old can do it." See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/
060808_math_infants.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 - Here’s a comprehensive list of the remaining space shuttle missions through the program's 2010 retirement. The flights will complete the orbital construction of the International Space Station. The listing also illustrates how the outpost will grow over the next few years. See http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/fdf/manifest.html. For related story, see “Shuttle communications antenna bolts a concern” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060813kubolts/.
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 - 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 - Book alert: In their November 2003 book "In Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe," authors Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of alien life and the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos. They explain why scientists think sentient life might exist on other worlds, how we could discover it and what it might be like. Entertaining and informative, this hard cover book is lavishly illustrated. See http://
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail//0521822335/qid=
1089658746/sr=81/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/1039993768686
7868?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 for reviews.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Pre-life molecules, can aliens find us and aftereffects of first contact
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - Evidence of atomic nitrogen in interstellar gas clouds suggests that pre-life molecules may be present in comets, a discovery that gives a clue about the early conditions that gave rise to life. The finding also substantially changes the understanding of chemistry in space. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/04comets/.
g Life - Baby bats babble just like newborn human babes, a new study finds. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060809_babbling_bats.html.
g Intelligence - Social scientists and biophysical ecologists are finding that environmental surroundings may play a significant role in human social interaction, serving either as a social lubricant as in the first case, or as a barrier. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082733.htm.
g Message - Can aliens find us? With a really nice pair of binoculars, the Great Wall of China (not to mention less romantic constructions, such as interstate highways) does become visible from orbit. Any curious aliens that made it to within a few hundred miles of Earth would have no trouble seeing the artifacts of our civilization. They would know, without doubt, that technologically competent beings roamed our world. But how visible are we to aliens that are farther away? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_aliens_031023. html. Here’s the follow-up to the article from 2003: http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_seeing_031120. html.
g Cosmicus - NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said the U.S. space agency would begin a formal assessment in 2007 of potential approaches for sending humans to Mars, but that he did not foresee astronauts embarking on a journey to the red planet for another 20 years or longer. See http://www.space.com/news/060803_griffin_
mars.html. For related story, see “Waiting for Martian Spring” at http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file
=article&sid=2051mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Book alert for children: In "Looking for Life in the Universe," author Ellen Jackson and photographer Nic Bishop introduce readers to astrobiologist Jill Tarter and her thrilling, rigorous and awe-inspiring work in the field of SETI. See http://www./.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Gordon R. Dickson’s novel “The Alien Way” (published by Bantam, 1965).
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 Abodes - Evidence of atomic nitrogen in interstellar gas clouds suggests that pre-life molecules may be present in comets, a discovery that gives a clue about the early conditions that gave rise to life. The finding also substantially changes the understanding of chemistry in space. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/04comets/.
g Life - Baby bats babble just like newborn human babes, a new study finds. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060809_babbling_bats.html.
g Intelligence - Social scientists and biophysical ecologists are finding that environmental surroundings may play a significant role in human social interaction, serving either as a social lubricant as in the first case, or as a barrier. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082733.htm.
g Message - Can aliens find us? With a really nice pair of binoculars, the Great Wall of China (not to mention less romantic constructions, such as interstate highways) does become visible from orbit. Any curious aliens that made it to within a few hundred miles of Earth would have no trouble seeing the artifacts of our civilization. They would know, without doubt, that technologically competent beings roamed our world. But how visible are we to aliens that are farther away? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_aliens_031023. html. Here’s the follow-up to the article from 2003: http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_seeing_031120. html.
g Cosmicus - NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said the U.S. space agency would begin a formal assessment in 2007 of potential approaches for sending humans to Mars, but that he did not foresee astronauts embarking on a journey to the red planet for another 20 years or longer. See http://www.space.com/news/060803_griffin_
mars.html. For related story, see “Waiting for Martian Spring” at http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file
=article&sid=2051mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Book alert for children: In "Looking for Life in the Universe," author Ellen Jackson and photographer Nic Bishop introduce readers to astrobiologist Jill Tarter and her thrilling, rigorous and awe-inspiring work in the field of SETI. See http://www./.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Gordon R. Dickson’s novel “The Alien Way” (published by Bantam, 1965).
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 12, 2006
Planemos, ISS construction plans and ‘Advocating an Immediate Response’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - Using the European Southern Observatory's telescopes in Chile, astronomers have spotted a seven-Jupiter mass object paired to another 14-Jupiter-mass companion. Instead of orbiting around a star, however, the two planetary mass objects, or "planemos," are circling each other. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060803_planemo_twins.html.
g Life - A University of Washington researcher has devised a way to use the fossil teeth of ancient bison as a tool to reconstruct historic climate and vegetation changes in America's breadbasket, the Great Plains. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154834.htm.
g Intelligence - Humans naturally have the power to remember almost two bits of information per second, or a few hundred megabytes over a lifetime. Compared with a DVD movie, which holds up to 17 gigabytes, that's nothing. See http://www.livescience.com/technology/060806_popsci_recall.html.
g Message - Looking for life elsewhere is a tough task for human or robot. The good news is that the scientific skill and tools to search for, detect and inspect extraterrestrial life are advancing rapidly. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/lifesigns_spots_020103.html.
g Cosmicus - When NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis launches toward the International Space Station this month, it will kick off an increasingly complex set of missions to complete the orbital laboratory, agency officials said. See http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060811_sts115_iss.html. For related “Atlantis crew ready to kick start station assembly” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060809tcdtqa/.
g Learning - Researchers need a clear agenda to harness the rapidly evolving potential of the World Wide Web, according to an article in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science. Calling for the creation of an interdisciplinary “science of the Web,” a group of computer scientists suggests the need for new approaches to tap the full richness of this powerful tool, while ensuring that it develops in a way that benefits society as a whole. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060811091827.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Ray Bradbury’s "Here There Be Tygers,” which appeared in the April-May 1953 issue of Amazing magazine.
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 Abodes - Using the European Southern Observatory's telescopes in Chile, astronomers have spotted a seven-Jupiter mass object paired to another 14-Jupiter-mass companion. Instead of orbiting around a star, however, the two planetary mass objects, or "planemos," are circling each other. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060803_planemo_twins.html.
g Life - A University of Washington researcher has devised a way to use the fossil teeth of ancient bison as a tool to reconstruct historic climate and vegetation changes in America's breadbasket, the Great Plains. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154834.htm.
g Intelligence - Humans naturally have the power to remember almost two bits of information per second, or a few hundred megabytes over a lifetime. Compared with a DVD movie, which holds up to 17 gigabytes, that's nothing. See http://www.livescience.com/technology/060806_popsci_recall.html.
g Message - Looking for life elsewhere is a tough task for human or robot. The good news is that the scientific skill and tools to search for, detect and inspect extraterrestrial life are advancing rapidly. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/lifesigns_spots_020103.html.
g Cosmicus - When NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis launches toward the International Space Station this month, it will kick off an increasingly complex set of missions to complete the orbital laboratory, agency officials said. See http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060811_sts115_iss.html. For related “Atlantis crew ready to kick start station assembly” at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060809tcdtqa/.
g Learning - Researchers need a clear agenda to harness the rapidly evolving potential of the World Wide Web, according to an article in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science. Calling for the creation of an interdisciplinary “science of the Web,” a group of computer scientists suggests the need for new approaches to tap the full richness of this powerful tool, while ensuring that it develops in a way that benefits society as a whole. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060811091827.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Ray Bradbury’s "Here There Be Tygers,” which appeared in the April-May 1953 issue of Amazing magazine.
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.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Cosmic dust, how life takes shape and rocketbelts
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - Each year nearly 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth from outer space. Now, the first successful chronological study of extraterrestrial dust in Antarctic ice has shown that this amount has remained largely constant over the past 30,000 years, a finding that could help refine efforts to understand the timing and effects of changes in the Earth's past climate. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/03cosmicdust/.
g Life - How life takes shape is a mystery. Butterfly or baby, cells organize themselves into tissues, tissues form organs, organs become organisms. Over and over, patterns emerge in all living creatures. Spiders get eight legs. Leopards get spots. Every nautilus is encased in an elegant spiral shell. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154756.htm.
g Intelligence - From gamblers playing blackjack to investors picking stocks, humans make a wide range of decisions that require gauging risk versus reward. However, laboratory studies have not been able to unequivocally determine how the very basic information-processing "subcortical" regions of the brain function in processing risk and reward. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060803091759.htm.
g Message - "If you're sending a message to extraterrestrials, what you want to send is what's special about us and our planet — what is unusual," according to SETI astronomer Frank Drake. See his essay at http://www.forbes.com/2005/10/19/drake-frank-seti-aliens-comm05-cx_de_1024drake.html.
g Cosmicus - Let’s face it. Soaring through the sky in Superman-like style would be a Cloud 9-rated experience. Imagine propelling yourself from point-to-point via backpacking rocket power. For a group of test pilots, riding rocketbelt hardware is a trip down memory lane—back to the late 1950’s and bounding forward into the 1960’s. See http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060802_rocket_belt.html.
g Learning - A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060810_evo_rank.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Morton Klass’ "Earthman's Burden," originally published in “Astounding” magazine’s May 1954 issue.
g Aftermath - While no one can guarantee SETI’s success (the discovery of an alien civilization), that may not matter. At its deeper levels, SETI stimulates and influences our thoughts and transforms our society. See http://astro.elte.hu/~bab/seti/ias1.htm.
g Abodes - Each year nearly 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth from outer space. Now, the first successful chronological study of extraterrestrial dust in Antarctic ice has shown that this amount has remained largely constant over the past 30,000 years, a finding that could help refine efforts to understand the timing and effects of changes in the Earth's past climate. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0608/03cosmicdust/.
g Life - How life takes shape is a mystery. Butterfly or baby, cells organize themselves into tissues, tissues form organs, organs become organisms. Over and over, patterns emerge in all living creatures. Spiders get eight legs. Leopards get spots. Every nautilus is encased in an elegant spiral shell. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154756.htm.
g Intelligence - From gamblers playing blackjack to investors picking stocks, humans make a wide range of decisions that require gauging risk versus reward. However, laboratory studies have not been able to unequivocally determine how the very basic information-processing "subcortical" regions of the brain function in processing risk and reward. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060803091759.htm.
g Message - "If you're sending a message to extraterrestrials, what you want to send is what's special about us and our planet — what is unusual," according to SETI astronomer Frank Drake. See his essay at http://www.forbes.com/2005/10/19/drake-frank-seti-aliens-comm05-cx_de_1024drake.html.
g Cosmicus - Let’s face it. Soaring through the sky in Superman-like style would be a Cloud 9-rated experience. Imagine propelling yourself from point-to-point via backpacking rocket power. For a group of test pilots, riding rocketbelt hardware is a trip down memory lane—back to the late 1950’s and bounding forward into the 1960’s. See http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060802_rocket_belt.html.
g Learning - A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060810_evo_rank.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Morton Klass’ "Earthman's Burden," originally published in “Astounding” magazine’s May 1954 issue.
g Aftermath - While no one can guarantee SETI’s success (the discovery of an alien civilization), that may not matter. At its deeper levels, SETI stimulates and influences our thoughts and transforms our society. See http://astro.elte.hu/~bab/seti/ias1.htm.
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