Warming oceans, 500 million year-old embryo and how children learn language

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 - Alarming new satellite data show that the warming of the world's oceans is reducing ocean life while contributing to increased global warming. See article.
g Life - Images of the developmental stages of embryos more than half a billion years old were reported by Dr. Phil Donoghue, of the University of Bristol's Department of Earth Sciences, in the prestigious journal Nature. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061206094235.htm.
g Intelligence - How does a child learn that the stress is on the second syllable of giraffe, and on the first of zebra? Is it memory, the structure of the word itself or clues provided by the sounds in the word? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061206103033.htm.
g Learning - Last week, rocket scientists, politicians, engineers and educators came together in Los Angeles to explore current and future business opportunities in space at the “Transforming Space 2006” conference. Leaders from Congress, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, universities and major aerospace businesses discussed the current and future prospects for both private and public space programs. See http://space.com/searchforlife/061207_seti_thursday.html.