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 - A recent study has changed our understanding of planetary atmospheres and may have implications for understanding the future of our own planet's climate. How Earth's environment changes over time is directly related to the evolution and survival of life on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=2226mode=thread&order=0&
thold=0.
g Life - Scientists have long struggled to figure out how the brain guides the complex movement of our limbs, from the graceful leaps of ballerinas to the simple everyday act of picking up a cup of coffee. Using tools from robotics and neuroscience, two Johns Hopkins University researchers have found some tantalizing clues in an unlikely mode of motion: the undulations of tropical fish. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070131134917.htm.
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 - A Chinese navigation satellite was successfully hauled into orbit Friday to kick off a busy year in space that will include the launch of the country's first probe to study the Moon. See http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0702/02china/.
g Learning - Are we alone? Are humans unique in the universe, or is our existence the natural outcome of universal processes that produced complex life on Earth and elsewhere? As we observe the universe beyond Earth, we find that we are fundamentally a part of it. To understand the relationship of humanity to stardust requires understanding evolution in its broadest sense. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/devore_seti_010130.html. Note: This article on teaching evolution in schools is from January 2001.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s short story "No Morning After," anthologized in “Time to Come” (edited by August Derleth and published by Farrar, Starus & Young in 1954).
g Aftermath - High-tech telescopes on the ground and in space that perform daunting astronomical peep shows in a search for Earth-like worlds aim to answer one of humankind's most monumental questions: “Are we alone?” There is on-going deliberation relating to the societal, philosophical and religious fallout that stems from resolving such a stellar inquiry.See http://space.com/news/070202_alien_contact.html.
The Drake Equation
This formula estimates the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy.N=(R*)(Ns)(Fp)(Ne)(Fl)(Fi)(Fc)(L)
Where:- N = Number of civilizations we can communicate with
- R* = Average star formation rate
- Ns = Percentage of stars capable of supporting earth-like planets
- Fp = Percentage of those stars with planets
- Ne = Average umber of planets in those stars' habitable zones
- Fl = Percentage of those planets where life begins
- Fi = Percentage of planets with life where an intelligent species evolves
- Fc = Percentage of those intelligent species that develop communication technology
- L = Average lifetime, in years, of a civilization that develops such technology
About Me
- Rob Bignell
- I'm the owner and chief editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. For more than two decades, I worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and I am the author of the nonfiction “Hikes with Tykes” series, a novel "Windmill", and a collection of poetry, "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For seven years I worked as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. I hold a master's degree in English and a bachelor's in journalism and English.