Saturday, June 23, 2007

Circumstellar habitable zone, photosynthesis on alien worlds and single stage to orbit rockets

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 - In a galaxy filled with billions of stars, scientists searching for alien life need some way to pick out those which are most likely to harbor habitable planets and moons. For more than 150 years, an important tool in this screening process has been the concept of a "circumstellar habitable zone." See article. Note: This article is from early 2006.
g Abodes - Scientists studying the potential for life on extrasolar planets are looking at the light spectrum to determine what kind of photosynthesis plants might use on other planets. Plants on distant worlds may look very different than our own depending on the light from their planet's parent star. See article.
g Cosmicus - Contrary to what many people who make expendable rockets will tell you, it isn't difficult to design a "single stage to orbit" rocket. In fact it's very easy - it can be done with rocket engines and propellant tanks designed, manufactured and operated 20 years ago! It's important to know this, because a lot of people will try to tell you otherwise. See http://www.spacefuture.com/vehicles/building.shtml.
g Learning - Quote of the Day: “The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination, but the combination is locked up in the safe.” — Peter DeVries

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