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 - Europa, the ice-covered satellite of Jupiter, is currently the most favorable site for the search of extraterrestrial life. Hydrothermal vents on the Earth's sea floor have been found to sustain life forms that can live without solar energy. Similar possible volcanic activity on Europa, caused by its interaction with Jupiter and the other Galilean satellites, makes this Jovian moon the best target for identifying a separate evolutionary line. This search addresses the main problem remaining in astrobiology, namely, the quest for discrete, or 'parallel' evolutionary lines in the universe. We explore ideas related to Europa's possible biological activity, particularly its likely degree of evolution. We have conjectured that evolution may have occurred in Europa and that the experimental test of such a conjecture is feasible 1-3: A lander spacecraft capable of penetrating the European surface ice-layer does not seem beyond present technological capabilities. Although difficult instrumentation issues are involved, we have initiated the discussion of what would seem to be a reasonable biological experiment. The possibility of detecting biomolecules on the ice surface of Europa has recently been made. See article.
g Life - Can life travel from planet to planet? A theory called Panspermia says that meteorites could potentially act as miniature spaceships, carrying microorganism passengers. But a new study has found that photosynthetic life probably wouldn’t survive the journey. See http://www.astrobio.net/amee/spring_2007/features.htm.
g Cosmicus - International regulations say it’s okay for astronauts to make a mess on the moon. But the rules for sending humans to Mars, according to Dr. Cassie Conley, NASA’s acting planetary protection officer, are far more restrictive. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2353&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Quote of the Day: "The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." — Eden Philpotts
g Imagining - What about the invading aliens from the X-Files: Are they plausible? A book released a few years ago that addresses the topic is “The Science of the X-Files,” by Jeanne Cavelos. There’s a review of the book (look near the end for a discussion on the extraterrestrial biology) at http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/science-of-the-x-files/.
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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.