Identifying microbes, questions astrobiology seeks to answer and why there’s no reason to watch for UFOs

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 found a uniquely shaped disk of debris around a distant star. The asymmetry of the disk may be a sign of extrasolar planets, whose orbits could affect its shape. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2401&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Less than one percent of microbes living in the environment can be cultured in the laboratory – a big hindrance for researchers trying to identify microbes in extreme environments. But a new device may help identify microbes without having to culture them at all. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2405&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Message -Here’s a good primer to astrobiology that discusses what is astrobiology, lists the types of questions astrobiology seeks to answer, describes how one can become an astrobiologist, and recommends some books in the field. See article.
g Cosmicus - The idea of delivering solar energy from space using a microwave beam has been around since the 1960s. Here's a summary of its progress so far: http://www.spacefuture.com/power/timeline.shtml. For related article, see “A very big chip” at http://www.spacefuture.com/power/solarcell.shtml.
g Learning -Here’s a neat new set of afterschool activities for elementary school students: “Astrobiology.” This new resource guide from the American Museum of Natural History brings astrobiology activities to the afterschool arena. As part of an 18-month project, AMNH collected NASA materials originally developed for the formal education setting, and adapted them for use in afterschool programs for participants aged 5-12. Members of NAI's NASA Ames Research Center Lead Team served as science advisors to the guide. See http://www.amnhafterschool.pdf/.
g Imagining -Scientifically speaking, are UFOs worth keeping an eye on? Not exactly. See article.
g Aftermath -Could humanity ever relate to an alien species? Consider the questioning context of these online speculations about why "Star Trek is human centered?" The latter is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? Is it possible that the reasons it wouldn’t be might indicate humanity may care little about an alien species other than as a potential threat? See http://www.trek
nation.com/columns/takeontrek/takeontrek_121099.shtml.