Sunday, November 04, 2007

Helping stars spiral into life, mites rediscover sex and hyper-advanced civilization

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 - Invisible magnetic field lines twisted like long ropes of DNA help stars spiral into life, according to a new model.
g Abodes - Within a solar system, it is believed a planet must lie within the habitable zone in order to sustain life. See article.
g Life - Tiny spider relatives have rediscovered the joy of sex, regaining the ability to mate after their arachnid ancestors lost it, marking a reproductive first in the annals of animal evolution. See article.
g Cosmicus - Go outside and try to find a rock. It’s pretty easy, right? Not if you’re a robot. David Wettergreen explains why. See article.
g Learning - Do you have what it takes to keep a trio of astronauts healthy? Play Space Doctor and see if you can make it to Mars alive.
g Aftermath - A hyper-advanced civilization may command such unimaginable power that it can fashion worlds and consume whole suns. But it would still be bound by the laws of physics. See article.

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