Friday, January 25, 2008

Cosmic Call and hopes and fears about encountering extraterrestrials

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 team of scientists has begun exploring an ancient lake hidden 3.2 km beneath Antarctica's ice sheet. Lake Ellsworth could harbor unique microbial life and might provide clues about climate change on Earth. See article.
g Life - A team of biologists have developed a model mapping the control circuit governing a whole free living organism. This is an important milestone for the new field of systems biology. See article.
g Intelligence - Brain exercise enhances memory and other cognitive abilities of adults over the age of 65, a preliminary U.S. study found. See article.
g Message - On July 6, 2003, an international science team, led by Alexander Zaitsev of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Richard Braastad of Team Encounter, LLC, broadcast scientific and personal messages in “Cosmic Call 2003” to five, Sun-like stars. Here’s a brief description of the preparation and implementation of CC-2003. See article.
g Cosmicus - Burt Rutan took the cloak off of his new spacecraft on Wednesday. See article.
g Learning - TV Show Alert: here’s a teaser for the an upcoming episode of History Channel’s “Universe”: “Does life exist on other planets? Astrobiology is a visionary new science that searches for life in space by combining the disciplines of astronomy, biology and geology. How did life evolve on Earth? What will life look like on other planets? These and other pertinent questions will be answered by a diverse group of scientists. Viewers will visit the Pilbara region of West Australia where the oldest evidence of life on Earth has been discovered. Travel to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn to test a theory that life could exist in the clouds of Venus. Finally, watch as experiments are done to see if life exists on exoplanets, earth-like planets beyond our solar system.” Click here for listings.
g Aftermath - Book alert: “Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials,” by Michael A.G. Michaud, describes a wide variety of speculations by many authors about the consequences for humanity of coming into contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The assumptions underlying those speculations are examined, and some conclusions are drawn. The book emphasizes the consequences of contact rather than the search, and takes account of popular views. As necessary background, the book also includes brief summaries of the history of thinking about extraterrestrial intelligence, searches for life and for signals, contrasting paradigms of how contact might take place, and the paradox that those paradigms allegedly create. See article.