Saturday, February 23, 2008

Amino acids among the stars and astrobiologists respond to Fermi Paradox

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 Life - Researchers have sequenced the genome of a unique bacterium that uses a rare form of chlorophyll to harvest far-red light. It is the first chlorophyll-d containing organism to be sequenced, and will provide new information about the genetic evolution of life on Earth. See article.
g Message - Here’s a nice summary of various astrobiological authors on the Fermi Paradox, or the question of why, if there supposedly are so many aliens, we haven’t met any of them yet.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Orson Scott Card’s novel “Ender's Game,” published by Tor in 1985.

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