Immigrant sun and MAVEN to Mars

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 -New simulations show that stars like the sun can migrate great distances over time. The study may challenge the idea that galaxies have 'habitable zones' that are more suited for life than other areas. See article.
g Abodes -NASA announced Monday that it will send the unmanned Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft to find out why the planet lost most of its atmosphere billions of years ago. See article.
g Message -The venerable Planetary Society hopes to take the search for extraterrestrial life to the stars with space-based platforms. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Learning - There may be numerous intelligent civilizations on planets throughout our galaxy. That's the hypothesis driving SETI research. We seek evidence of extraterrestrial technology using optical and radio telescopes to search for signals that emanate from other civilized worlds. These places are far, far away. But, when discussing the search with school children, they often simply ask, "Why don't we just go there?" This can be a teachable moment. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Aftermath - Philosophers and former politicians will soon join an elite group of scientists whose job it is to work out how to respond to signals from extra-terrestrial intelligence. See article.