Mars’ perplexingly dry soil and the various searches for extraterrestrial intelligence

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 fork-like conductivity probe has sensed humidity rising and falling beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, but when stuck into the ground, its measurements so far indicate soil that is thoroughly and perplexingly dry. See article.
g Message -A number of searches for extraterrestrial intelligence actually have occurred, are ongoing and are planned. Here’s one of the more famous ones: Project BETA, at Harvard University. See article.
g Learning -Here’s a neat book for children: "Draw Alien Fantasies," by Damon J. Reinagle. It offers step-by-step instructions show you basic techniques, inspirational ideas, plus drawing tips and tricks for weird alien heroes, space stations, space ships, and astronauts. See article.
g Aftermath - If some day we decide to transmit intentional messages to the stars, rather than solely listen as current SETI programs do, what would we say? What sort of first impression would we want to give our celestial correspondents? See article.