Mars exploration tested and alien disinformation

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 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 Cosmicus -When humans are sent to Mars, will they survive the journey? People confined to close quarters for a long time inevitably get on each others nerves, and the fact that Mars is named after a god of warfare seems a bad omen. The Mars Society sent seven people to Devon Island to see if we can’t all just get along for the sake of exploration. See article.
g Learning -Are we alone? Are humans unique in the universe, or is our existence the natural outcome of universal processes that produced complex life on Earth and elsewhere? As we observe the universe beyond Earth, we find that we are fundamentally a part of it. To understand the relationship of humanity to stardust requires understanding evolution in its broadest sense. See article. Note” This article on teaching evolution in schools is from 2001.
g Aftermath - Could a signal from the stars broadcast by an alien intelligence also carry harmful information, in the spirit of a computer virus? Could star folk launch a "disinformation" campaign — one that covers up aspects of their culture? Perhaps they might even mask the "real" intent of dispatching a message to other civilizations scattered throughout the cosmos. See article.