SETI radio search primer and Solar System Live

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 -Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox.
g Cosmicus - The aim of the spaceflight movement - exploration and colonization of the universe - is so vast and revolutionary that it cannot be achieved by the ordinary operation of day-to-day social forces and institutions. Consequently, we must be prepared to think in imaginative ways if we are to understand how this "giant step" in human history may come about. See article. Note: This article is from 1985.
g Learning -Here’s a neat Web site: Solar System Live. It allows you to observe the locations of planets at various (modern) dates.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See article.