Aliens in science fiction and Endeavour returns

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 -Plate tectonics on Earth may have started much earlier than previously believed. An active Earth could have had profound implications for the origin of life. See article.
g Life - The sea-slug, Elysia chlorotica, represents a unique step in the evolution of life. The slug appears to behave like a plant and can get energy from the sun. New research shows that the slug has genes needed for photosynthesis - but steals important cellular components from algae. See article.
g Message -Among the most important SETI work is being done at Harvard University. The Harvard SETI home page discusses the Radio Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
g Cosmicus -The space shuttle Endeavour touched down safely in California Sunday after a 16-day trip of more than 6.6 million miles. See article.
g Imagining - Here’s a neat Web site that examines aliens in science fiction films. While short on studying the evolution of those aliens, it does discuss how these villainous creatures are a manifestation of our own fears, a nice take on the anthropomorphic bias most people possess regarding alien life.
g Aftermath - Here’s an interesting book that is slated for June publication: “Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials,” by Michael Michaud. This book describes a wide variety of speculations by many authors about the consequences for humanity of coming into contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The assumptions underlying those speculations are examined, and some conclusions are drawn. As necessary background, the book also included brief summaries of the history of thinking about extraterrestrial intelligence, searches for life and for signals, contrasting paradigms of how contact might take place, and the paradox that those paradigms allegedly create. See article.

Get your SF manuscript edited

Sugar molecule in space and best chance of picking up a broadcast from intelligent aliens

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 -Scientists have reported the extensive presence of hydrated silicas on Mars after analyzing data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been gathering information on the planet since 2006. See article.
g Life - A sugar molecule linked to the origin of life was discovered in a potentially habitable region of our galaxy. See article.
g Message -Our best chance of picking up a broadcast from intelligent aliens is when the Earth is closest to being directly between our Sun and the transmitting alien star. See article. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Learning -Could a new world be discovered with a department store telescope having only a small 4-inch diameter lens? It was a little more than a decade ago that the world's most powerful telescopes could just begin to discover extrasolar planets, but with over 120 new worlds found, the technique seems primed to become general. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Imagining -Many science fiction story lines involve alien life forms. From a literary prospective, aliens often serve as metaphors for something more familiar. From a practical prospective, they make stories more interesting and TV more eye-catching. But what of scientific accuracy? A professor offers his advice about "How to Build an Alien".
g Aftermath - Book alert: "Many Worlds: The New Universe, Extraterrestrial Life, and the Theological Implications," by Steven J. Dick (ed.), is a provocative collection examining science's impact on theology. Based on a 1998 conference sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, this collection of essays opens with the observation that the Copernican revolution looks insignificant when compared to the discoveries made about the earth and the universe in the last century: we now know, for example, that the universe is billions (not thousands) of light-years big; that it is expanding, not static; that our galaxy is just one of many, not the entirety of the universe. But from looking at modern theology, you wouldn't think anything had changed. The contributors (who include physicists, philosophers, historians of science, and theologians) suggest that cosmological advances might reshape the very fundamentals of theology. Paul C.W. Davies argues that if the universe turns out to be biofriendly (i.e., if given enough time and the right conditions, life will emerge as a matter of course), scientifically savvy thinkers may be compelled to reject atheism and embrace intelligent design theory. The contributors are especially interested in extraterrestrial life: philosopher Ernan McMullin, for example, argues that extraterrestrial intelligence will force Christians to do some hard thinking about original sin, the human soul, and the Incarnation. See reviews.

Get your SF manuscript edited

Planet hunting and panspermia challenged

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 -Planet hunters searching for planets suitable for life will likely find them first around low-mass stars because it's technically easier than finding such planets around hotter, more massive stars, researchers predict. See article.
g Abodes - NASA and ESA are now deciding on the next major mission to the outer solar system. One proposal is to visit two of Jupiter’s large moons, Ganymede and Europa. Astrobiologists have long hoped to study Europa more closely because its global ocean could harbor alien life. See article.
g Life - A new paper challenges panspermia, the theory of origin that primitive life may have originally formed extraterrestrially. See article.
g Message -Carl Sagan’s bestseller, "Contact," was made into a movie in 1997 in which Jodie Foster played the role of the ice-cream cone-eating chief protagonist Ellie Arroway. Yet, after all these years, you just can’t miss the similarities Ellie shares with her real-life role model Jill Tarter, on whom Sagan based most part of the character. See article.
g Cosmicus - Astronauts have fixed a urine-recycling unit on the International Space Station, needed to support a six-person crew at the research outpost next year. See article.
g Learning -On a recent flight to California, I found myself looking at man-made structures in the Nevada desert and wondering: did I really know, in a scientifically valid way, that they were artificial? Or was I simply resorting to the principles of Intelligent Design, which in other contexts I'm quick to discredit? See article.
g Imagining - The secrets of the universe remain a mystery to us, but that doesn’t stop us from making guesses. An author who writes a science fiction novel tries to base it around the technology and knowledge that we have available to us. Those tidbits of knowledge are then exaggerated to great lengths, and then set into the future, on other planets, in other dimensions in time, or under new variants of scientific law. This process is called extrapolation, and becomes the premise of the story. Here’s a Web page that works in reverse, by taking the scientific aspects from classic works of science fiction and explaining how they relate to astrobiology.
g Aftermath - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read J.M. Dillard’s novel “Star Trek: First Contact” (based on a screenplay by Brannon Bragga and Ron Moore and published by Pocket in 1996).

Bacterial biofilms and new astrobiology center in New York

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 - The activity of bacteria has often been viewed as detrimental to fossils. Now, researchers have found that bacterial biofilms may help preserve fossils of embryos and soft tissues. Such fossils are incredibly valuable in studying the evolution of life. See article.
g Message -Here’s a Web page that summarizes some of the current answers to Fermi’s Paradox.
g Cosmicus - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received a $7.5 million grant from NASA to be used for opening of the New York Center for Astrobiology. See article.
g Learning -One great way to get kids interested in astronomy is to have them see falling stars. How would you know when to do that? The American Meteor Society, Ltd., a non-profit scientific organization established to encourage and support the research activities of both amateur and professional astronomers who are interested in the fascinating field of meteor astronomy, offers a great web site with all of the information you need. The society’s affiliates observe, monitor, collect data on, study, and report on meteors, meteor showers, meteoric fireballs and related meteoric phenomena. See article.
g Imagining -Book alert: Stephen Baxter's "Manifold Time" and (especially) "Manifold Space" are extensive explorations of two variants of the Fermi paradox. The first uses the "rarity of life" explanation, the second assumes ubiquitous life but emphasizes how vicious the universe appears to be. The second book presupposes that intelligent life cannot get substantially "smarter" than we are now (ie. no super-intelligences); this is a necessary assumption for his story telling (and an increasingly common device in science fiction). See reviews.
g Aftermath - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life - even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See article.

How Fermi asked his famous question and coffee in space

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 an account of how Fermi’s famous question, "Where is everybody?" was first asked. My apologies in advance for the Web site that I found this on.
g Cosmicus -NASA astronaut Don Pettit loves his coffee. So it comes as no surprise that he found a way to drink coffee from a cup, instead of the traditional straw, on his day off Sunday aboard the International Space Station. See article.
g Learning -It’s a familiar chestnut: "the dinosaurs would be around today if they only had a space program." Of course there’s truth in this. If the lubberly lizards that once stomped the planet had rocket technology, they might have deflected the 5-mile diameter asteroid that speedily incinerated them and subsequently starved most of what remained. But the simple is: Science education is good for the survival of the species. See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: The authentic discovery of extraterrestrial life would usher in a scientific revolution on par with Copernicus or Darwin, says Paul Davies in “Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life.” Just as these ideas sparked religious and philosophical controversy when they were first offered, so would proof of life arising away from Earth. With this brief book (160 pages, including two appendices and an index), Davies tries to get ahead of the curve and begin to sort out the metaphysical mess before it happens. Many science fiction writers have preceded him, of course, but here the matter is plainly put. This is a very good introduction to a compelling subject. See reviews.

Sustaining life in a highly dynamic environment and astrobiology at NASA turns 10

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 - Seventeen researchers are in Chile and Bolivia this month to document the impact of rapid climate change on high-altitude lakes in the Central Andes, and their ability to sustain life in a highly dynamic environment. See article.
g Message - The "Fermi Paradox," an argument that extraterrestrial intelligence cannot exist because it has not yet been observed, is a logical fallacy. This "paradox" is a formally invalid inference. both because it requires modal operators lying outside the first-order propositional calculus and because it is unsupported by the observational record. See article.
g Cosmicus - Ten years ago, a new NASA program dedicated to the science of Astrobiology was born. See article.
g Learning - Scientists from the NAI Ames Team have teamed with rangers from Lassen Volcanic National Park to create the Lassen Astrobiology Internship Program. Ten high school sophomores from the rural areas around the park will hike - and later on in the year, snowshoe - to three locations within the Park several times throughout the 2008-09 school year, collecting water samples and other data at various locations. See article.
g Aftermath - A detection of extraterrestrial intelligence will profoundly effect all inhabitants of our planet. The scientific community has realized that the key to ensure a beneficial and rewarding encounter is education and preparation, and these two characteristics apply to many facets of a detection. See article.

Percolation theory and could humanity ever relate to an alien species

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 - What if we approached the Fermi paradox — the absence of such extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth — using percolation theory? Geoffrey A. Landis explains.
g Cosmicus - Researchers are developing new technology to aid future human explorers on the moon and Mars - by taking out the trash. A new waste system will help astronauts recycle resources, like water, before deposal. It was also help prevent forward contamination of locations like the Martian surface. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat primer to telescopes for backyard viewing of the night sky, brought to up by a facility that has been involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
g Aftermath - Could humanity ever relate to an alien species? Consider the questioning context of these online speculations about why "Star Trek is human centered?" The latter is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? Is it possible that the reasons it wouldn’t be might indicate humanity might care little about an alien species other than as a potential threat? See article.

Get your SF manuscript edited

Mars’ ancient ocean and ‘Aliens and Linguists’

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 - Hubble's iconic images include many shots of cosmic clouds of gas and dust called nebulae. For example, the famous "Pillars of Creation" mark the birthplace of new stars within the Eagle Nebula. Yet despite their beauty, visible-light images show only the nebulae surfaces. Baby stars may hide beneath, invisible even to Hubble's powerful gaze. See article.
g Abodes - Gamma-ray data from NASA's Mars Odyssey indicates that an ocean once covered one third of Mars' surface. If liquid water was indeed present, Mars might have been habitable for life in its past. See article.
g Message - Using a conservative approach to interstellar travel that intelligent extraterrestrials may be present in our solar system, living in world ships that have colonized cometary or asteroidal objects during the last billion years. The originating star systems for these advanced beings could be solar-type stars that fortuitously approach our Sun within a light year or so at intervals of about a million years or nearby stars that have left the main sequence, prompting interstellar migration. If we are indeed within such a "Dyson Sphere" of artificial worldlets, we could detect their presence through astronomical means since a space habitat will emit more infrared radiation than a like-sized comet or asteroid. See article.
g Cosmicus - Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have identified a set of key immune-response genes that do not turn on in a weightless environment. The discovery is another clue in the effort to solve an almost 40-year-old mystery: why the human immune system does not function well in the weightlessness of space. See article.
g Imagining - Book alert: Here’s an oldie worth finding in a used bookstore: Walter E. Meyers’ “Aliens and Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction.” It examines how science fiction treats aliens using languages, aptly pointing out fallacies and offering some intriguing speculations. See reviews.

How a giant cloud of gas and dust collapsed to form our solar system and an essay by Frank Drake

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 - In 2004, NASA's Stardust mission returned to Earth with particles of the comet Wild 2. Now these particles are helping scientists understand how a giant cloud of gas and dust collapsed to form our solar system 4.5 billion years ago. See article.
g Abodes - A newly developed method that detects tiny bits of zircon in rock reliably predicts the age of ocean crust more than 99 percent of the time, making the technique the most accurate so far. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - "If you're sending a message to extraterrestrials, what you want to send is what's special about us and our planet — what is unusual," according to SETI astronomer Frank Drake. Read his essay.
g Cosmicus - According to a NASA report that evaluates the risks of sending a manned mission to Mars, Martian dust poses as one of the biggest potential problems. See article.

Underground Martian glaciers and how to respond to signals from 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 -Giant glaciers buried under the surface of Mars at much lower latitudes than any previously known ice are a potential source of drinking water for future astronauts. See article.
g Message -The drive to place humanity at the center of the universe has led to a stream of assumptions that, as facts have been collected, are shown to be ill founded. The Ptolemaic Earth centered view was replaced by Copernican Sun centered view, which in its time was also replaced. The assumption that we are alone in the universe is also under threat of replacement. One of the more interesting aspects of our apparent aloneness was pointed out by Enrico Fermi and is know as Fermi's Paradox. See article.
g Cosmicus -The next-generation Mars rover will visit the Red Planet to sniff out the smallest traces of organic material – the building blocks of life. Trouble is, the Mars Science Laboratory is made from several kilograms of organic material from Earth. How will mission scientists keep the Martian samples clean, and distinguish which molecules are from Mars, and which are from Earth? See article.
g Learning -Here’s a neat Web site to help kids (or even adults) better understand the night sky: “Your Sky,” an interactive planetarium. You can produce maps in the forms described below for any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location. If you enter the orbital elements of an asteroid or comet, Your Sky will compute its current position and plot it on the map. Each map is accompanied by an ephemeris for the Sun, Moon, planets, and any tracked asteroid or comet. A control panel permits customization of which objects are plotted, limiting magnitudes, color scheme, image size and other parameters. See article.
g Aftermath - Philosophers and former politicians joined an elite group of scientists whose job it is to work out how to respond to signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.

Get your SF book manuscript edited

Planet discovered around red giant and lost toolbag

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 team of astronomers from Penn State and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland has discovered a new planet that is closely orbiting a red-giant star, HD 102272, which is much older than our own Sun. The planet has a mass that is nearly six times that of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. See article.
g Life - Scientists have found unique microbes living in environments where life was not known before. Both communities - beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and at the floor of the Mediterranean - could have an effect on the global carbon cycle. See article.
g Message -Britain’s Astronomer Royal says we’ll likely know if intelligent aliens exist by the end of this century. See article.
g Cosmicus -A NASA astronaut accidentally lost her toolbag while conducting a spacewalk. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site that explains the history of the universe to kids. They can click onto a piece of a puzzle that visually shows the major steps from the Big Bang to people.

Shock waves in planetary formation and the first extraterrestrial life we’ll likely find

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 -Astronomers have discovered tiny crystals in planet forming disks that indicate shock waves may play a role in planetary formation. The study sheds new light on the evolution of our own solar system. See article.
g Message -Just how does SETI work? Here’s a good primer for those looking to get a basic overview.
g Cosmicus -Being in space is like being Superman every day, says Clay Anderson, a NASA astronaut from Omaha, Neb. At the international space station, where he spent five months last year, he flew to breakfast, work and the bathroom. See article.
g Learning - The pilot-test of an NAI-supported curriculum entitled Astrobiology: An Integrated Science Approach will help kick-off the State of Maine's new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative.
g Imagining -A scientist at Washington State University says the first extraterrestrial life we find is likely to be single-celled organisms surviving on a moon of Saturn, or in the atmosphere of Venus. See article.

Maine’s new astrobiology pilot program and Martian carbonates

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 - NASA’s Phoenix lander mission is now over, and scientists are analyzing the data collected from its various experiments. Phoenix's discovery of carbonates in the frozen northern soil of Mars indicates the area once could have had liquid water. However, there is no way to tell if the carbonates formed locally, or if they came from somewhere else on the planet and blew in with the wind. See article.
g Message -Project Argus, The SETI League's key technical initiative, has been called the most ambitious microwave SETI project ever undertaken without government equipment or funding. When fully operational, it will provide, for the first time ever, continuous monitoring of the entire sky, in all directions in real time. For more, click here.
g Cosmicus -Pictures of the moon's surface, taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera, are now available for the public to see.
g Learning - Nokomis High School is among nine in the state of Maine that is offering classes as part of a new Astrobiology Pilot Program.

First infrared pictures of an entire solar system and a planet discovered orbiting Fomalhaut

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 - Astronomers have captured the first infrared pictures of an entire solar system. So far, only three planets have been spotted - and they orbit a star that is only fifty percent larger than our sun. See article.
g Abodes - Staring at his computer screen in May, poking through images of the bright star Fomalhaut, astronomer Paul Kalas found himself staring at a tiny white dot. The dot appeared amid a great ring of dust circling the star. From one image to the next, the dot moved. See article.
g Intelligence -Placing your foot down when walking was thought to be a predetermined process: lift foot, decide where to put it based on what’s on the ground, and if nothing moves, land it down on the original target. Scientists thought this procedure requires no immediate visual information once the foot was lifted off the ground. But a new study has found that continuous visual guidance mechanisms may be needed for accurate foot placement. See article.
g Message -The assertion that extraterrestrial intelligences do not exist, based on the apparent contradictions inherent in the Fermi Paradox, rests upon an unproven and untenable presumption: That ETI are not now present in the Solar System. The current observational status of the Solar System is insufficient to support the assumption that ETI are not here. Most advanced civilizations also would be either invisible or unrecognizable using current human observational methods, so millions of advanced societies may exist and still not be directly detectable by us. Thus the Fermi Paradox cannot logically be raised as an objection to the existence of ETI until these major observational deficiencies have been corrected. See article.
g Imagining -Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read “Encounter with Tiber,” by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes (published by Warner in 1996).

Diving rod for Martian water and minerals co-evolving with life

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 -Mars may have water underground but exactly where it is located is not known. An instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory will use neutrons to help spy for the water. See article.
g Life - New research shows that minerals on Earth have co-evolved with life. Up to two thirds of known minerals can be linked to biological activity, highlighting the important connection between the biosphere and the geology of Earth. See article.
g Message - Humans have debated the best ways to contact our interstellar neighbors for centuries. Here’s an article retracing that history.
g Imagining -The answers showed that science fiction not only reflects science but is also an inspiration for it. See article.
g Aftermath - In its simplest and shortest definition, astrobiology may be summed up as, “The study of life in the universe.” There's just one problem when it comes to studying life in the universe. So far, we're it. See article.

How many technically advanced civilizations exist in our galaxy and insight into what may be the first self-replicating molecule

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 - Plumes of water and dust that spout from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus have intrigued scientists ever since the Cassini spacecraft first captured images of the phenomenon. Now, new information may help scientists determine how the massive geysers are formed. See article.
g Life - Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have determined the three-dimensional structure of an RNA enzyme, or "ribozyme," that carries out a fundamental reaction required to make new RNA molecules. Their results provide insight into what may have been the first self-replicating molecule to arise billions of years ago on the evolutionary path toward the emergence of life. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Message -How many technically advanced civilizations exist in our galaxy? With this essay by Steven Soter, Scientist-in-Residence in the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University, Astrobiology Magazine initiates the first in a series of "Gedanken" or thought, experiments - musings by noted scientists on scientific mysteries in a series of "what if" scenarios. See article.
g Imagining - The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which a technologically-superior extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to replace human life, or to enslave it under a colonial system. But would aliens actually ever attack another planet? See article.
g Aftermath - How might we characterize the political significance of any announcement of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence? How about using the Torino Scale, which characterizes asteroid impacts, as a model to assist the discussion and interpretation of any claimed discovery of ETI? See article.

First images of an extrasolar star system and plants on exoworlds

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 -Scientists of Canada’s National Research Council succeeded in taking images of an extrasolar star system or at least parts of it. It is the first time we can see three planets circling a star other than the sun. The star, called HR 8799, is approximately 762.5 trillion miles away from the Earth. See article.
g Abodes - At two distinct points in history, increases in oxygen and oxidation of deep oceans may have impacted the spread of complex organisms. The two events - occurring 635 and 551 million years ago - highlight the connection between the environment of Earth and the evolution of life. See article.
g Life -The greenery on other planets may not be green. Astrobiologists say plants on Earth-sized planets orbiting stars somewhat brighter than the Sun may look yellow or orange, while those on planets orbiting stars much fainter than the Sun might look black. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Message -Recent advances in wireless computing technology could improve deep-space missions like asteroid research and remote spacecraft operations by changing the way signals are sent from Earth. A new method designed to effectively deliver commands and instructions using hundreds of millions of tiny transmitters linked together could also free the giant satellite dishes currently used to send and receive the long-range information for other applications. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.

How planets affect formation of planetary nebula and how Seti@home works

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 - Scientists have found that planets may be partly responsible for the breathtaking appearance of planetary nebula. The research is helping astrobiologists understand the environments in which extrasolar planets develop, and providing insight into the future of our own Solar System. See article.
g Life - Some proteins can work above the boiling point of water, but these vital biomolecules may have a harder time evolving at high temperature. A new project is searching for the maximum temperature for protein-based life. See article.
g Message - Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can join a worldwide search for intelligent life in space. Here’s a primer to how Seti@home works.
g Cosmicus -All systems are go for Friday's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station. VOA's Jessica Berman reports the mission comes amid uncertainty at the US space agency NASA over the direction it will take under the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama. See article.

India reaches the moon and the folly of the Anthropic Principle

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 - Many octopuses evolved from a common ancestor that lived off Antarctica more than 30 million years ago, according to a "Census of Marine Life" that is seeking to map the oceans from microbes to whales. See article.
g Message -If we are not alone in the universe, why have we never picked up signals from an extraterrestrial civilization? Known as the Fermi paradox after physicist Enrico Fermi, who first posed the question, this long-standing puzzle remains one of the strongest arguments against the existence of intelligent aliens. But two physicists say they have come up with a solution. They suggest a way in which aliens could send messages to each other across space that not only disguises their locations but also makes it impossible for a casual observer to even distinguish the messages from background noise. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus -Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the moon, has successfully arrived in orbit around the moon. The satellite is now prepared to return valuable information about the lunar environment in preparation for future human missions. See article.
g Imagining - Star Trek's very first alien, the Talosians pose quite an evolutionary challenge: Their heads are oversized because of large, powerful brains capable of telepathy and even mind control of others. First off, a brain of that size must demand a lot of energy. This is somewhat addressed through the large arteries and veins apparent on their bald heads; their frail bodies also indicate fewer cells below the neckline for oxygen-carrying blood to support. But they probably also need greater lung capacity to cycle more oxygen into their bodies as well as a larger heart for pumping that oxygen-laden blood to and through the brain. Their bodies don't indicate larger lungs, however. Another problem with their head/brain size is giving birth. The enormity of the head is limited by the size and shape of the pelvis — and their human shape and gait indicates they couldn't give birth to an infant with a head any larger than ours. A possibility is that their brain primarily develops outside of the womb; perhaps they grow in their telepathic powers as they age. Another possibility: They are not born naturally but artificially created, indicating a separation from among the most basic instincts – mating. The Talosians, after all, are fairly unimaginative creatures, dependent upon probing the minds of others for new experiences! As for their telepathic and power of illusion capabilities, we'll just have to presume that somehow their brain lobes have evolved sections capable of connecting and interacting across the medium of air with another creature's neurons.
g Aftermath - Freelance writer Mark Pendergrast examines the folly of the Anthropic Principle in a Vermont newspaper op-ed. See article.Note: This column is from 2005.

How to tell if life once existed on a planet and Phoenix lander goes dark

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 - If life were suddenly eliminated from the Earth, would a visitor from another planet be able to tell what once was here? Can the landforms of Mars tell us whether it once had a biota? Two UC Berkeley scientists conclude that life leaves a detectable but very subtle signature, including more rounded than angular hills. This was a surprise, since life has a big impact on erosion, both directly and through its effects on climate. See article. Note: This article is from 2006.
g Message -It is up to the present generation of astronomers to begin the survey of small solar system objects to determine if any of them seem to be artificial. We may have to observe many thousands of asteroids or comets to find a likely candidate. But "conventional" SETI searchers are used to laborious searches since they must investigate hundreds or thousands of stars in the hope of finding one communicative civilization. Perhaps a broadened search strategy will enlarge the likelihood of a successful detection. See article.
g Cosmicus -As it must to all spacecraft, silence has befallen Phoenix, the pioneering Mars lander that for five months has probed and sniffed the planet's high Arctic surface. See article.
g Imagining - Browse the local used bookstores for this volume, which examined the scientific plausibility of many alien creatures in "Star Trek": "To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek". Published about four years ago, Athena Andreadis' book makes a good read, boosted by her background as a molecular biologist and neurosurgeon.

The Zoo Hypothesis and can’t we be a little more imaginative regarding aliens?

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 - Scientists are debating claims that potholes in a remote Arizona wilderness are dinosaur footprints. In a recently published study, the impressions were interpreted as footprints around an ancient Jurassic watering hole. Now scientists aren't sure of their true origins. See article.
g Message -During the early 1980s, David Brin offered an explanation for Fermi’s Paradox, which asked why if extraterrestrial life existed it wasn’t on Earth. Brin’s answer: The Zoo Hypothesis. Here’s a copy of that groundbreaking paper, “The 'Great Silence': The Controversy Concerning Extraterrestrial Life”.
g Imagining -For anyone who has watched the recent incarnations of Star Trek, one question must present itself: do the majority of alien beings in the cosmos really just look like Earthlings, only with bonier faces or pointier ears? Is that it? Because, aside from the occasional intangible space entity, most “way-out” life forms are remarkably similar to us. Even the weirder images of the little green (or grey) aliens in popular culture are pretty unimaginative. Two arms? Check. Two legs? Check. A head, some eyes, an upright posture? Yes, please. This is not the cutting edge of science fiction, more our own narcissistic reflection dropping in via spacecraft. Surely we can aspire to thinking something a little more alien? See article.
g Aftermath - Here’s an interesting book for some astrobiological reading: “After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life”by Albert A. Harrison. See reviews.

How SETI is transforming society and China to the Moon by 2012

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 - Biomarkers that were once thought to be the oldest evidence for complex life may not be as old as scientists once believed. The finding could change our understanding of the timescales in which life evolved on Earth. See article.
g Message -Among the most important SETI work is being done at Harvard University. The Harvard SETI home page discusses the Radio Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, The Arecibo Search for Early Hydrogen and Optical SETI.
g Cosmicus -China aims to put an unmanned buggy on the moon by 2012, local media reported on Friday, laying the ground for its greater ambitions of putting a man on the moon. See article.
g Imagining -For anyone who has watched the recent incarnations of Star Trek, one question must present itself: do the majority of alien beings in the cosmos really just look like Earthlings, only with bonier faces or pointier ears? Is that it? Because, aside from the occasional intangible space entity, most “way-out” life forms are remarkably similar to us. Even the weirder images of the little green (or grey) aliens in popular culture are pretty unimaginative. Two arms? Check. Two legs? Check. A head, some eyes, an upright posture? Yes, please. This is not the cutting edge of science fiction, more our own narcissistic reflection dropping in via spacecraft. Surely we can aspire to thinking something a little more& alien? See article.
g Aftermath - The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence cannot guarantee success in a trivial, superficial sense (that is in the form of the discovery of an alien civilization). But at its deeper levels SETI certainly stimulates and influences our thoughts and transforms our society in profound ways. See article.

Ice’s link to origin of life and 10th anniversary of Big Ear’s destruction

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 - Scientists studying the microscopic structure of super cold ice are revealing fascinating information about ice in space and its potential links to the origins of life. See article.
g Intelligence -You may not be aware that a rogue planet on a 3,600-year orbit is about to enter the inner solar system and visit a catastrophe upon Earth. Well, that’s probably because there is no rogue planet. See article.
g Message -In late 1997, after almost 40 years of operation, the Ohio State University Radio Observatory and its "Big Ear" radio telescope — which picked up the famous “Wow!” signal — ceased operation. The land on which the observatory was sitting (owned by the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio) was sold in 1983 to land developers who later claimed their rights to develop the property. The telescope was destroyed in early 1998. See this memorial to Big Ear.
g Learning -Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Imagine Mars.” A national arts, science and technology initiative that challenges young people to imagine and design a livable Mars community of the future. See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. In “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” Jean Heidmann, chief astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation - all of it grounded in real science - is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? Heidmann reviews the protocols established in the SETI Declaration and then offers his own suggestion: send them the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica. See article.

Proposed future mission to Titan and ‘Remote Sensing’

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 -The Cassini-Huygens mission has given us our best view yet of Titan, but this moon of Saturn still remains shrouded in mystery. A proposed future mission takes a three-tiered approach – using an orbiting spacecraft, a surface probe, and a hot air balloon -- to further explore the enigmatic moon. See article.
g Message -What if we examined how to communicate with extraterrestrials from a telecommunication engineer’s point of view? That’s the approach of Brian McConnell’s book, “Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations.” Though the book has been out a few years now, it’s still worth a read if you haven’t already delved into it. For more about the book and an interview with McConnell, click here.
g Learning -Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Remote Sensing.” In this lesson, students discover how remote sensing is used to identify the signatures of life even when the particular life form is not directly observable. See article.
g Aftermath - There is a good deal of apprehension among the general public that samples returned from other worlds such as Mars - just might - contain alien germs capable of turning into a worldwide plague, or at least wreaking havoc with the Earth's natural environment. Beside this fear of "back contamination," there is also a fear of "forward contamination" - the possibility that spacecraft might contaminate the worlds they land on with Earth microbes, destroying scientifically priceless alien lifeforms before we even have a chance to study them. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.

Pluto-sized planetesimals in beta Pictoris moving group and portable magnetosphere for spaceships

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 -Sixty percent of the A star members of the 12 Myr old beta Pictoris moving group show significant excess emission in the mid-infrared, several million years after the proto-planetary disk is thought to disperse. Theoretical models suggest this peak may coincide with the formation of Pluto-sized planetesimals in the disk, stirring smaller bodies into collisional destruction. See article.
g Message -How might we detect an extraterrestrial messenger probe already in the solar system? See article. Note: This article is from 1983.
g Cosmicus -Researchers may have discovered how to create a “portable magnetosphere” to protect astronauts from harmful space radiation. The device would act as a force field, shielding a spacecraft and its passengers from the dangers of solar storms. See article.
g Learning -Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The Rare Earth.” In this activity students systematically investigate the time frame for complex life to develop on Earth. See article.
g Aftermath - Epicurus, in the fourth century BC, believed that the universe contained other worlds like our own, and since his time there has been considerable debate whether extraterrestrial life exists and might communicate with us. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, an international social movement — Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence — has emerged which advocates an attempt to achieve communication with extraterrestrial intelligence, and many of its most active members have been leading scientists. Modest efforts to detect radio signals from intelligent extraterrestrials already have been made, both under government aegis and privately funded, and the technical means for a more vigorous search have been developed. If a CETI project were successful, linguists would suddenly have one or more utterly alien languages to study, and some consideration of linguistic issues is a necessary preparation for it. See article.

Magnetic portals between Sun and Earth and what aliens mean in fiction

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 -Like giant, cosmic chutes between the Earth and the Sun, magnetic portals open up every eight minutes or so to connect our planet with its host star. See article.
g Life - Dinosaurs survived two mass extinctions and 50 million years before they dominated the Earth. The new finding sheds light on an important stage in the evolution of life on our planet. See article.
g Message -The search for extraterrestrial intelligence must include complementary observing programs that investigate our solar system and near Earth. Solar system observing strategies involve a search for energy (e.g., artificial microwaves) or physical manifestations (e.g., exploratory robotic probes) that may be present. Artificial electromagnetic emissions from robotic probes may be detectable using existing ground-based radio-telescope observatories like Arecibo, or those undergoing construction such as the Allen Telescope Array. See article.
g Imagining -In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, - i.e. not coming from the Earth - are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and The War of the Worlds. This usage is clearly anthropocentric: When humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference. See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: The authentic discovery of extraterrestrial life would usher in a scientific revolution on par with Copernicus or Darwin, writes Paul Davies in “Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life.” Just as these ideas sparked religious and philosophical controversy when they were first offered, so would proof of life arising away from Earth. With this brief book (160 pages, including two appendices and an index), Davies tries to get ahead of the curve and begin to sort out the metaphysical mess before it happens. Many science fiction writers have preceded him, of course, but here the matter is plainly put. This is a very good introduction to a compelling subject. See reviews.

Get your SF book manuscript edited

Expedition to Antarctica and would we recognize ET at all?

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 - An international team of distinguished scientists, teachers and explorers from the United States, Russia, Austria and New Zealand are about to embark on a six-week expedition to Antarctica to study the icy ecosystems of the Untersee Oasis, including perennially ice-covered Lake Untersee. See article.
g Message -If extraterrestrial life and intelligence exist, and if these ETI have ever engaged in, or presently are engaging in, interstellar exploration or communication, this most likely will involve the transmission of material artifacts. Some evidence of this activity may be apparent from within the confines of the Solar System and thus could be detected by a suitable observational effort. See article.
g Imagining -The questions of what alien life will be like is a more than just an issue for science fiction enthusiasts. For those involved with the fledging science of astrobiology, this is a central issue: After all, if something is life “not as we know it,” how, in fact, would we know it to be life at all? See article.
g Aftermath - The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See article.

The Artifact Hypothesis and what would life on other planets look like

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 -The Artifact Hypothesis states that a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization has undertaken a long-term program of galactic exploration via transmission of material artifacts. Four general classes of unconcealed observable artifacts are potentially available to test this Hypothesis: Astroengineering activities, self-replicating artifacts, passive artifacts, and active probes. Of these, only active self-repairing probes are likely both to exist and to be observable from within the Solar System. See article.
g Imagining -Book alert: What would life on other planets look like? Forget the little green men, alien life is likely to be completely unrecognizable - we haven’t even discovered all the life on our own planet. The visionary “Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life,” by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart, offers some of the most radical but scientifically accurate thinking on the possibility of life on other planets ever conceived. Using broad principles of Earthly biology and expanding on them laterally, Cohen and Stewart examine what could be out there. Redefining our whole concept of what ‘life’ is, they ask whether aliens could live on the surface of a star, in the vacuum of space or beneath the ice of a frozen moon. And whether life could exist without carbon or DNA – or even without matter at all. They also look at ‘celebrity aliens’ from books and films – most of which are biologically impossible. Jack Cohen is an ‘alien consultant’ to many writers, advising what an alien could and couldn’t look like. (E.T. go home – you do not pass the test). But this book is as much about the latest discoveries in Earthly biology as well as life on other planets. It’s a serious yet entertaining science book. See reviews.
g Aftermath - Philosophers and former politicians joined an elite group of scientists whose job it is to work out how to respond to signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. See article.

Phoenix powers down and how discovery of extraterrestrial life will affect humanity

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 -Interstellar spacecraft are superior to electromagnetic wave propagation for extrasolar exploration and communication. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should include a search for extraterrestrial probes. See article. Note: This article is from 1983.
g Cosmicus -Engineers hope to extend the life of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander by gradually shutting down some of its instruments and heaters. Phoenix has already been studying Mars two months longer than initially planned. See article.
g Imagining -In science fiction, aliens often are humanoids. Just how different will extraterrestrial life likely be from the varieties found on Earth? See article.
g Aftermath - Even if the public seems less than awestruck by the prospect that alien life is a bunch of microscopic bugs, astrobiologists say unequivocal discovery of microbial life beyond Earth will change human society in profound ways, some unfathomable today. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.

Meteorites’ clues about early solar system and nonreproducing alien probes

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 -Meteorites that are among some of the oldest rocks known are providing clues about the conditions of the early solar system. The insight they are yielding is changing longstanding ideas about how planets form. See article.
g Message - Any nonreproducing alien probes discovered in the Solar System during the normal course of future SETI research would most likely have been sent by extraterrestrial civilizations located within a 1000 light-year radius of the Sun, whereas any self-reproducing devices similarly detected probably originated far outside this exploration sphere. See article.
g Learning -Here’s a neat set of activities and games to help kids learn about Mars: Mars Funzone. See article.
g Imagining -No longer can a science fiction writer create a goo-dripping alien just because a story line requires an adversary from another planet to drop in on our unsuspecting world. The average reader is not going to buy into the B-rated movies of old; it takes more than an actor in a rubber mask for them to suspend their disbelief and enjoy a story or novel. Bringing an alien species into a novel requires a bit of planning and thought on the part of the writer. See article.
g Aftermath - With humanity now on the verge of being capable to leave its home world, Earth, scientists have begun to wrestle with the consequences of this next great journey; of the social impact humanity will have upon discovering life elsewhere, be it fossil, bacterial or an intelligent civilization. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.