Sunday, December 21, 2008

Enceladus’ tectonic activity and science books as Christmas gifts

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 - Red dwarfs, the cool, low mass stars that make up more than 75 percent of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy might be more hospitable to life than was previously thought, according to a new study by a Pennsylvania research team. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Abodes - Cassini's most recent flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus has provided more evidence that the moon is an active world. Jets of water vapor and ice have been seen erupting from Enceladus, and new data shows the moon may have Earth-like tectonics. See article.
g Life - Scientists may have characterized the common ancestor of all life on Earth, LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor). This 3.8-billion-year-old organism was not the creature usually imagined, and may change ideas about early life on Earth. See article.
g Message - And after all those years, as the saying goes, UFOs remain a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Why so? For one, the field is fraught with hucksterism. It's also replete with blurry photos and awful video. But then there are also well-intentioned and puzzled witnesses. Scientifically speaking, are UFOs worth keeping an eye on? See article.
g Learning - The London Times last year recommended a number of science books as Christmas gifts, including one about astrobiology. See article.

Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future

No comments: