Theory and methodology of composing and transmitting interstellar radio messages and frosted earths

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 search for life beyond the Earth is closely linked with hunting for habitable worlds. Astronomers have always hoped to find planets in the so-called “Goldilocks zone” around their parent stars, where the temperature is just right. See article.
g Message - Throughout the entire history of terrestrial civilization, only four projects involving transmitting of interstellar radio messages have yet been fully developed and realized. Nevertheless, we should understand a simple thing - if all civilizations in the universe are only recipients, and not message-sending civilizations, than no SETI searches make any sense. We present the theory and methodology of composing and transmitting of future IRMs. See article.
g Cosmicus - The desire for space exploration goes far deeper than political ambition or economic drive. It satisfies, in a sense, the basic necessity of a civilization to explore, play and expand outward. Here, Robert Zubrin, author of “Entering Space and The Case for Mars,” talks with Nexus publisher Ravi Dykema about Mars, the human need for exploration and the possibility of a celestial civilization. See article. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Learning - At a conference center in California's Silicon Valley in 2004, an academic field took shape. About 800 scientists, ranging from astronomers to zoologists, gathered to talk about life - how it arose on Earth and where we might find it on other worlds. Mixed in with the scientists are academic publishers, engineers, government bureaucrats, historians, philosophers, television broadcasters, a scholar of Christian ethics, and a sprinkling of others attracted by the intoxicating sweep of this nascent branch of research. Astrobiology, as the field is known, has emerged as a hot topic in the past seven years, ever since NASA began a program using the name, with a budget of $71-million a year. See article.

One of the Western World’s first astrobiologists and nanotechnology’s role in space exploration

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 search for life beyond the Earth is closely linked with hunting for habitable worlds. Astronomers have always hoped to find planets in the so-called “Goldilocks zone” around their parent stars, where the temperature is just right. See article.
g Intelligence - When astronomers announce the discovery of a new planetary system, the greatest dangers they face are the ones that come with fame in the Information Age: calls from the press, Web pages to edit and speeches to deliver. Nowadays, discovering planets is a tiring business, but relatively safe as jobs go. Four hundred years ago the search for life among the stars was considerably riskier. Consider, for example, the strange case of Giordano Bruno, who could be considered one of the Western World’s first astrobiologists. See article.
g Message - Which is better – SETI or METI? See article.
g Cosmicus - It is clear that humanity needs to expand outward into space. Currently, with the financial and technological limits on transportation to Low Earth Orbit, humanity has no physical frontier. Nanotechnology can make significant contributions to the expansion into space. See article.
g Aftermath - What affect would the discovery of alien life have on the story-telling genre that inspires the search for it — science fiction? See article.

’To send or not to send?’ and humanity’s manifest destiny

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 - What is the habitable zone for the nearby white dwarf WD 0552-041? See article.
g Abodes - New 3D seismic images of the Chicxulub crater may change theories about the KT Extinction Event and the demise of the dinosaurs. The data shows that the crater-forming impact may have been more deadly than previously thought. See article.
g Message - Those who propose, or oppose, sending Messages to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence must contemplate the Hamlet-like question: "To send or not to send?" See article.
g Cosmicus - The Moon is the next logical step if we, as a civilization, are going to embrace our destiny and claim space as our birthright. This is Humanity’s Manifest Destiny. See article.
g Learning - The research scientists aren’t the only ones getting excited about astrobiology. This new discipline has tremendous potential for revolutionizing science education. It is rich with exciting content to engage those who generally don’t consider themselves scientifically-oriented, and also for opening the ears and minds of adults who may want a new reason to visit their local science center. See article.

Finding Earth-sized worlds orbiting other stars and introducing a new factor into the Drake Equation

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 - A new theory proposes Earth-like planets with double the star power. See article.
g Abodes - It seems impossible to believe, but astronomers are now making plans to reach for the brass ring of planet hunting: to find Earth-sized worlds orbiting other stars, and then to analyze them to see if there's life. But you've got to know what you're looking for. That's why astronomers are considering what the Earth might look like from afar. What clues would our planet give to distant astronomers that there's life here? See article.
g Life - Scientists have successfully created an entire synthetic genome in the lab by stitching together the DNA of the smallest known free-living bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium. See article.
g Message - In order to account for the true prevalence of communicative civilizations, should we introduce a METI factor fm into the classical Drake Equation? See article.
g Cosmicus - There exists an unbreakable bond between space activism and science fiction fandom. Many pro-space groups were born at science fiction conventions, inspired by the genre. SF encourages space activism with stories of space travel, space settlement, and scientific discovery in general. SF Cons were and still are a great place for fans to meet, plan, discuss ideas, and form groups. These included the legendary L5 Society, National Space Society, Space Frontier Foundation, Planetary Society, Space Access Society, Artemis Project, and other groups. SF cons also allowed pro-space groups to network, grow, and get the word out about the space movement, and the importance of becoming a space faring civilization with people both living and working in space. SF literature also inspired many to become engineers, scientists, technicians, space buffs, and geeks in general. The diversity of the SF community led to the creation of numerous pro-space organizations, each with a different mission plan. See article.
g Learning - Where can high school science teachers learn more about the growing interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology? In the ASSET program, a summer institution for high school science teachers. U. S. teachers are invited to apply.
g Imagining - Skull Island’s commendably diverse population (of “King Kong” fame) isn’t very realistic. In such isolated habitats, competition among species is limited. The consequence is that, with time, predator species tend to get smaller while prey species grow larger. The optimum size (at least for mammals) seems to be roughly that of a rabbit. Kong is bigger than many rabbits. See article.

Art for space and ‘Contact with Alien Civilizations’

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 - Sunlight glinting off alien oceans may help astronomers spot water on other worlds. See article.
g Abodes - New data shows that Mars possesses high-level clouds that are sufficiently dense to cast a shadow on the surface. It's the first confirmation that these wispy clouds made from carbon dioxide actually exist on the arid planet. See article.
g Life - Researchers studying microbes in hot springs have made a surprising discovery about the geological record of life and the environment of Earth. The discovery may even affect how scientists search for evidence of life on other planets. See article.
g Intelligence - U.S. researchers are looking for ways to prevent cognitive dysfunction - especially in the elderly - following an operation. See article.
g Message - Similar to SETI – the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, where one listens for messages sent to Earth – METI means "Messaging to ETI": Sending both scientific and artistic messages to the stars. So, METI Art represents not Art about Space, but Art for Space. In other words, METI Art is the creative work of Earth destined for inclusion in the Planetary Consciousnesses of supposed extraterrestrial civilizations. See article.
g Learning - The Web site Astronomy Expert contains useful informational articles focused on studying the stars, planets and outer space phenomena that are (according to the site) written by professional journalists and experts, aimed at middle and highs school learners.
g Aftermath - Book alert: Beep, beep, bop, be-bop. These could represent a new song or a communication from intelligent species on another world. With discoveries of more and more planets circling far away suns, there seems an increasing possibility that we have fellow, smart occupants sharing this universe. Michael Michaud takes this consideration seriously in his book Contact with Alien Civilizations. In a very forwarding looking text, he puts sound reasoning into analyzing the issues about if and when we find we're not alone.

METI as a viable option and build your own alien world

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 - Liquid water is essential for life as we know it, and the water molecule has many characteristics that scientists have long thought were unique. Now, scientists are studying a new hypothetical 'model molecule' that behaves much like water in computer simulations. See article.
g Life - Astronomers from Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, have detected for the first time the molecules methanimine and hydrogen cyanide - two ingredients that build life-forming amino acids - in a galaxy some 250 million light years away. See article.
g Intelligence - Lack of sleep is associated with poorer physical function in older women during daytime hours, a University of Pittsburgh study found.
g Message - Is METI, or “Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence”, a viable option? See article.
g Imagining - Have you ever wanted to build your own alien world? Now you can! See article.

Get your SF book manuscript edited

Cosmic Call and hopes and fears about encountering extraterrestrials

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 scientists has begun exploring an ancient lake hidden 3.2 km beneath Antarctica's ice sheet. Lake Ellsworth could harbor unique microbial life and might provide clues about climate change on Earth. See article.
g Life - A team of biologists have developed a model mapping the control circuit governing a whole free living organism. This is an important milestone for the new field of systems biology. See article.
g Intelligence - Brain exercise enhances memory and other cognitive abilities of adults over the age of 65, a preliminary U.S. study found. See article.
g Message - On July 6, 2003, an international science team, led by Alexander Zaitsev of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Richard Braastad of Team Encounter, LLC, broadcast scientific and personal messages in “Cosmic Call 2003” to five, Sun-like stars. Here’s a brief description of the preparation and implementation of CC-2003. See article.
g Cosmicus - Burt Rutan took the cloak off of his new spacecraft on Wednesday. See article.
g Learning - TV Show Alert: here’s a teaser for the an upcoming episode of History Channel’s “Universe”: “Does life exist on other planets? Astrobiology is a visionary new science that searches for life in space by combining the disciplines of astronomy, biology and geology. How did life evolve on Earth? What will life look like on other planets? These and other pertinent questions will be answered by a diverse group of scientists. Viewers will visit the Pilbara region of West Australia where the oldest evidence of life on Earth has been discovered. Travel to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn to test a theory that life could exist in the clouds of Venus. Finally, watch as experiments are done to see if life exists on exoplanets, earth-like planets beyond our solar system.” Click here for listings.
g Aftermath - Book alert: “Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials,” by Michael A.G. Michaud, 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. The book emphasizes the consequences of contact rather than the search, and takes account of popular views. As necessary background, the book also includes 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.

Messages we’ve already sent to aliens and ’Entering 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 Abodes - A new sky survey may double the number of known extrasolar planets. The MARVELS survey, a component of the recently announced Sloan Digital Sky Survey III, is scheduled to begin mid-year and will last until mid-2014. See article.
g Life - Earthquakes don't always mean death and destruction - at least for the microbes deep in the crust. Regular rumblings could be what enables them to stay alive, and maybe even Martian bugs, too. See article.
g Intelligence - Improving sleep can enhance memory and intelligence, a U.S. author says in his book REM Illumination Memory Consolidation. See article.
g Message - While some scientists cautiously plan for ways to reply to extraterrestrial transmissions, others haven't waited for a signal to start talking. Sending messages from Earth into space to announce the existence of the human race is somewhat rare and controversial. Digital transmissions have been beamed into space from radio telescopes, and four spacecraft currently leaving the solar system bear messages for anyone who finds them. See article.
g Cosmicus - Book review: Humans are not native to the Earth. So posits astronautical engineer Bob Zubrin in the opening of “Entering Space.” We're native to just a small sliver of it, the spot where our species originated in tropical Kenya. We set out from that paradise about 50,000 years ago, north into "the teeth of the Ice Age," and all the ground we've gained since then has been thanks to our tenacity and our tools. Zubrin reasons that it's time we cover a little more ground. Written with a boyish enthusiasm and formidable techie know-how, “Entering Space” urges us to realize "the feasibility, the necessity, and the promise" of becoming a space-faring civilization, of colonizing our own solar system and beyond. And Zubrin, author of the influential and widely acclaimed “The Case for Mars,” knows his stuff - NASA adapted his plans for near-term human exploration of Mars, and Carl Sagan gave the author no less credit: "Bob Zubrin really, nearly alone, changed our thinking on this issue." “Entering Space” plots the second and third phases of humanity's course--now that we've mastered our own planet, Zubrin says we must first look to settling our solar system (beginning with Mars) and then to the galaxy beyond. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a list of books about astrobiology, courtesy of the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

'1st Theremin Concert for Aliens’ and a space policy regarding off-world development

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 - Astronomers may have observed the aftermath of a collision between two distant planets. A strange object orbiting a star 170 light-years away doesn't match any theory for planetary formation, and may have been formed by two protoplanets crashing together. See article.
g Life - A con­tro­ver­sial the­o­ry, sug­gest­ing strange red rains in In­dia six years ago might have con­tained mi­crobes from out­er space, has­n’t died. See article.
g Intelligence - Quote of the Day: "Intelligent life in the Universe is an extraordinary and rare, perhaps even unique, phenomenon. This fact places an especial responsibility on humankind to ensure that this spark of consciousness does not fade away owing to its unwise actions, but instead flares into a blazing bonfire that could be observed even from the remotest regions of our Galaxy." - Iosif S. Shklovskii
g Message - The idea and project of the 1st Theremin Concert for Aliens (stated in the Arecibo Proposal "One-Dimensional Radio Message for Blind Aliens" was not accepted by Arecibo reviewers because of their misgiving that such interstellar radio transmission may be a dangerous affair. See article.
g Cosmicus - With the arrival of a new millennium, activities in outer space should be placed in the service of humanity. Starting in the 21st Century, a space policy regarding off-world development should be valued for their contribution toward improving the quality of life on this planet, as well as in the entire Solar System. To this end, humankind needs to articulate a new global vision and ethos relative to our joint efforts in outer space. As we extend our species into the universe, humanity needs to integrate its visions and philosophies regarding orbital enterprises. Today, the majority of the world’s inhabitants are terrestrially oriented, and do not perceive space, its exploration, utilization, and settlement as central to our well being and continuing evolution. For the first time in human history, we have the opportunity to plan the establishment of space culture. We can begin to make choices. See article.

Martian paradox and The Earth and Space Foundation

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 - Planetary scientists have puzzled for years over an apparent contradiction on Mars. Abundant evidence points to an early warm, wet climate on the red planet, but there's no sign of the widespread carbonate rocks, such as limestone, that should have formed in such a climate. See article.
g Life - In this interview, Nigel Mason explains how molecules formed in space might eventually lead to life, and describes what scientists are doing to better understand this process. See article.
g Intelligence - Lack of sleep is associated with poorer physical function in older women during daytime hours, a University of Pittsburgh study found. See article.
g Message - Quote of the Day: "I would like to notice the importance of designing and, especially, accomplishing practical projects directed to sending signals. This is the only way to understand subtle problems of contacts. Here, as it always happens, egoists end up with failure." - Andrey Sakharov, Nobel laureate
g Cosmicus - The Earth and Space Foundation is an international charity that funds scientific exploration that helps us both understand the Earth's environment and explore the frontier of space, bringing the environmental and space exploration communities together to address the challenges facing society. See article.

Signaling Venus and Students for the Exploration and Development of 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 Abodes - Quote of the Day: “The countless worlds in the universe are no worse and no less inhabited than our Earth.” — Giordano Bruno
g Intelligence - Sleeping too much, or too little can increase the risk of mortality, British researchers found. See article.
g Message - An idea to send radar signal with Morse code to the Venus and to receive echo in order to test and to demonstrate the first Evpatoria Planetary Radar was suggested and implemented in 1962 by three scientists from Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics in the former Soviet Union. While this transmission was not proper Interstellar Radio Message, it was its forerunner. See article. For related article, see “Report on Cosmic Call 1999”.
g Cosmicus - Students for the Exploration and Development of Space is an international student organization whose purpose is to promote space exploration and development through educational and engineering projects. See article.

Ways the Earth tries to kill us and using anticryptography to interpret an alien message

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 - In Peter Ward’s newest book, “Under a Green Sky,” he explains how global warming has led to the loss of life throughout Earth’s history. In this interview, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson talks with Ward about the many ways the Earth tries to kill us.
g Life - New research shows that it took at least 30 million years for ecological systems on Earth to fully recover after the most devastating extinction event in the planet's history.
g Intelligence - Coffee is an effective countermeasure to sleepiness for those young and middle-aged, but napping is more efficient in the young, a French study found.
g Message - Interpreting any alien message likely will involve anticryptography. See article.
g Aftermath - What are the psycho-social issues of communicating with extraterrestrials intelligently? See article.

Mars’ pure silica and studying an utterly alien language

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 are trying to determine the origin of nearly pure silica discovered by the Spirit rover on Mars. The silica may have come from hot springs or a fumarole – where acidic steam rises through cracks. On Earth, both of these environments are capable of supporting life. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers in Israel report a daytime nap may help memory - especially for those learning more than one skill in one day. See article.
g Message - Despite a recent report on an Oakland, Calif., television signal, we haven’t received a signal from aliens. 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 20th century, an international social movement has emerged which advocates an attempt to achieve communication with extraterrestrial intelligence, CETI, and many of its most active members have been leading scientists. Modest efforts to detect radio signals from intelligent extraterrestrials have already 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.

Order in which planets are formed and the psychology of interstellar communication

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 determined that the planets in our Solar System were not always in the same order. The findings could have implications in understanding how the planets and our Solar System formed, and ultimately how it became habitable for life as we know it. See article.
g Message - In the absence of knowledge of physical and cultural clues, communication between two species can be almost impossible - almost. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Aftermath - If we establish communication with a civilization even as close as 100 light years from Earth, the round-trip time for a message and its reply is 200 years. What will be the psychology of a civilization that can engage in a meaningful conversation with this sort of delay? How is such a conversation to be established? What should the content of such a conversation be? These are the questions which motivate the article's title: "Minds and Millennia: The Psychology of Interstellar Communication".

Nearest star most similar to our Sun and sulfur dioxide’s effect on early Mars

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 - What’s the nearest star that is most like our sun? Try 18 Scorpii.
g Abodes - Scientists have found that sulfur dioxide might have played a role in warming the climate of early Mars. The finding may help determine whether or not Mars could have supported life in the past, and may also yield important clues about the conditions in which life originated on the early Earth. See article.
g Life - "Mammoth hit by meteorite!" might sound like fantastical black-and-white puppet-fest filmed in glorious Moving-Picture-O-Vision, just before a gripping two-hour feature on why mixing ants and radioactive waste is, in fact, a bad idea - but it's real. Arizona geophysicist Allen West has discovered burn marks consistent with micrometeorite impacts in a number of mammoth and bison bones. The resulting study has found numerous impact scars over 30,000 years old. See article.
g Cosmicus - New research has shown that Earth's magnetosphere actually protects some parts of the Moon from solar storms. Scientists found that for seven days during the Moon's 28-day orbit, select regions are shielded from harmful solar energy. The findings could help protect astronauts on future Moon missions. See article.

Spotting Earth’s continents and oceans from a distant world and gamma-ray bursts as alien messages

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 - A dusty disk that resembles the shape of a moth is providing new information about how planetary systems form and evolve. See article.
g Abodes - Nearby Venus is looking a bit more Earth-like with frequent bursts of lightning confirmed by a new European space probe. See article.
g Life - Scientists since Darwin have known that whales are mammals whose ancestors walked on land, and in the past 15 years, researchers have identified a series of intermediate fossils documenting whale’s dramatic evolutionary transition from land to sea. But one step was missing: The identity of the land ancestors of whales. No more, researchers say. See article.
g Message - Regardless of what causes gamma-ray bursters, they could be the key to discovering life elsewhere in the universe. An astrophysicist says smart aliens might use the bursts to alert us to their messages. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Aftermath - Would ET vote? What effect will ET’s political philosophy have on ours once contact is made? See article. It’s an older piece but well worth the read. See article.

Extraterrestrial microbial life in the Earth's stratosphere and introducing kids to astrobiology

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 have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to detect, for the first time, strong evidence of hazes in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a distant star. See article.
g Life - A team of scientists from India and the United Kingdom claims to have found extraterrestrial microbial life in the Earth's stratosphere, but others in the astrobiology community have their doubts. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site to introduce kids who go ga-ga over movie aliens to the science of astrobiology. See article.

What aliens might see if they spotted Earth and antimatter propulsion systems

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 found the most Sun-like star yet, and they say it is an ideal place to hunt for alien civilizations. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers are trying to determine what alien races might see if they happened to be staring at the Earth from the surface of far away planets. The research may help us better understand what we should look for when searching for habitable planets around distant stars. See article.
g Life - Most modern-day groups of beetles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and have been diversifying ever since, says new research out in Science. There are approximately 350,000 species of beetles on Earth, and probably millions more yet to be discovered, accounting for about 25% of all known life forms on the planet. The reason for this large number of beetle species has been debated by scientists for many years, but never resolved. See article.
g Cosmicus - Antimatter seems the boldest — and newest — of propulsion concepts, but in fact Eugen Sänger’s work on the uses of antimatter in rocketry goes back to the 1930s. The German scientist thought it would be possible to reflect gamma rays produced by the annihilation of electrons and positrons to produce thrust. His work wowed the Fourth International Astronautical Congress in 1952, but there was a catch: the gamma rays created by this reaction seemed too energetic to use the way Sänger hoped — they penetrated all known materials and could not be channeled effectively into a rocket exhaust. See article.
g Aftermath - Will we find extraterrestrial intelligence—and should we want to? Such are the questions examined in “Contact with Alien Civilizations.” Michael A.G. Michaud, a space policy analyst and former diplomat, provides an engrossing overview of the probabilities, promises, and risks of encountering smart aliens. Drawing heavily on the scientific and scholarly literature (he apologizes for not thoroughly discussing science fiction), Michaud’s approach is to compile diverse expert opinions on alien-related topics and relentlessly scrutinize premises about what the extraterrestrials would be like. His analysis suggests that contact is a serious—and not necessarily pleasant—possibility. See article or this review.

Get your SF book manuscript edited

Life’s origin in comets and if ET lands

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 presence of organics that would serve as building blocks of life, and evidence for liquid water in comets makes such objects a possible site of an origin of life. Considering the total volume of congenial sites present in comets compared with the volume of similar sites on the Earth, the odds in favor of an origin in comets are larger by astronomical factors. See article.
g Life - Animals and insects communicate through an invisible world of scents. By exploiting infrared technology, researchers at Rockefeller University just made that world visible. With the ability to see smells, these scientists now show that when fly larvae detect smells with both olfactory organs they find their way toward a scented target more accurately than when they detect them with one. See article.
g Cosmicus - Is manned space exploration worth the cost? See article.
g Learning - Astrobiology is a scientific discipline devoted to the study of life in the universe - its origin, evolution, distribution, and future. In 1997, NASA established an Astrobiology program (the NASA Astrobiology Institute - NAI) as a result of a series of new results from solar system exploration and astronomical research in the mid-1990s together with advances in the biological sciences. To help evaluate the NAI, NASA asked the NRC to review progress made by the Institute in developing the field of astrobiology. This report presents an evaluation of NAI's success in meeting its goals for fostering interdisciplinary research, training future astrobiology researchers, providing scientific and technical leadership, exploring new research approaches with information technology, and supporting outreach to K-12 education programs. See article.
g Imagining - An impressive listing of “Star Trek” aliens exists at this Web site. Of course, most “Star Trek” aliens either are just humanoid (an unlikely scenario, though the series did explain it away by saying a previous humanoid race “seeded” worlds with their DNA) are incorporeal. Still, the series did offer some intriguing species — most notably the horta, tribble and Species 8472 — merit attention.
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.

Messages we’ve sent to aliens and expected reactions at first contact

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 - A quartet of stars has been discovered in an intimate cosmic dance, swirling around each other within a region about the same as Jupiter's orbit around the sun. See article.
g Life - People with obsessive-compulsive hand-washing syndrome should stop reading right now. As well as all the microbes we do know about, some scientists suggest there could also be alien microbes living on Earth as well. This as yet undetected alien population of microbes could exist quite happily next to our own, and as such has been referred to as the “shadow biosphere”. See article.
g Message - Our attempts to contact intelligent life on other planets had led to some quite absurd messages and assumptions made, and some quite amazingly complicated messages sent out. See article.
g Learning - Where can high school science teachers learn more about the growing interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology? See article.
g Aftermath - It's to be expected that when/if our human civilization encounters extraterrestrial life, there'll be some pretty odd reactions from all sides. See article.

Looking for aliens on Earth and science fiction worthy of instruction

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 - Behind the wire fence of a heavily guarded research laboratory in Alabama, Richard Hoover is searching for alien organisms. Hoover, an astrobiologist, works at the Marshall Space Flight Centre, where NASA's first rocket launchers were built. Unlike most scientists, however, his eyes are not fixed on Mars or beyond, but on a dish on his lab bench. Hoover is looking for aliens right here on Earth. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Learning - Here’s a selective list of some short stories and novels that use more or less accurate science and can be used for teaching or reinforcing astronomy or physics concepts. Both traditional "science-fiction" and (occasionally) more serious fiction that derive meaning or plot from astronomy or physics ideas are listed. See article.
g Imagining - The question of what aliens look like is most baffling. Many ideas have been raised, most absurdly earthly in origin. See article.

Voyager 1 looks homeward and the leading effort to find intelligent life in outer 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 Stars - An explosive star within our galaxy is showing signs of an impending eruption, at least in a cosmic time frame, and has for quite some time. See article.
g Abodes - The Voyager 1 spacecraft, after traveling about 4 billion miles into space, turned around and looked back home. From such a distance, the Earth appeared as a pale blue dot, a single point of light suspended in the vast blackness of space. If aliens from much more distant worlds were to look at our solar system, the Earth, if it could be seen at all, would seem even more tiny and faint. How could they know that dot of light represents a world teeming with life? See article.
g Life - The parachutes deploy perfectly, and gradually, swinging gently through the tenuous atmosphere, the little probe falls to the ground. Minutes later it jerks slightly as it unfurls its solar panels. Like a butterfly newly emerged from a chrysalis, it soaks in the rays of the sun. Now its sensors switch on and start to take in the sights, possibly even sounds, of the world on which it finds itself. After a quick internal test, instruments deploy on robotic arms, ready to collect samples of the alien soil, and to test for that most elusive quality of all: life. But will our probe find anything? See article.
g Intelligence - Many people hear that we use only 10 percent of our brains and presume it's true. If you think (with your brain) about this claim, I hope you agree that this small percentage notion is crazy. How could we manage any other major organ that we use only 10 percent of? See article.
g Message - In a quiet valley north of California's Mount Lassen stands a peculiar manmade forest. Here, 42 metal dishes, each roughly the height of a two-story building, tilt their bowls toward the sky amid a landscape of green pines and yellow brush. This futuristic assemblage, scattered across UC Berkeley's Hat Creek Observatory, is humanity's leading effort to find intelligent life in outer space. See article.
g Learning - There are signs of life for Australia's only scientific centre dedicated to the quest for the earliest life on Earth, and beyond. After being dumped last June by Sydney's Macquarie University, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology will move to the University of NSW next month. See article.

Get your SF book manuscript edited

Where extraterrestrial life might first be discovered and Titan in process of creating primitive lifeforms

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 - Where will life first be discovered away from the Earth? See article.
g Abodes - Saturn’s mysterious moon Titan may be in the process of creating primitive forms of life. See article.
g Life - For scientists eying distant planets and solar systems for signs of alien activity, University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Carol Cleland suggests the first order of business is to keep an open mind. See article. Note: This article is from 2006.
g Imagining - Extraterrestrials could consist of living, breeding, floating clouds of interstellar dust, according to a study by an international team. See article.

Do other planets harbor life and new response to the Fermi Paradox

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 at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR 4796A, is inferred to be in the late stages of planet formation, suggesting that the basic building blocks of life may be common in planetary systems. See article.
g Abodes - Most people have looked up at a starry sky and wondered whether there is life beyond our own blue planet. Is our world a unique oasis of life or are there other planets that harbor life? See article.
g Life - Whether a similar bounty of life exists elsewhere in the universe is one of the oldest and most tantalizing questions of science. Considering the wide breadth of the universe and the countless stars it contains, the odds would seem in favor of the answer being "yes." See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Message - The famous question posed by the physicist Enrico Fermi in 1950 remains unanswered. "Where is everybody?" he asked. If the galaxy is teeming with sophisticated aliens, we should have heard from them by now. A new response to the Fermi Paradox comes in a recent issue of the journal New Astronomy. The aliens, like the truth, may be out there - but perhaps are so far out that there's no hope of receiving even a text message. See article. Note: this article is from 2006.

Oxygen on early Earth and treasure map in search 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 Stars - A new research has suggested that life could have started in the universe 500 million years earlier than it did, but UV radiation suppressed its formation. See article.
g Life - Scientists have found that oxygen and the life that generates it might have enriched the Earth far earlier than currently supposed. The discovery, sure to be controversial, suggests life could arise earlier than now thought on alien planets, too. See article. Note: This article is from 2006.
g Message - Researchers probing the universe for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence got their treasure map in 2006. It came in the form of a list of 10 stars likely to be at the center of planetary systems that could support life. See article.
g Aftermath - A raft of newly unclassified CIA documents reveal that the remote possibility of alien invasion elicited greater fear than a Soviet nuclear attack. See article.

Precursors of life orbiting distant star and looking for microorganisms on Titan

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 have observed what they believe could be the precursors of life in the region around a distant star. See article.
g Abodes - The possibility of an asteroid walloping the planet Mars this month is whetting the appetites of Earth-bound scientists, even as they further refine the space rock's trajectory. See article.
g Life - Finding microorganisms on Titan - or anywhere in the universe - is no easy task. Titan has carbon-based molecules, for example, which is one of the necessary ingredients for life as we know it. But the recipe may be different there than it is here on Earth. See article. Note: This article is from 2006.
g Message - The search for ET has cranked up and scientists need volunteers to help crunch a flood of new data from radio telescopes in California and Puerto Rico. See article.
g Imagining - Alien life has been one of the staples of science fiction since the origins of the genre, and Star Trek, one of its best-known examples, has hardly shied away from it. Yet, while the line above—taken from a memorable (if annoying) parody of the original series—has been indelibly linked to the Star Trek franchise, it is hardly representative of the life forms seen in its various incarnations on the big and small screen. For every unusual alien, be it a vaporous cloud or the silicon-based Horta, Star Trek featured dozens, if not hundreds, of humanoid aliens, differing from humans only through some combination of forehead ridges, crumpled noses, or pointed ears (and almost all speaking flawless English, of course.) Such are the limitations of the makeup and special effects budgets of a TV series, one might argue. Yet even the Star Wars epics, with budgets far larger than any television series, feature a menagerie of aliens not so dissimilar that they could not socialize together at the Mos Eisley cantina. See article.

Detecting signs of extraterrestrial life and aliens as dancing specks of dust

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 - Swiss scientist Michel Mayor, who heads the European team that announced the discovery of a new potentially habitable planet, has his sights set on an even bigger target, detecting signs of extraterrestrial life. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Life - Could alien life exist in the form of dancing specks of dust? According to a new simulation, electrically charged dust can organize itself into DNA-like double helixes that behave in many ways like living organisms, reproducing and passing on information to one another. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Message - Quote of the Day: “There is no doubt that highly intelligent beings exist in our universe, and that they are observing us. However, they are likely to be as far from us as King Canute was from television.” — Sir Patrick Moore

Extraterrestrial artifacts and aliens as a pop-culture phenomenon

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 - Extraterrestrial life is life originating outside of Earth. It is the subject of astrobiology, and its existence remains theoretical. There is no evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by the scientific community. See article.
g Message - When astronauts return to the Moon, they should keep their eyes peeled for extraterrestrial artifacts – pieces of technology from alien civilisations that have wound up on the lunar surface either by chance or design. See article.
g Imagining - From historical myths and legends to fanciful science-fiction tales of little green men and the uncertain possibility of life beyond our planet, Aliens have been a pop-culture phenomenon for centuries now, being portrayed as both harmless curious visitors to threatening monsters with aspirations to take over our planet. See article.

Geologic activity on Saturn’s moons and our possible alien origins

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 - A red dwarf star known as HD189733, about 60 light years from Earth in the constellation Vulpecula, is home to an orbiting planet which now bears the unique trait of being the first extra-solar planet ever to be observed in the visual spectrum from Earth. Using a special kind of polarization filtering, the researchers were able to mask out all other-sourced light and focus only on light reaching us reflected directly from the planet, called HD189733b. See article.
g Abodes - Saturn's moons Tethys and Dione are flinging great streams of particles into space, according to data from the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini mission to Saturn. The discovery suggests the possibility of some sort of geological activity, perhaps even volcanic, on these icy worlds. See article.
g Life - We could have alien origins, say scientists who sent fossilized microscopic life-forms into space and back inside an artificial meteorite. See article.
g Message - Messages sent into space directed at extraterrestrials may have been too boring to earn a reply, say two astrophysicists trying to improve on their previous alien chat lines. See article.

Martian chemistry vs. Martian life and radically different microbes

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 - A furious rate of star formation discovered in a distant galaxy shows that galaxies in the early universe developed either much faster or in a different way from what astronomers have thought. See article.
g Abodes - Chemicals in a Martian meteorite that were once held up as possible evidence of life on ancient Mars were more likely the product of heat, water and chemistry, according to a new study. See article.
g Life - In pursuit of evidence that life arose on Earth more than once, scientists are searching for microbes that are radically different from all known organisms. See article.
g Message - Earthlings could make contact with extraterrestrial beings by the year 2025, two astronomers predict. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.

A New Years Resolution

Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. For the past half-century, we’ve ventured into space as if children wading a few feet into a great ocean. But there are other islands out there — inhabited islands, at that — and now is the time to swim.This blog is dedicated to one event that very well may compel us to becoming a space-faring race: contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. It is a serious site; you won’t find a discussion of UFOs and the Fifth Dimension’s denizens here. Instead, it updates readers daily of the latest scientific advances in a number of fields related to the multidisciplinary study of astrobiology. Its sections are loosely arranged around the now famous Drake equation, developed by astronomer Frank Drake, who conducted the first modern search for extraterrestrial life in 1960.The equation seeks to determine the number of technological civilizations that might exist among the stars:R * FP * NE * FL * FI * FC * LN = NIn the equation, R is the mean rate of star formation averaged over the lifetime of the galaxy; FP the fraction of stars with planetary systems; NE the mean number of planets per system with environments suitable for the origin of life; FL the fraction of such planets on which life does develop; FI the fraction of such planets on which intelligent life rises during the lifetime of the local sun; FC the fraction of planets on which advanced technical civilizations rises; L the lifetime of this technical civilization; and N the number of advanced technical civilizations emitting detectable radio signals. This blog’s sections and the general topics addressed in each one include:
g Stars - Cosmology and astronomy, which affect our understanding of the mean rate of star formation averaged over the lifetime of the galaxy and the fraction of stars with planetary systems, or R and FP in the equation
g Abodes - Geology and Earth climate, which helps us grasp the mean number of planets per system with environments suitable for the origin of life, or NE in the equation
g Life - Biology, especially the evolution of life, as well as chemistry and other sciences that advance our understanding of the fraction of such planets on which life does develop, or FL in the equation
g Intelligence - How homo sapiens and, more generally, intelligence evolves, to help us determine the fraction of such planets on which intelligent life rises during the lifetime of the local sun, or FI in the equation
g Message - A discussion of our attempts to communicate with our other intelligences, to increase our knowledge of the fraction of planets on which advanced technical civilizations rises, or FC in the equation
g Cosmicus - Humanity's climb to the status of a space-faring civilization, a necessary step to increase the lifetime of this technical civilization, or L in the equation; the term “cosmicus” comes from the father of Russian astronautics, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who envisioned humanity becoming “homo cosmicus” or a space-faring civilization — we will become “homo cosmicus” when the first human is born, lives, grows old and dies in space, returning to Earth only as a visitor
g Learning - Science education, as humanity's future and astrobiology's success depends upon a science-literate youth and public; it also is a necessary step to increase the lifetime of this technical civilization, or L in the equation.
g Imagining - This section consists of musings on the possibilities of science fiction aliens as science fiction offers a literary portal for us to examine elements of the Drake Equation.
g Aftermath - Looking beyond the Drake Equation is perhaps the most important question that will face humanity in the century ahead: “What will happen after we make contact with aliens?” This section offers the latest speculationsI hope each of you will return daily to stay current with astrobiology — and that it may inspire you to work toward cosmicus.