Technological advances in searches for ETI and comparing human/chimp genomes

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Life - Evolution uses every chance it gets to try something new. Dutch researcher Anneke Rijpkema investigated how petunia flowers are formed and discovered that nature is even more varied than the naked eye can spot. The genes involved in flower formation can function differently in different species. Evolution has discovered a system that works, but within that system it continues to innovate. See article.
g Intelligence - Humans share at least 97 percent of their genes with chimpanzees, but, as a new study of transcription factors makes clear, what you have in your genome may be less important than how you use it. See article.
g Message - Searches for extraterrestrial intelligence are about to expand into new realms, thanks to new advances in technology — and new thinking. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - The sight of a cockroach scurrying for cover may be nauseating, but the insect is also a biological and engineering marvel, and is providing researchers at Oregon State University with what they call "bioinspiration" in a quest to build the world's first legged robot that is capable of running effortlessly over rough terrain. See article.
g Aftermath - How would proof of extraterrestrial intelligence affect humanity’s “world” view? Astronomer Steve Dick discusses the matter in this transcribed Smithsonian Institute lecture, from 1999.

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Exoplanet discovered around exotic binary and a very slow diplomatic pouch to ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - A team of Chinese astronomers have discovered a giant planet close to the exotic binary star system QS Virginis. Although dormant now, in the future the two stars will one day erupt in a violent nova outburst. See article.
g Life - Recent research indicates that early prokaryotes merged to create cyanobacteria. See article.
g Intelligence - A team of archaeologists has identified traces of alcohol in prehistoric sites, which suggests that the thirst for a brew was an incentive for Neolithic man to start growing crops. See article.
g Aftermath - For the last million years or so, mankind's principal diplomatic interest has been to handle social intercourse on his own planet. Interaction with other worlds’ societies was the province of science fiction. That soon may change. Modern science and technology suggest that a transmutation of past fiction to present reality could be imminent. If so, the dynamics of interaction will surely be far different than the alien encounters routinely portrayed in the cinema and on television. The ideas developed more than a century ago by European novelists such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, while imaginative, were not prescient. The aliens won't come here, and we won't go there. Our interaction will be a distant one, conducted by the electronic equivalent of very slow diplomatic pouch. See article.

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Feeding on ancient carbon and ‘The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Glaciers along the Gulf of Alaska are enriching stream and near shore marine ecosystems from a surprising source - ancient carbon contained in glacial runoff, researchers from four universities and the U.S. Forest Service report. See article.
g Life - Scientists have shown for the first time that insects, like mammals, use vision rather than touch to find footholds. They made the discovery thanks to high-speed video cameras - technology the BBC uses to capture its stunning wildlife footage - that they used to film desert locusts stepping along the rungs of a miniature ladder. See article.
g Aftermath - Here’s a classic I stumbled across online: Carl Sagan’s 1978 article “The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” Few other pieces so eloquently capture the essential, human purpose behind astrobiology and SETI. See article.

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Mystery of blue stragglers and SETI pioneers

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - For almost 50 years, astronomers have puzzled over the youthful appearance of stars known as blue stragglers. See article.
g Abodes - Like sugar plum fairies in "The Nutcracker," the moons of Saturn performed a celestial ballet before the eyes of NASA's Cassini spacecraft. New movies frame the moons' silent dance against the majestic sweep of the planet's rings and show as many as four moons gliding around one another. See article.
g Intelligence - Maternal behavior itself can trigger the development of new neurons in the maternal brain independent of whether the female was pregnant or has nursed, according to a study released by researchers. See article.
g Message - Book alert: Here’s an oldie but goodie worth picking up — “SETI Pioneers: Scientists Talk About Their Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” by David W. Swift. This instructive book (by a University of Hawaii sociologist) compiles Q & A interviews with 17 researchers, mostly American, who are involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. While the field, which did not attract attention from scientists until 1959, remains a fledgling discipline, it now draws physicists, astronomers, electrical engineers, chemists and an aerospace physician into its orbit. Scientists featured here discuss current methods used to investigate ETI, and others they hope to develop, but general readers will most likely value the impact of their personalities — modest, open, thoughtful, occasionally waggish — above talk of technicalities.
g Cosmicus - Quote of the Day: “To know there was intelligent life – waiting for us out in the galaxy - … that would stimulate our curiosity, our drive to get there, more than anything else would.” – Fredric Brown, “The Lights in the Sky are Stars”

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Star vampirism and ‘Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe’

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Vampirism not only revives the careers of Hollywood stars, it appears it can also revive stars of a celestial nature. See article.
g Life - It's commonly known that plants interact with each other on an everyday basis: they shade each other out or take up nutrients from the soil before neighboring plants can get them. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan have learned that plants also respond to the past. See article.
g Message - Here’s an intriguing plan: Using NASA’s Terrestrial Planet Finder for Optical SETI. See paper. Note: This paper is from 2000.
g Cosmicus - To travel to our neighboring stars as practically as envisioned by science fiction, breakthroughs in science are required. One of these breakthroughs is to discover a self-contained means of propulsion that requires no propellant. To chart a path toward such a discovery, seven hypothetical space drives are presented to illustrate the specific unsolved challenges and associated research objectives toward this ambition. See NASA paper. Note: This paper is from 1996.
g Aftermath - Book alert: Jeff Foust, editor and publisher of The Space Review, reviews Bruce Jakosky’s “Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe”, saying, “A fair amount has been written in recent years about the emerging science of astrobiology: the search for life, intelligent or otherwise, on other worlds in this and other solar systems. Far less, though, has been written about the interplay of astrobiology and the sciences that constitute this multidisciplinary field with broader society—a factor that could become critical should astrobiologists one day discover evidence of life beyond Earth. That, and many other far-reaching issues associated with astrobiology, are tackled by University of Colorado scientist Bruce Jakosky in Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe”.

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Brown dwarfs more common than thought and SETI’s radio telescopes

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Two brown dwarf-sized objects orbiting a giant old star show that planets may assemble around stars more quickly and efficiently than anyone thought possible, according to an international team of astronomers. See article.
g Abodes - The faint tug of the sun and moon on the San Andreas Fault stimulates tremors deep underground, suggesting that the rock 15 miles below is lubricated with highly pressurized water that allows the rock to slip with little effort, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, seismologists. See article.
g Life - The Earth is estimated to have about a nonillion (1030) microbes in, on, around, and under it, comprised of an unknown but very large number of distinct species. Despite the widespread availability of microbial genome data - close to 2,000 microbes have been and are being decoded to date - a vast unknown realm awaits scientists intent on exploring microorganisms that inhabit this "undiscovered country." See article.
g Intelligence - Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a major discovery in how the brain encodes memories. The finding, published in the Dec. 24 issue of the journal Neuron, could eventually lead to the development of new drugs to aid memory. See article.
g Message - The wide dishes, 20 feet across and raised high on their pedestals, creaked and groaned as the winds from an approaching snowstorm pushed into this highland valley. Forty-two in all, the radio telescopes laid out in view of some of California's tallest mountains look otherworldly, and now their sounds conjured up visions of deep-space denizens as well. See article.
g Cosmicus - Quote of the day: (about humanity reaching the stars) “No, you won’t see it. But you’re part of it, as you’re part of mankind, and you can help. For as long as you live, you can help push, since you can’t ride. You can help push rockets and men toward the stars.” – Fredric Brown, “The Lights in the Sky are Stars”
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.

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Life arising in shallow waters and what the Star of Bethlehem might have been

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - In finding answers to the mystery of the origin of life, scientists may not have to dig too deep. New research is shedding light on shallower waters as a possible location for where life on Earth began. See article.
g Message - Here’s a neat piece: an interview with Frank Drake, the astronomer and pioneer who flipped the "on" switch for Project Ozma, the first modern “SETI” project. See article. Note: The interview is from 2000.
g Cosmicus - Two missions within the ExoMars Programme have been approved by the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA). Both missions, the first orbiting about the planet and the second roving on the surface, will look for potential life on the planet. See article.
g Learning - Suppose the Star of Bethlehem was an actual astronomical event. Are there phenomena in space that could explain what the wise men saw? Can we find evidence beyond the Scriptures of its existence? See article.
g Aftermath - To create interstellar messages that have a realistic chance of being understood across interstellar distances, we need to identify some information shared by humans and extraterrestrials. We need to identify a foundation for establishing a universal language that will let us bridge the gap between our world and theirs, all without the convenience of face-to-face contact. See article. Note: This article is from 2002.

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Plausibility of moon from ‘Avatar’ and Project Ozma’s 50th anniversary

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - New research indicates that life-bearing moons, such as those featured in Hollywood blockbusters, might be possible. If astronomers discover such a moon nearby, the James Webb Telescope may be able to study its atmospheres and detect key gases like carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor. See article.
g Message - April 2010 will mark the 50th anniversary of the start of Project Ozma, and those involved in the search for extraterrestrial life, or SETI, will be raising a glass. Not only did the experiment inspire countless people to continue the search, it brought alien-hunting into the mainstream and arguably seeded the science of astrobiology. See article.
g Cosmicus - Quote of the Day: “… when you’re climbing a staircase to a room – an infinite room – filled with all the treasures of the universe, should you stop climbing just because you don’t find a handful of treasure on the first two or three steps?” – Fredric Brown, “The Lights in the Sky are Stars”
g Learning - This video from the Science and Technology Chat series introduces astrobiology, a field of science concerned with finding life elsewhere in the universe. Learn how astrobiologists study the conditions in which life emerged on Earth and complex organisms evolved, and how this knowledge helps them in their search for other planetary bodies capable of fostering life. The video features remote-sensing technologies, such as satellites, and mechanical rovers that can collect data from other planets or moons to assist these scientists in their search.
g Aftermath - If we encountered an intelligent species on another planet, could we understand them? In turn, could extrasolar species decipher one of our 8,000 terrestrial languages in use today? See article. Note: This article is from 2004.

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Could galactic empires exist and new ideas about magnetic loops

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Intelligence - Scientists believe they have worked out the dimensions of the most attractive female face. See article.
g Message - Could galactic empires exist? In a previous article, we noted that there has been plenty of time for aliens keen on colonizing the Milky Way to pull it off. However, we see no signs of galactic federation ("Star Trek" aside). Why does the cosmos look so untouched and unconquered? What is keeping advanced extraterrestrials from claiming every star system in sight? See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - The magnetic fields generated by electric currents in wires are typically depicted as neat closed loops, but this may be more the exception than the rule. See article.
g Aftermath - Quote of the Day: "We have to mentally prepare ourselves for this big shock — perhaps even being dethroned from the center of the universe, the biological universe — when we discover evidence of life in outer space. At that point, there'll be another Copernican revolution, a biological Copernican revolution when we realize that we're not the only game in town." — Michio Kaku

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Did galactic tides prompt life on Earth and why the search for ETI matters

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - A galactic tide is defined in the international astronomical community as a tidal force that is generated by a galaxy on surrounding dwarf companions, or even its own solar systems and their asteroid belts. The Milky Way, being the massive galaxy that it is, produces large amounts of tidal forces of its own, which also act on our solar system, and especially on the Oort Comet Cloud, a hypothesized spherical cloud of comets and other space rocks that lies roughly 50,000 AU from the Sun. Some experts have even recently proposed that these interactions may have prompted life on Earth. See article.
g Abodes - New research, focusing on shallow hydrothermal vents, is shedding light on a possible location for where life on Earth began. See article.
g Life - For a brief span of time, about 542 million years ago, the world belonged to the Ediacarans, a group of life forms so physiologically unique that biologists have considered giving them their own taxonomic kingdom. See article.
g Intelligence - Crows have shown that two tools are better than one when it comes to problem solving, scientists say. See article.
g Message - WHAT is the biggest question in science? The origin of consciousness? How to combine quantum mechanics with general relativity? These are big, but arguably there's a bigger one: is there anyone out there? See article.
g Cosmicus - Quote of the Day: “Space is the final frontier for humankind … It is the place that we will always know the least about because of its almost limitless extent. But it also offers the potential of almost unlimited opportunity.” – Brian Schmidt, astrophysicist
g Aftermath - If we do make contact with extraterrestrials, they’ll probably be a Type II or III Kardashev civilization. What’s a Kardashev civilization? Here’s a related story on the Kardashev scale.

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Concepts for interstellar propulsion systems and how to talk back to extraterrestrials

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - A new method of detecting past comet strikes on Earth could help scientists understand how frequent large impacts were in the past. The frequency of impacts could be used to determine the likelihood of future, catastrophic impacts. 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 - What are some ideas - based on the sciences that do exist today - that have been suggested over the years for interstellar travel? See article.
g Aftermath - Douglas Vakoch is one of a relatively small collection of scientists addressing the question of how to talk back to extraterrestrials. While most researchers involved in the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence come from physics and engineering backgrounds, Vakoch draws on a background in linguistics, sociology and psychology to explore SETI-related issues. Here’s an interview with him from 2003 about communicating with ET.

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First glimpse of Earth’s hidden mountain ranges

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - What is a coronal mass ejection – an explosion equal to 1 billion hydrogen bombs that regularly strikes the Earth? See article.
g Abodes - Scientists who mapped one of the most enigmatic mountain ranges on Earth have given a first glimpse of their data. See article.
g Intelligence - One group of birds - the corvids - has astonished scientists with extraordinary feats of memory, an ability to employ complex social reasoning and, perhaps most strikingly, a remarkable aptitude for crafting and using tools. See article.
g Aftermath - Quote of the Day: "He, who through vast immensity can pierce,/See worlds on worlds compose one universe,/Observe how system into system runs,/What other planets circle other suns,/What varied Being peoples every star,/May tell why Heaven has made us as we are." — Alexander Pope

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Planet only 2.7 times size of Earth discovered and searching for alien probes

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Scientists have reported the detection of signals that could indicate the presence of dark matter. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have discovered a 'super-Earth' orbiting a distant star using off-the-Shelf, amateur technology. The finding shows how low-cost technologies can aid in the search for habitable worlds. The planet, GJ1214b, has a radius only 2.7 times that of Earth and may contain water and a gaseous atmosphere. See article.
g Intelligence - An octopus and its coconut-carrying antics have surprised scientists. See article.
g Message - Just as our own robots reach out beyond the solar system, searching for life elsewhere may well involve hailing some kind of space artifact in our own neighborhood. At least one style of life search is about looking for the technological evidence of life, rather than its wet biology. See article. Note: This article is from July 2004.
g Learning - David Morrison is upset. According to British newspaper, The Independent, Dr. Morrison, a respected astronomer in NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, admitted to receiving up to 1,000 enquiries and e-mails concerning the end of the world. See article.
g Aftermath - Quote of the Day: "The possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth … . Few important subjects are so data-poor, so subject to unwarranted and biased extrapolations - and so caught up in mankind's ultimate destiny - as is this one." — David Brin

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How photosynthesis developed and how Jodie Foster would know that she’s listening to ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Astronomers have discovered as many as six low-mass planets around two nearby, sun-like stars. The findings indicate that low-mass planets could be common around nearby stars. See article.
g Life - Many scientists believe that photosynthesis is responsible for oxygenating Earth's atmosphere and, ultimately, allowing for the evolution of complex organisms. New research is beginning to help scientists understand just how photosynthesis developed by studying extremophiles that perform the process in harsh environments. See article.
g Message - Picture Jodie Foster, her eyes closed and a mildly bored look on her face. She’s wearing earphones and listening to the dull roar of the cosmos. Now imagine Jodie 20 seconds later, when she hears something sounding like an unpleasant accident in the Boston Pops’ percussion section. Jodie knows she’s scored big: The aliens are on the air. Still, how can she be sure she’s picked up intelligence, and not just the cosmic gurgle of a completely natural object? How can she know she’s not merely harkening to the ticking beat of a pulsar, the whoosh of a quasar, or perhaps the lasing bray of a molecular gas cloud? See article.
g Aftermath - Quote of the Day: "We would be foolish and negligent if we did not try to anticipate such reactions (of first contact) and make careful preparations." — Albert Harrison

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Super-Earths discovered around Sun-like stars and sending interstellar messages to ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - An international team of planet hunters has discovered as many as six low-mass planets around two nearby Sun-like stars, including two "super-Earths" with masses 5 and 7.5 times the mass of Earth. See article.
g Life - The sequences of nonsense DNA that interrupt genes could be far more important to the evolution of genomes than previously thought. See article.
g Message - Interstellar communication took a giant leap forward in 2003 when a Ukrainian space center sent several messages across the cosmos hoping to reach extraterrestrials 30-40 light years away. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Learning - Over and over again, science teachers at a recent convention remarked that their students are always asking about SETI and astronomy. Kids have a keen interest in astronomy, space sciences, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. What's out there? Are we alone? Ironically, this interest is not uniformly reflected in the state science education standards across the USA and these state standards drive textbook content. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Aftermath - Quote of the Day: "If we ever establish contact with extraterrestrial life, it will reveal to us our true place in the universe, and with that comes the beginnings of wisdom." — Isaac Asimov

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Protoplanetary discs of the Orion Nebula and the psychology of interstellar communication

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - A collection of 30 never-before-released images of embryonic planetary systems in the Orion Nebula are the highlight of the longest single Hubble Space Telescope project ever dedicated to the topic of star and planet formation. Also known as proplyds, or protoplanetary discs, these modest blobs surrounding baby stars are shedding light on the mechanism behind planet formation. See article.
g Life - A team of researchers from the Astrobiology Centre has shown that hydrogen cyanide, urea and other substances considered essential to the formation of the most basic biological molecules can be obtained from the salt Prussian blue. See article.
g Cosmicus - Quote of the Day: “Realizing that outside your spacecraft or spacesuit you would not survive more than 15 seconds, you sense the extreme hostility of most of the universe towards life. Seeing the thinness of our atmosphere and realizing that this is all that separates us from the hostility of space, you may feel a new regard for the fragility of life on our planet.” – Jeffrey Hoffman, NASA space shuttle astronaut
g Imagining - Looking for some classic science fiction alien movies? Here’s a fairly exhaustive list, with brief explanations of each. Now in how each one the aliens really are just mythical monsters that play on human psychology (specifically fear or revulsion). Such films really say less about the evolution of potential extraterrestrial lifeforms and civilizations than about the evolution of human beings and our culture.
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 our title: "Minds and Millennia: The Psychology of Interstellar Communication." See article.

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‘Aliens’ from Earth’s deep set and rethinking plans for managing first contact

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - ESA's Mars Express orbiter has captured the first image to show Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos together in a single frame. The image will help scientists refine orbit models of the two moons. See article.
g Life - Astrobiologists have not yet found alien life on other planets. But the fossil record has evidence of aliens of another sort: the Ediacarans that lived on Earth millions of years ago. See article.
g Message - In 1974, astronomers sent the "Arecibo message," a binary-coded signal that decodes to a graphic illustrating some basic characteristics of Earth. The message was intended more to demonstrate the power of the telescope than to contact distant civilizations. Cornell's 25th anniversary announcement includes a decoded explanation and more information about what the scientists were thinking. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Aftermath - Astrobiology is more than an esteemed partner conducting routine grunt work to increase our confidence that SETI will lead to a confirmed detection. Advances in astrobiology force us to rethink our search strategies and our plans for managing contact and its aftermath. See article.

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Determining potential for habitable environments on giant giants’ moons and how the Drake Equation stacks up today

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have spotted a potential Type Ia supernova in our own galaxy, a ticking time bomb about 25,000 light years away. See article.
g Abodes - Two new studies have shed some light on a centuries-old mystery surrounding Saturn's moon Iapetus. The studies also provide new information about the Saturn system and how the moons and rings of the giant planet interact. This is important in determining the potential for habitable environments on moons around giant planets. See article.
g Message - In 1961 the Drake Equation launched the search for other civilizations among the stars. How does it look today? What is the chance of finding aliens? See article.
g Aftermath - What are the theological implications of a universe willed with many intelligent beings from many other worlds? See article.

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Origins of photosynthesis and video course on astrobiology

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, discusses issues surrounding the UN climate conference happening in Copenhagen. See article.
g Life - ‘Extreme’ genes are shedding light on the origins of photosynthesis. See article.
g Message - Here’s an interesting paper, “The Temporal Aspect of the Drake Equation and SETI”, which critically investigate some evolutionary aspects of the famous Drake equation. Note: This paper is from 2003.
g Learning - NASA research scientist Lynn Rothschild and several guest speakers discuss issues of astrobiology and space exploration in this neat video course from Stanford University. See course.
g Aftermath - The Fire Officer’s Guide to Disaster Control, used to train Firefighter’s at the National Fire Academy in Maryland, contains a chapter on what firefighters should do if they encounte a crashed extraterrestrial craft.

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Saturn’s hexagon reappears and looking for ET using near-infrared laser communications

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - After waiting years for the sun to illuminate Saturn's north pole again, cameras aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft have captured the most detailed images yet of the intriguing hexagon shape crowning the planet. See article.
g Message - What are the advantages of looking for ET using near-infrared laser communications? There’s a good explanation at a University of Kentucky Web site.
g Cosmicus - Quote of the Day: “Being in space evokes a sense of profound awe, in the deepest sense of the word … It is not dissimilar to what many people feel on high mountains, when you have to work hard in an unforgiving environment and take certain risks to gain the summit. On the high ground, your view is expanded. Your mind is cleared.” – Jeffrey Hoffman, NASA space shuttle astronaut
g Learning - A Los Altos, Calif., student spent her summer immersed in hands-on learning as she worked side-by-side with NASA researchers. See article.
g Aftermath - 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.

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New star discovered in Big Dipper and clues left by extinct alien races

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astrophysicists discovered a red dwarf star orbiting one of the illuminated bodies in the Big Dipper constellation. See article.
g Abodes - Sinuous channels on the Martian surface may be evidence of relatively recent rainfall. Researchers plan to test this hypothesis by studying sinuous streams on Earth. See article.
g Life - Ancient DNA retrieved from extinct horse species from around the world has challenged one of the textbook examples of evolution - the fossil record of the horse family Equidae over the past 55 million years. See article.
g Intelligence - U.S. researchers have found a drug-free way to block fearful memories, opening up the possibility of new treatment approaches for problems such as post traumatic stress disorder. See article.
g Message - SETI isn’t just an American endeavor. The Southern SERENDIP project is using the Parkes radio telescope in Australia to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. Click here for an overview and additional links.
g Cosmicus - Florida's space economy is threatened by the space shuttle's end, civic leaders say. See article.
g Aftermath - How might explorers determine what happened to an extinct alien race based on the clues they left behind on their home planet? See article.

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Martian methane not from meteors and ‘Detectability of Extraterrestrial Technological Activities’

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Scientists have ruled out the possibility that methane is delivered to Mars by meteorites, raising fresh hopes that the gas might be generated by life on the red planet. See article.
g Life - In a laboratory set up to simulate conditions in space, NASA scientists were able to produce a key component of RNA, which is found in the genetic makeup of all living organisms on Earth. See article.
g Message - “If we want to find evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, we must work out an observational strategy for detecting this evidence in order to establish the various physical quantities in which it involves,” according to the paper “Detectability of Extraterrestrial Technological Activities”. “This information must be carefully analyzed so that it is neither over-interpreted nor overlooked and can be checked by independent researchers.” Read the entire paper online. Note: This paper was presented in 1992.
g Cosmicus - Most of the light from stars and other objects like planets in the universe is doubly invisible. It comes in the form of infrared, or heat radiation, with wavelengths too long for our eyes to pick up. Moreover, most infrared wavelengths do not penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere to get to our unseeing eyes. So to take a proper inventory of cosmic shenanigans, astronomers have had to take to space. On Friday, they will get a little more help when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is scheduled to launch the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as early as 9:09 a.m., Eastern time. See article.
g Learning - Here’s something neat: an online seminar that is an introduction to astrobiology.
g Aftermath - If some day we decide to transmit intentional messages to the stars, rather than solely listen as current SETI programs do, what would we say? What sort of first impression would we want to give our celestial correspondents? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.

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Shape of our solar system and social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - New results from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have overturned a decades-old belief about the shape of our solar system. The findings yield important information about the fundamental traits of our solar system. See article.
g Message - Here are some moving excerpts from the written testimony submitted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Department of Astrophysics and Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, to the "Life in the Universe" hearings held by the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics in 2001.
g Cosmicus - Members of NASA’s IceBite team are studying the only spot on Earth where the terrain resembles that of the Phoenix landing site on Mars. The place: a mile above sea level in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. Click the Ask a Scientist button above to ask questions of the science team in the field. See article.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up “Sharing the Universe,” by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials. See reviews.

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First commercial suborbital spaceship up close and linguistic issues of contact with ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - NASA's Dawn spacecraft is making progress through the solar system toward the dwarf planets Vesta and Ceres. By studying these mysterious worlds, Dawn will unlock secrets about the formation of the solar system. The information will help astrobiologists understand how Earth became a habitable world for life as we know it. See article.
g Message - Phoning home intergalactically may have one natural prerequisite if a civilization is hoping to connect: timing their precursor signal or 'ring' so that we might know that they're broadcasting. Dr. Robin Corbet, of the Universities' Space Research Association, discusses his research findings on Synchronized SETI here. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Cosmicus - Hundreds of paying space tourists and travel agents, rocket geeks and glitterati have gathered in the California desert town of Mojave to see what's likely to be the first commercial suborbital spaceship up close. 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.

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Giant bands of iron and the link between anthropocentrism and belief in ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have spied a distant black hole in the act of creating the galaxy that will eventually become its home. See article.
g Abodes - No one knows why massive formations of banded iron — some ultimately hundreds of kilometers long, like a sleeping giant’s suspenders — mysteriously began precipitating on Earth’s surface about 3.5 billion years ago. Or why, almost 2 billion years later, the precipitation ceased. See article.
g Message - Just how does SETI work? Here’s a good primer for those looking to get a basic overview.
g Learning - It's time for a holiday telescope buying guide. See article.
g Aftermath - The more anthropocentric a person is, the less likely he is to believe that life exists beyond Earth. See article.

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First direct detection of a planet-like object orbiting a sun-like star and looking for Bracewell probes

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have made the first direct detection of a planet-like object orbiting a sun-like star. The finding is a step forward for scientists searching for habitable worlds around distant stars. See article.
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, discusses the recent set of email messages sent by the Director of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit that were hacked and uploaded to a public Web site. The emails have sparked a great deal of debate concerning climate change. See article.
g Message - To contact an alien civilization, humanity might want to consider a Bracewell probe — a hypothetical concept for an autonomous interstellar space probe dispatched for the express purpose of communication with (an) alien civilization(s). It was proposed by Ronald N. Bracewell in a 1960 paper, as an alternative to interstellar radio communication between widely separated civilizations. See article.
g Aftermath - It was not suggested outside of science fiction — and there only after the 1890s — that extraterrestrials might come to Earth, except for a few believers in interplanetary spirit travel by mortals (an idea now well established among occultists). Among these was the well-known Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck, who, in what was perhaps the earliest conception of ETs as “gods from outer space,” reasoned that since no beings from other worlds have used their advanced science to abolish suffering on Earth, “Is there not reason to fear that we are forever alone in the universe, and that no other world has ever been more intelligent or better than our own?” But this, the first serious “Where are they?” argument, was not known to the general public and in any case would not have carried weight, since it depended on the concept of disembodied spirits. Physical contact between worlds was not thought possible outside of fiction. See article.


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Food on Titan and why SETI prefers radio

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have found a super-duper supernova. See article.
g Abodes - New calculations have suggested that Saturn’s moon Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes are loaded with acetylene, a chemical some scientists say could serve as food for cold-resistant organisms. See article.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See article. Note: This article is from 1996.
g Aftermath - While most depictions of extraterrestrials are confined to science fiction, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that some form of alien life exists somewhere in the universe, according to a new survey. See article.

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Returning Martian soil samples to Earth and how the Muslim faith would react to ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Researchers have suggested that Saturn's orbit around the Sun may be responsible for the uneven distribution of methane and ethane lakes over the polar regions of the planet's moon, Titan. The process resulting from Saturn's orbit may be similar to “astronomical forcing” of Earth's climate, which drives ice-age cycles. See article.
g Message - Is there any good reason to look for intelligently generated extraterrestrial emissions in the spectrum at Pi GHz or 3.141...GHz. See article.
g Learning - Looking for star maps? Here are some neat, free sites: 3D map of major stars out to 27 light years; Site for developing 3D maps with variety of 2D maps (mainly from science fiction); 2D map for nearby star systems with planets; 2D map for nearby star systems (though I’ve seen NASA maps that are better); Celestia (Not so much a map but a tour through the universe - it’s very cool and complete). Happy exploring!
g Cosmicus - When robotic spacecraft bring a sample of Mars back to Earth, scientists will need specially-designed facilities to study the samples and prevent them from escaping to the outside world. See article.
g Aftermath - How would believers in the Muslim faith generally react to an announcement that we’ve made contact with an extraterrestrial civilization? See article.

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Super Earths better for life and Educate to Innovate initiative

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Super Earths are named for their size, but these planets – which range from about 2 to 10 Earth masses – could be superior to the Earth when it comes to sustaining life. They could also provide an answer to the ‘Fermi Paradox’: Why haven’t we been visited by aliens? See article.
g Message - Book alert: As many earthlings already know - including more than 2 million computer users with firsthand experience - our best hope for finding extraterrestrial intelligence might just lie with an ingenious little screensaver. So it's not surprising that “Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations (by Brian S. McConnell), an introduction to searching for and communicating with intelligent life, begins with some of the details behind UC Berkeley's groundbreaking, massively distributed SETI@home project, which processes intergalactic noise for pennies on the teraflop. But that's just the start of the story. Inventor and software developer Brian McConnell continues with an overview of whether and why we might find something out there, who's doing what to look for it (including the folks at Berkeley), and - once some ET picks up on the other end--what we might say and how we might say it.
g Learning - In his latest bid to spotlight science education, President Obama last week kicked off an “Educate to Innovate” campaign to help boost US students from middle-of-the- pack mediocrity internationally in science and math achievement to the head of the class over the next decade. See article.
g Aftermath - An intriguing conference is being held at NASA Ames: “Contact: Culture of the Imagination”. Contact is a unique interdisciplinary conference that brings together some of the foremost international social and space scientists, science fiction writers and artists to exchange ideas, stimulate new perspectives and encourage serious, creative speculation about humanity's future ... onworld and offworld.

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Astrobiology and sustainability; how proof of ETI would affect humanity’s ‘world’ view

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - We live in a cosmic shooting gallery. In Phil Plait's “Death from the Skies”, he lays out the dangers of a massive impact: destructive shockwaves, tsunamis, flash fires, atmospheric darkening … The scenario isn't pretty should a big one come our way. Fortunately, we may have a silent guardian: Jupiter. See article.
g Life - Scientists have reexamined the 1996 finding that a meteorite contains evidence that life may have existed on ancient Mars. The study argues that life remains the most plausible explanation for the materials and structures found in the meteorite. See article.
g Intelligence - Life on a global biosphere basis is substantiated in the form of organics and organisms, and defined as the intermediate forms (briefly expressed as CH2O) hovering between the reduced (CH4, methane) and (CO2, carbon dioxide) ends, different from the classical definition of life as a complex organization maintaining ordered structure and information. Both definitions consider sustenance of life meant as protection of life against chaos through an input of external energy. The CH2O-life connection is maintained as long as the supply of H and O lasts, which is in turn are provided by the splitting of the water molecule H2O. Water is split by electricity, as well-known from school-level experiments, and by solar radiation and geothermal heat on a global scale. In other words, the Sun’s radiation and the Earth’s heat as well as radioactivity split water to supply H and O for continued existence of life on the Earth. These photochemical, radiochemical and geothermal processes have influences on the evolution and current composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, compared with those of Venus and Mars, and influences on the planetary climatology. This view of life may be applicable to the “search-for-life in space” and to sustainability assessment of astrobiological habitats. See paper.
g Message - When it comes to signaling across space, power is paramount. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Learning - The scientific community today needs professionals who can effectively work across the traditional boundaries of academic disciplines. See article.
g Aftermath - How would proof of extraterrestrial intelligence affect humanity’s “world” view? Astronomer Steve Dick discusses the matter in this transcribed Smithsonian Institute lecture, from 1999.

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Particle accelerator sets energy record (and we’re still here) and a slow diplomatic pouch to ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Our Milky Way Galaxy is unusual in that it is one of the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe. Our Solar System also seems to have qualities that make it rather unique. According to astronomy professor Guillermo Gonzalez, these qualities make the Sun one of the few stars in the Galaxy capable of supporting complex life. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Abodes - Quote of the Day: “The modern Earth may be the worst template we could use in searching for life elsewhere.” – Caleb Scharf
g Message - Chances are, there is life beyond Earth. But if anyone makes contact, the messages may be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - This weekend the CERN tweeted that the LHC had reached an energy of 1.18TeV, a record for Earth-bound particle accelerators — and we are all still here. So, when are we going to see some physics? See article.
g Learning - Hopefully you received (or gave!) some great astronomy gifts this holiday season. Astronomy.com offers a nice collection of articles introducing newcomers to the field, such as how to read star maps and how to use that new telescope. See article.
g Aftermath - For the last million years or so, mankind's principal diplomatic interest has been to handle social intercourse on his own planet. Interaction with other worlds’ societies was the province of science fiction. That soon may change. Modern science and technology suggest that a transmutation of past fiction to present reality could be imminent. If so, the dynamics of interaction will surely be far different than the alien encounters routinely portrayed in the cinema and on television. The ideas developed more than a century ago by European novelists such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, while imaginative, were not prescient. The aliens won't come here, and we won't go there. Our interaction will be a distant one, conducted by the electronic equivalent of very slow diplomatic pouch. See article.

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Past climate of Mars and the Rio Scale for ETI detection

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Scientists recently used an innovative computer program to produce a more detailed global map of valley networks on Mars. The results are consistent with past climate scenarios that include precipitation and an ocean in the Martian north. See article.
g Life - Scientists recently inventoried an astonishing abundance of deep sea species that have never known sunlight. These organisms have managed to live in frigid depths of up to 5,000 meters below the ocean. The study may help astrobiologists understand how life could survive in oceans on other worlds. See article.
g Message - What are the chances that an alien signal has been sent our way just at the right moment to splash upon our antennas during that brief interval? If the extraterrestrials beam their broadcasts to the whole galaxy (or at least a big chunk of it), the chances are 100 percent. See article.
g Cosmicus - Astronomers studying pictures sent back by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), currently circling the Red Planet, say that an intriguing clump of depressions in the Martian soils could be the entries to an underground cave system. The underground refuges could be supporting microscopic life forms that were driven away from the surface when the planet lost its water, billions of years ago. In the future, as space agencies ponder manned explorations to the planet, these underground caverns could prove to be a wonderful refuge in which astronauts could take shelter from the harsh conditions on the surface of Mars. See article.
g Aftermath - A SETI detection will have important consequences for society. So at the International Astronautics Federation’s annual get-together in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago, Hungarian astronomer Ivan Almar and SETI Institute researcher Jill Tarter proposed the Rio Scale for ranking both the importance and credibility of claims that evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence has been found. See article.

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Exoworld orbits in opposite direction of star and consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - New research shows that an unusual mix of stars at the center of our galaxy might be the remnants of a dwarf galaxy that merged with the Milky Way long ago. The findings could help astrobiolgists understand how galaxies evolve and, ultimately, the processes behind solar system and planet formation. See article.
g Abodes - The exoplanet HAT-P-7b has been observed to have a very curious orbit. It either has a highly tilted orbit – passing almost over the poles of its parent star, HAT-P-7 - or a retrograde orbit; that is, orbiting in the opposite direction of its parent star. See article.
g Life - For astrobiologists, it is very important to distinguish between living and inert beings. See article.
g Message - The search for extraterrestrial visitation is motivated not only by the writings of other authors on the subject of interstellar probes, but also by the awareness of the progression of our own probe technology. Included in this awareness are Earth's advancements in communication technology, growing understanding of exobiology and ongoing research of new possibilities to enable travel across vast distances. See article.
g Cosmicus - How we define "exploration" may set the success or failure of NASA's future. See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: In their November 2003 book “In Cosmic Company: The Search for Life in the Universe,” authors Seth Shostak and Alex Barnett ponder the possibility of alien life and the consequences of receiving a signal from the cosmos. They explain why scientists think sentient life might exist on other worlds, how we could discover it and what it might be like. Entertaining and informative, this hard cover book is lavishly illustrated. See reviews.

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Extreme exoworlds and impact of advanced ETI on humanity

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Of the planets discovered beyond our solar system to date, here are five of the most extreme. See article.
g Intelligence - Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, recently spoke with Professor Brigitte Nerlich about aspects of climate change related to human behavior. The future of life on Earth may truly be in the hands of humankind - yet our actions are sometimes hard to predict or understand. See article.
g Message - Some people sit in the tub, yell "Eureka", and come up with a brand new view of matter. Others can be riding a trolley home and at the sight of a clock initiate a whole new concept of time. Yet another more pedantic method is to follow government procedures to resolve riddles. Steven Dick and James Strick in their book, “The Living Universe - NASA and the development of Astrobiology”, narrate how this occurred for the new academic field of astrobiology. Though perhaps not as film-worthy as instantaneous flashes, the four decades of meetings, workshops and programs described therein show that this distinct academic area had an eventful and exciting coming of age.
g Cosmicus - Since 1995, astronomers have found more than 400 planets orbiting other stars. And yet not one of them has a formal name, other than their orginal scientific designation such as MOA-2008-BLG-310-L b, (a sub-Saturnian mass planet recently detected in the Galactic Bulge). How come? See article.
g Aftermath - If we hear from ET, not only can we expect his civilization to be an old one with a great time lag in correspondence, a SETI astronomer says. Could this limit the impact of extraterrestrial contact upon humanity? See article. Note: This article is from 2001.

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Planet that rains rocks and naming exoworlds

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - On Earth, strange things, including frogs and fish, sometimes fall from the sky, but on a distant extrasolar planet, the weather could be even weirder: When a front moves in, small rocks rain down on the surface, a new study suggests. See article.
g Intelligence - Given the Great Silence, and knowing what we may be capable of in the future, we can start to make some fairly confident assumptions about the developmental characteristics of advanced civilizations, a Canadian futurist argues. See article.
g Message - A new paper argues that Fermi's paradox (or the "Great Silence" problem), not only arguably the oldest and crucial problem for the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence, but also a conundrum of profound scientific, philosophical and cultural importance. See paper.
g Cosmicus - A planet formation expert has decided he's not happy with the International Astronomical Union's insistence that exoplanets will be known solely by their "assigned scientific designation", and has come up with names for the 403 such bodies discovered to date. 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.

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