37,964 intelligent civilizations in galaxy and Google Mars 3D

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 - Astrophysicists analyzing infrared images captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope found indications of a dust cloud surrounding a relatively young star. The star is 10 to 16 million years old, and analysis of the dust cloud suggests that it may coalesce and become a rocky planet like earth. It is located at a distance from the star that it may build an atmosphere, collect liquid water, and perhaps, in millions and millions of years, support life. See article. Note: This article is from 2008.
g Intelligence - A group of Irish scientists have calculated that intelligent creatures could be living on 37,964 planets in the Milky Way. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA and Google have announced a new 'Mars mode' in Google Earth. Now, everyone can navigate three-dimensional views of the Red Planet - through the eyes of Mars rovers and other Mars missions. Google Mars 3D will also serve as a platform for scientists to share data. See article.

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