Artificial DNA and Martian hot springs

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 - Mounds on Mars that could be from ancient hot springs are described in a new study, after setting the astrobiology community abuzz last spring. See article.
g Life - A strange, new genetic code a lot like that found in all terrestrial life is sitting in a beaker full of oily water in a laboratory in Florida, a scientist said today, calling it the first example of an artificial chemical system that is capable of Darwinian evolution. See article.
g Cosmicus - According to new data released by NASA and JPL-Caltech, the Spirit exploration rover received a larger input of electricity on February 6th, which seems to indicate the fact that Martian winds managed to blew a significant quantity of the dust that covered the robot's solar panels. See article.
g Learning - With a widespread distrust of authority and ignorance of science, you have a recipe for conspiracy theories. Born of fear and fed by misinformation, they can spread like wildfire in the vast forest of the information age. See article.

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