Methane in Martian atmosphere and what if nobody is transmitting?

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 discovered a speedy spinning pulsar in an elongated orbit around an apparent Sun-like star, a combination never seen before, and one that has them puzzled about how the strange system developed. See article. Note: This article is from 2008.
g Abodes - There are still so many unanswered questions about the Red Planet, but over the past years, our hopes went wild at the mere thought of proving that life on this planet was or may still be possible. After receiving the confirmation of water presence on Mars, NASA has also announced the first definitive detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere. See article.
g Message - Whenever the director of SETI research presents a public lecture, she can almost guarantee that “What If everybody is listening and nobody is transmitting?” will be one of the questions the audience asks. See article.

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