Sunday, July 26, 2009

Jupiter’s new shiner and building stromatolites

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 the habitable zone for the nearby star system Gliese 229 AB?
g Abodes - Even though it's in the middle of a post-makeover checkout, the Hubble Space Telescope was turned toward Jupiter this week to capture a picture of the bruise left behind by a comet or asteroid - and it's a real beaut of a shiner. See article.
g Life - Researchers have shown that some of the most ancient stromatolites on Earth contain evidence that they were built with the help of microorganisms. The findings add complexity to our understanding of early life on Earth and could even help in the search for signs of life on Mars. See article.
g Message - SETI research isn't limited to a single facility listening to radio signals. Another dimension of the program is The Mega-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay, which searched the Southern Hemisphere's skies briefly during the 1990s.
g Aftermath - It’s a quite old news story (8 years!), but the issues raised remain relevant and greatly underexamined: If E.T. phones home, will it be safe to answer? See article.

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2 comments:

CaoCao said...

I think it's highly probable that beings with higher intelligence have been assisting in the growth of Earth.(Looking at the rate of advancement surfaced of late)
Perhaps some interesting contents could stem from this viewpoint. :)

Rob Bignell said...

Anything's possible, but I have a lot of confidence in humanity's ability to solve problems and to progress technologically. We probably would progress at even faster rate if not for the lack of a basic understanding and appreciation of science among the world's populations and our leaders.