Thursday, July 16, 2009

When our view of Earth changed and when we get our first interstellar phone call

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 - The type of mineralogical composition on the surface of Mars influences the measuring of its temperature. See article.
g Cosmicus - In 1969 the world changed. Or perhaps I should say our perception of the world changed. For thousands of years, people woke and slept, ate and drank and went about their business. And whenever we looked down, we saw earth - dirt, soil, rock, sand or water, but always earth. But at 2:56 a.m. one July day, Neil Armstrong looked down at his feet and saw something different. For the first time, one of us stood on something else. For the first time, Earth was something "up there," no longer the location of all events, but a specific place in the heavens. See essay.
g Learning - Here's an event we need more of (and more kids participating in as well!): "She is an Astronomer" features a variety of hands-on science activities and demonstrations, planetarium shows every half hour, and, weather permitting, safe telescope viewing of the sun. Some of New Mexico's top female astronomers and scientists will staff activity stations and interact with girls ages 8-18, for whom the event is aimed. See article.
g Aftermath - How will humanity react when we receive our first interstellar phone call from ET? Though not a new piece, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak offers some intriguing thoughts here.

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