Clues to how our solar system formed and conversing with extraterrestrials during first contact

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 - Craters on the two largest objects in the asteroid belt could help identify at what point during the early solar system Jupiter was created. Vesta and Ceres are believed to be two of the oldest objects in the solar system and studying them could shed light on how our solar system has formed over time. See article.
g Intelligence - Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees describes how for the first time humans as a species may start to change in observable ways within single lifetimes and under some loose control of our own influence. If this future plays out, the future itself becomes more difficult to forecast. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - NASA has announced that Cabeus A will be the target crater for the LCROSS dual impacts next month. The LCROSS mission will search for water ice in the permanently shadowed lunar crater by sending its spent upper-stage rocket on a collision course with the moon's surface. See article.
g Aftermath - When we first meet extraterrestrials, will we and they be able to converse? An MIT professor argues that we will — provided they are motivated to cooperate — because we'll both think similar ways. See article. Note: This article is from 1985.

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