Tectonic Saturn moon and NASA outsources spacecraft

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 - A gorgeous new image from the European Southern Observatory reveals the glowing, blue Lagoon Nebula – a hotbed of star birth – amid a backdrop speckled with bright stars. See article.
g Abodes - New images of Saturn's moon Rhea have revealed dramatic fractures cutting through craters on the moon's surface. The findings are helping astrobiologists understand the processes that occur on moons of giant planets, and could help identify potentially habitable environments on these small worlds. See article.
g Life - Scientists have provided the first details about the mysterious flashes of dazzling bioluminescent light produced by a little-known sea snail. See article.
g Message - Recent discussions within the SETI community have thoroughly explored the issue of whether people with access to radio telescopes should send powerful signals to alien civilizations without some process of prior international consultation. In particular, those exchanges have focused on the question of "Active SETI." See article.
g Cosmicus - Outsourcing will soon hit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration hard. The new NASA budget calls for the U.S. space agency to outsource rocket development for manned space flights — historically a NASA strength — to commercial companies. NASA astronauts now will be stuck riding in commercial space taxis — a sorry state of affairs for the organization that won the race to the Moon. See opinion column.

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