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 - Astronomers have taken the pulse of red giant stars by measuring their starquakes — stellar shivers that run so deep they can reach a star's core, scientists say. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists trying to understand the mechanics involved in asteroid collisions typically rely on the precision of computer models and lines of code. But sometimes, these experiments are best done using mini-wrecking balls suspended from 40-foot cranes. See article.
g Life - Could life on Earth have descended from organisms that originated on Mars, and then were carried to our planet by meteorites? A new instrument that is currently being developed could provide the answer. See article.
g Intelligence - By combining sophisticated mathematical techniques more commonly used by spies instead of scientists with the power and versatility of functional magnetic resonance imaging, a neurologist has developed a new approach for studying the inner workings of the brain. A hidden pattern is encoded in the seemingly random order of things presented to a human subject, which the brain reveals when observed with fMRI. The research is published in the journal NeuroImage. See article.
g Message - Several big hunts are seeking radio and laser emissions from other civilizations. From Project Phoenix to SETI@home, here's a complete rundown of all the searches now under way or recently conducted. See article.
g Learning - School students are being encouraged to see their future in the stars, with the launch of a science project focusing on Mars. See article.
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Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Strange craft in the California skies and radio signals from ETI
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 - Researchers have discovered the existence of a black hole 5.4 times greater in mass than that of our Sun, located in the X-ray binary system XTE J1859+226. The observations carried out from the Gran Telescopio Canarias obtained the first spectroscopic data from this binary system to be published. See article.
g Abodes - Saturn is sending astronomers mixed signals — radio signals, that is. See article.
g Life - By studying intramolecular communication within an enzyme, scientists have uncovered a partial glimpse of how the genetic coding of life may have emerged. The research could help astrobiologists understand a key step in life's origins on our planet. See article.
g Intelligence - There are billions of neurons in the brain and at any given time tens of thousands of these neurons might be trying to send signals to one another. Much like a person trying to be heard by his friend across a crowded room, neurons must figure out the best way to get their message heard above the din. See article.
g Message - Since the invention of the radio, humans have been broadcasting signals into outer space. Other civilizations in our galaxy might be doing the same. They might even be deliberately sending out signals to find other civilizations. Someone out there may even be beaming a signal directly at the Earth. See article.
g Cosmicus - Seen a flying saucer lately around Mojave, Calif.? It’s ours. See article.
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g Stars - Researchers have discovered the existence of a black hole 5.4 times greater in mass than that of our Sun, located in the X-ray binary system XTE J1859+226. The observations carried out from the Gran Telescopio Canarias obtained the first spectroscopic data from this binary system to be published. See article.
g Abodes - Saturn is sending astronomers mixed signals — radio signals, that is. See article.
g Life - By studying intramolecular communication within an enzyme, scientists have uncovered a partial glimpse of how the genetic coding of life may have emerged. The research could help astrobiologists understand a key step in life's origins on our planet. See article.
g Intelligence - There are billions of neurons in the brain and at any given time tens of thousands of these neurons might be trying to send signals to one another. Much like a person trying to be heard by his friend across a crowded room, neurons must figure out the best way to get their message heard above the din. See article.
g Message - Since the invention of the radio, humans have been broadcasting signals into outer space. Other civilizations in our galaxy might be doing the same. They might even be deliberately sending out signals to find other civilizations. Someone out there may even be beaming a signal directly at the Earth. See article.
g Cosmicus - Seen a flying saucer lately around Mojave, Calif.? It’s ours. See article.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Two questions: ‘What If everybody is listening and nobody is transmitting?’ and ‘Life or something else?’
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 - The European Space Agency's Integral gamma-ray observatory has spotted extremely hot matter just a millisecond before it plunges into the oblivion of a black hole. But is it really doomed? These unique observations suggest that some of the matter may be making a great escape. See article.
g Abodes - Despite its magnetic field, Earth is losing its atmosphere to space at about the same rate as planets that lack this protective barrier against the solar wind. Scientists now are beginning to question whether magnetic fields really are vital to helping a planet hold on to its atmosphere. See article.
g Life - Structures thought of as the oldest known fossils of microbes might actually be microscopic mineral formations not associated with life, suggesting that astrobiologists must be careful calling alien objects "life" when scientists have trouble telling what is or was alive on Earth. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered a universal property of musical scales. Until now it was assumed that the only thing scales throughout the world have in common is the octave. 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. This article is from 2006.
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g Stars - The European Space Agency's Integral gamma-ray observatory has spotted extremely hot matter just a millisecond before it plunges into the oblivion of a black hole. But is it really doomed? These unique observations suggest that some of the matter may be making a great escape. See article.
g Abodes - Despite its magnetic field, Earth is losing its atmosphere to space at about the same rate as planets that lack this protective barrier against the solar wind. Scientists now are beginning to question whether magnetic fields really are vital to helping a planet hold on to its atmosphere. See article.
g Life - Structures thought of as the oldest known fossils of microbes might actually be microscopic mineral formations not associated with life, suggesting that astrobiologists must be careful calling alien objects "life" when scientists have trouble telling what is or was alive on Earth. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered a universal property of musical scales. Until now it was assumed that the only thing scales throughout the world have in common is the octave. 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. This article is from 2006.
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Monday, March 28, 2011
Exposing mutant bacteria to radiation and why ETI isn’t watching ‘I Love Lucy’
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 - X-ray observations made by the Suzaku observatory provide the clearest picture to date of the size, mass and chemical content of a nearby cluster of galaxies. The study also provides the first direct evidence that million-degree gas clouds are tightly gathered in the cluster's outskirts. See article.
g Abodes - The planet is surrounded by two gigantic, fluctuating donut-shaped zones made of protons and electrons known as the Van Allen radiation belts. The charged particles in these zones can damage sensitive electronics on spacecraft such as those used for global positioning systems (GPS) and communications and can injure humans in space. See article.
g Life - The bacterium B. subtilis is capable of adapting to UV levels even higher than what existed on the primordial Earth – a harbinger of untapped potential that still lies within some organisms. Mutant versions of this microbe are now being exposed to space radiation to test their reactions to conditions in space and on other worlds. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers in Texas have discovered thousands of human artifacts in a layer of earth that lies directly beneath an assemblage of Clovis relics, expanding evidence that other cultures preceded the Clovis culture in North America. This pre-Clovis toolkit appears to be between 13,200 and 15,500 years old and it includes biface and blade technology that may have later been adapted - and improved upon - by the Clovis culture. See article.
g Message - For more than 80 years, we’ve been sending radio (and eventually television) transmissions into space, allowing anyone in space to hear war reports from London, “I Love Lucy” reruns and our latest election results. So wouldn’t hearing aliens be as simple as turning on the radio? Here’s why not . This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - It's a question that many people who popularize astronomy get asked time and again: "How many stars are there?" And while the sky is packed with a myriad of stars, the number visible to skywatchers depends greatly on the local night sky and the impact of city lights. See article.
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g Stars - X-ray observations made by the Suzaku observatory provide the clearest picture to date of the size, mass and chemical content of a nearby cluster of galaxies. The study also provides the first direct evidence that million-degree gas clouds are tightly gathered in the cluster's outskirts. See article.
g Abodes - The planet is surrounded by two gigantic, fluctuating donut-shaped zones made of protons and electrons known as the Van Allen radiation belts. The charged particles in these zones can damage sensitive electronics on spacecraft such as those used for global positioning systems (GPS) and communications and can injure humans in space. See article.
g Life - The bacterium B. subtilis is capable of adapting to UV levels even higher than what existed on the primordial Earth – a harbinger of untapped potential that still lies within some organisms. Mutant versions of this microbe are now being exposed to space radiation to test their reactions to conditions in space and on other worlds. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers in Texas have discovered thousands of human artifacts in a layer of earth that lies directly beneath an assemblage of Clovis relics, expanding evidence that other cultures preceded the Clovis culture in North America. This pre-Clovis toolkit appears to be between 13,200 and 15,500 years old and it includes biface and blade technology that may have later been adapted - and improved upon - by the Clovis culture. See article.
g Message - For more than 80 years, we’ve been sending radio (and eventually television) transmissions into space, allowing anyone in space to hear war reports from London, “I Love Lucy” reruns and our latest election results. So wouldn’t hearing aliens be as simple as turning on the radio? Here’s why not . This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - It's a question that many people who popularize astronomy get asked time and again: "How many stars are there?" And while the sky is packed with a myriad of stars, the number visible to skywatchers depends greatly on the local night sky and the impact of city lights. See article.
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Sunday, March 27, 2011
Methane rainstorm and ETI’s message in a bottle
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 - The discovery of a pattern of X-ray "stripes" in the remains of an exploded star may provide the first direct evidence that a cosmic event can accelerate particles to energies a hundred times higher than achieved by the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth. See article.
g Abodes - When photos showed a large patch near the equator of Titan mysteriously darken and then grow lighter within a couple of weeks, scientists knew something big was happening on Saturn's largest moon. But what they found was something they didn't expect: a methane rainstorm in a region of Titan thought to be covered by vast, arid dunes. See article.
g Life - By studying the effects of spaceflight on a bacterium from Earth, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how infectious disease occurs in space. The research could improve the health of patients here on Earth as well as astronauts. See article.
g Intelligence - New research bring scientists one step closer to isolating the mechanisms by which the brain compensates for disruptions and reroutes neural functioning -- which could ultimately lead to treatments for cognitive impairments in humans caused by disease and aging. See article.
g Message - A new study suggests it is more energy efficient to communicate across interstellar space by sending physical material — a sort of message in a bottle — than beams of electromagnetic radiation. Solid matter can hold more information and journey farther than radio waves, which disperse as they travel. See article. This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - A research institution that has inked landmark deals with two private spaceflight firms may be performing experiments in suborbital space within two years, one of its scientists says. See article.
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g Stars - The discovery of a pattern of X-ray "stripes" in the remains of an exploded star may provide the first direct evidence that a cosmic event can accelerate particles to energies a hundred times higher than achieved by the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth. See article.
g Abodes - When photos showed a large patch near the equator of Titan mysteriously darken and then grow lighter within a couple of weeks, scientists knew something big was happening on Saturn's largest moon. But what they found was something they didn't expect: a methane rainstorm in a region of Titan thought to be covered by vast, arid dunes. See article.
g Life - By studying the effects of spaceflight on a bacterium from Earth, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how infectious disease occurs in space. The research could improve the health of patients here on Earth as well as astronauts. See article.
g Intelligence - New research bring scientists one step closer to isolating the mechanisms by which the brain compensates for disruptions and reroutes neural functioning -- which could ultimately lead to treatments for cognitive impairments in humans caused by disease and aging. See article.
g Message - A new study suggests it is more energy efficient to communicate across interstellar space by sending physical material — a sort of message in a bottle — than beams of electromagnetic radiation. Solid matter can hold more information and journey farther than radio waves, which disperse as they travel. See article. This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - A research institution that has inked landmark deals with two private spaceflight firms may be performing experiments in suborbital space within two years, one of its scientists says. See article.
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Saturday, March 26, 2011
Sulfur and ammonia vital to life’s development and what to do when ETI phones
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 - NASA spacecraft watching the sun has caught a dazzling view of a solar eruption that launched a vast tendril of magnetic plasma into space. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists have found large amounts of ammonia in a primitive Antarctic asteroid. This high concentration of ammonia could account for a sustained source of reduced nitrogen essential to the chemistry of life. See article.
g Life - In the 1950s, Stanley Miller demonstrated that organic compounds could form under conditions mimicking the primordial Earth. By re-examining some of Miller's unused samples with modern techniques, scientists have found that volcanoes and sulfur may have been important in life's origin on our planet. See article.
g Intelligence - A robust new phylogenetic tree resolves many long-standing issues in primate taxonomy. The genomes of living primates harbor remarkable differences in diversity and provide an intriguing context for interpreting human evolution. The phylogenetic analysis was conducted by international researchers to determine the origin, evolution, patterns of speciation, and unique features in genome divergence among primate lineages. See article.
g Message - Just how does SETI work? Here’s a good primer for those looking to get a basic overview.
g Cosmicus - Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that a puzzling gap in the electronic structures of some high-temperature superconductors could indicate a new phase of matter. Understanding this "pseudogap" has been a 20-year quest for researchers who are trying to control and improve these breakthrough materials, with the ultimate goal of finding superconductors that operate at room temperature. See article.
g Aftermath - From the oldie but goodie files: If E.T. phones home, will it be safe to answer? See article. This article is from 1996.
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g Stars - NASA spacecraft watching the sun has caught a dazzling view of a solar eruption that launched a vast tendril of magnetic plasma into space. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists have found large amounts of ammonia in a primitive Antarctic asteroid. This high concentration of ammonia could account for a sustained source of reduced nitrogen essential to the chemistry of life. See article.
g Life - In the 1950s, Stanley Miller demonstrated that organic compounds could form under conditions mimicking the primordial Earth. By re-examining some of Miller's unused samples with modern techniques, scientists have found that volcanoes and sulfur may have been important in life's origin on our planet. See article.
g Intelligence - A robust new phylogenetic tree resolves many long-standing issues in primate taxonomy. The genomes of living primates harbor remarkable differences in diversity and provide an intriguing context for interpreting human evolution. The phylogenetic analysis was conducted by international researchers to determine the origin, evolution, patterns of speciation, and unique features in genome divergence among primate lineages. See article.
g Message - Just how does SETI work? Here’s a good primer for those looking to get a basic overview.
g Cosmicus - Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that a puzzling gap in the electronic structures of some high-temperature superconductors could indicate a new phase of matter. Understanding this "pseudogap" has been a 20-year quest for researchers who are trying to control and improve these breakthrough materials, with the ultimate goal of finding superconductors that operate at room temperature. See article.
g Aftermath - From the oldie but goodie files: If E.T. phones home, will it be safe to answer? See article. This article is from 1996.
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Friday, March 25, 2011
Quartz’s key role in shaping our world and the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe
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 - The skewed light from near the well-known black hole Cygnus X-1 is revealing new details about the warped space and extraordinarily powerful magnetic fields close to it, astronomers find. See article.
g Abodes - Quartz plays a key role in initiating the churning chain of events that cause Earth's surface to crack, wrinkle, fold and stretch into mountains, plains and valleys, new research says. See article.
g Life - A new microscopic “cloak” could change the way that scientists capture images of bacteria and other cells. The new technology could help uncover new discoveries about life at the cellular level. See article.
g Intelligence - The tendency to perceive others as "us versus them" isn't exclusively human but appears to be shared by our primate cousins, a new study has found. See article.
g Message - To contact an alien civilization, humanity might want to consider a Bracewell probe — a hypothetical concept for an autonomous interstellar space probe dispatched for the express purpose of communication with (an) alien civilization(s). It was proposed by Ronald N. Bracewell in a 1960 paper, as an alternative to interstellar radio communication between widely separated civilizations. See article.
g Cosmicus - Any NASA mission that sends a crew of astronauts to visit an asteroid will be fraught with challenges and risks, but the first step for any such endeavor is to understand exactly which near-Earth objects may warrant a human visitation. See article.
g Learning - How many planets exists which might support life? Indeed, what is required for life to exist? How does life start? How does it evolve, and what fabulous creatures can evolution produce? How often do intelligent creatures appear in the giant tapestry of life? It is exactly these questions, and all of them, which are being addressed by the scientists of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. See article.
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g Stars - The skewed light from near the well-known black hole Cygnus X-1 is revealing new details about the warped space and extraordinarily powerful magnetic fields close to it, astronomers find. See article.
g Abodes - Quartz plays a key role in initiating the churning chain of events that cause Earth's surface to crack, wrinkle, fold and stretch into mountains, plains and valleys, new research says. See article.
g Life - A new microscopic “cloak” could change the way that scientists capture images of bacteria and other cells. The new technology could help uncover new discoveries about life at the cellular level. See article.
g Intelligence - The tendency to perceive others as "us versus them" isn't exclusively human but appears to be shared by our primate cousins, a new study has found. See article.
g Message - To contact an alien civilization, humanity might want to consider a Bracewell probe — a hypothetical concept for an autonomous interstellar space probe dispatched for the express purpose of communication with (an) alien civilization(s). It was proposed by Ronald N. Bracewell in a 1960 paper, as an alternative to interstellar radio communication between widely separated civilizations. See article.
g Cosmicus - Any NASA mission that sends a crew of astronauts to visit an asteroid will be fraught with challenges and risks, but the first step for any such endeavor is to understand exactly which near-Earth objects may warrant a human visitation. See article.
g Learning - How many planets exists which might support life? Indeed, what is required for life to exist? How does life start? How does it evolve, and what fabulous creatures can evolution produce? How often do intelligent creatures appear in the giant tapestry of life? It is exactly these questions, and all of them, which are being addressed by the scientists of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Radio waves over laser beams and striking images and maps of Moon
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 - NASA has released the final set of data from the exploration phase of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter along with the first measurements from its new life as a science satellite. The data includes striking images and maps that will help scientists study our nearest celestial neighbor. See article.
g Life - A team of researchers has discovered that pollen, the organ that contains the plant male gametes, communicate with the pistil, their female counterpart, using a mechanism commonly observed in the nervous system of animals. This study not only reveals a new mechanism which underlies reproduction in plants, but also opens an exciting new avenue in the study of how cell-cell communication is conserved between animals and plants. See article.
g Intelligence - A researcher compared the brain activity of people who can see and people who were born blind, and discovered that the part of the brain that normally works with our eyes to process vision and space perception can actually rewire itself to process sound information instead. See article.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See article. This article is from 1996.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - NASA has released the final set of data from the exploration phase of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter along with the first measurements from its new life as a science satellite. The data includes striking images and maps that will help scientists study our nearest celestial neighbor. See article.
g Life - A team of researchers has discovered that pollen, the organ that contains the plant male gametes, communicate with the pistil, their female counterpart, using a mechanism commonly observed in the nervous system of animals. This study not only reveals a new mechanism which underlies reproduction in plants, but also opens an exciting new avenue in the study of how cell-cell communication is conserved between animals and plants. See article.
g Intelligence - A researcher compared the brain activity of people who can see and people who were born blind, and discovered that the part of the brain that normally works with our eyes to process vision and space perception can actually rewire itself to process sound information instead. See article.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See article. This article is from 1996.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Pi GHz and a new species of yeast
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 - Scientists agree, in no uncertain terms, that the Moon did not cause the earthquake in Japan. Understanding the causes and effects of earthquakes is important for astrobiologists who are trying to determine how events on Earth will shape life's future on our planet. See article.
g Life - A new species of yeast has been discovered in the Maquipucuna cloud forest nature reserve in Ecuador. The finding provides new information about the diversity of life, and could help in developing technologies for producing 'bio-energy' in the future. See article.
g Intelligence - A new microscope has decoded the complexity of eye circuitry. See article.
g Message - Is there any good reason to look for intelligently generated extraterrestrial emissions in the spectrum at Pi GHz or 3.141...GHz. See article.
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g Abodes - Scientists agree, in no uncertain terms, that the Moon did not cause the earthquake in Japan. Understanding the causes and effects of earthquakes is important for astrobiologists who are trying to determine how events on Earth will shape life's future on our planet. See article.
g Life - A new species of yeast has been discovered in the Maquipucuna cloud forest nature reserve in Ecuador. The finding provides new information about the diversity of life, and could help in developing technologies for producing 'bio-energy' in the future. See article.
g Intelligence - A new microscope has decoded the complexity of eye circuitry. See article.
g Message - Is there any good reason to look for intelligently generated extraterrestrial emissions in the spectrum at Pi GHz or 3.141...GHz. See article.
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Finding ETI with a screensaver and meteorites linked to life's origin
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 - Scientists have discovered large amounts of ammonia in samples of a primitive meteorite. Ammonia in meteorites could have provided the early Earth with a sustained source of reduced nitrogen, which is essential for the chemistry of life. This study provides further evidence that meteorites may have been linked to life's origin on Earth. See article.
g Life - Calling it the "new periodic table for flies," researchers have mapped the evolutionary history of flies, providing a framework for further comparative studies on the insects that comprise more than 10 percent of all life on Earth. See article.
g Intelligence - Learning a foreign language literally changes the way we see the world. According to new research, bilingual speakers think differently to those who only use one language. See article.
g Message - Book alert: As many earthlings already know - including more than 2 million computer users with firsthand experience - our best hope for finding extraterrestrial intelligence might just lie with an ingenious little screensaver. So it's not surprising that “Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations (by Brian S. McConnell), an introduction to searching for and communicating with intelligent life, begins with some of the details behind UC Berkeley's groundbreaking, massively distributed SETI@home project, which processes intergalactic noise for pennies on the teraflop. But that's just the start of the story. Inventor and software developer Brian McConnell continues with an overview of whether and why we might find something out there, who's doing what to look for it (including the folks at Berkeley), and - once some ET picks up on the other end--what we might say and how we might say it. See reviews.
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g Abodes - Scientists have discovered large amounts of ammonia in samples of a primitive meteorite. Ammonia in meteorites could have provided the early Earth with a sustained source of reduced nitrogen, which is essential for the chemistry of life. This study provides further evidence that meteorites may have been linked to life's origin on Earth. See article.
g Life - Calling it the "new periodic table for flies," researchers have mapped the evolutionary history of flies, providing a framework for further comparative studies on the insects that comprise more than 10 percent of all life on Earth. See article.
g Intelligence - Learning a foreign language literally changes the way we see the world. According to new research, bilingual speakers think differently to those who only use one language. See article.
g Message - Book alert: As many earthlings already know - including more than 2 million computer users with firsthand experience - our best hope for finding extraterrestrial intelligence might just lie with an ingenious little screensaver. So it's not surprising that “Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations (by Brian S. McConnell), an introduction to searching for and communicating with intelligent life, begins with some of the details behind UC Berkeley's groundbreaking, massively distributed SETI@home project, which processes intergalactic noise for pennies on the teraflop. But that's just the start of the story. Inventor and software developer Brian McConnell continues with an overview of whether and why we might find something out there, who's doing what to look for it (including the folks at Berkeley), and - once some ET picks up on the other end--what we might say and how we might say it. See reviews.
Read this blogger’s books
Monday, March 21, 2011
ETI’s ancient, indecipherable messages and Neanderthal’s control of fire
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 latest evidence of the dominant role humans play in changing Earth's climate comes not from observations of Earth's ocean, atmosphere or land surface, but from deep within its molten core. See article.
g Life - The ability of organisms to adapt to our changing climate could cause profound changes to the biosphere. Some microbes might remain dormant in environments until conditions improve. Invasive species could move into new environments, potentially triggering a mass extinction. See article.
g Intelligence - A new study shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed. See article.
g Message - Chances are, there is life beyond Earth. But if anyone makes contact, the messages may be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See article. This article is from 2005.
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g Abodes - The latest evidence of the dominant role humans play in changing Earth's climate comes not from observations of Earth's ocean, atmosphere or land surface, but from deep within its molten core. See article.
g Life - The ability of organisms to adapt to our changing climate could cause profound changes to the biosphere. Some microbes might remain dormant in environments until conditions improve. Invasive species could move into new environments, potentially triggering a mass extinction. See article.
g Intelligence - A new study shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed. See article.
g Message - Chances are, there is life beyond Earth. But if anyone makes contact, the messages may be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See article. This article is from 2005.
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Sunday, March 20, 2011
What happened to Mars’ atmosphere and odds of receiving an alien signal
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 - Scientists have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, a research group has succeeded in producing controlled strong interactions between two fermionic elements - lithium-6 and potassium-40. This model system not only promises to provide new insights into solid-state physics but also shows intriguing analogies to the primordial substance right after the Big Bang. See article.
g Abodes - Rocks on Mars that were excavated by crater-blasting impacts may indicate one possible way that Mars' atmosphere has become much less dense than it used to be. The findings could have implications for understanding whether or not Mars once had environments capable of supporting life. See article.
g Life - The Everglades National Park in Florida is home to hundreds of species of native wildlife. It has also become the well-established home of the non-native Burmese python - known to be a predator of native species. Now scientists, for the first time, have conducted a detailed analysis of the avian component of the python's diet and the negative impact the snakes may have on Florida's native birds, including some endangered species. See article.
g Intelligence - Optical illusions have fascinated humans throughout history. Greek builders used an optical illusion to ensure that that their columns appeared straight (they built them with a bulge) and we are all intrigued by the mental flip involved in the case of the young girl/old woman faces. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience demonstrates a more serious use of these illusions in understanding how the brain assesses relative size. See article.
g Message - What are the chances that an alien signal has been sent our way just at the right moment to splash upon our antennas during that brief interval? If the extraterrestrials beam their broadcasts to the whole galaxy (or at least a big chunk of it), the chances are 100 percent. See article.
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g Stars - Scientists have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, a research group has succeeded in producing controlled strong interactions between two fermionic elements - lithium-6 and potassium-40. This model system not only promises to provide new insights into solid-state physics but also shows intriguing analogies to the primordial substance right after the Big Bang. See article.
g Abodes - Rocks on Mars that were excavated by crater-blasting impacts may indicate one possible way that Mars' atmosphere has become much less dense than it used to be. The findings could have implications for understanding whether or not Mars once had environments capable of supporting life. See article.
g Life - The Everglades National Park in Florida is home to hundreds of species of native wildlife. It has also become the well-established home of the non-native Burmese python - known to be a predator of native species. Now scientists, for the first time, have conducted a detailed analysis of the avian component of the python's diet and the negative impact the snakes may have on Florida's native birds, including some endangered species. See article.
g Intelligence - Optical illusions have fascinated humans throughout history. Greek builders used an optical illusion to ensure that that their columns appeared straight (they built them with a bulge) and we are all intrigued by the mental flip involved in the case of the young girl/old woman faces. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience demonstrates a more serious use of these illusions in understanding how the brain assesses relative size. See article.
g Message - What are the chances that an alien signal has been sent our way just at the right moment to splash upon our antennas during that brief interval? If the extraterrestrials beam their broadcasts to the whole galaxy (or at least a big chunk of it), the chances are 100 percent. See article.
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Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Search for Extraterrestrial Visitation and world’s first time machine
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 - Climate researchers have expanded a prevalent theory regarding the development of ice ages. In the current issue of the journal Nature three physicists from AWI's working group "Dynamics of the Palaeoclimate" present new calculations on the connection between natural insulation and long-term changes in global climate activity. Up to now the presumption was that temperature fluctuations in Antarctica, which have been reconstructed for the last million years on the basis of ice cores, were triggered by the global effect of climate changes in the northern hemisphere. See article.
g Life - The properties of optical stimuli need to be conveyed from the eye to the brain. To do this efficiently, the relevant information is extracted by pre-processing in the eye. For example, some of the so-called retinal ganglion cells, which transmit visual information to the brain via the optic nerve, only react to light stimuli moving in a particular direction. This direction selectivity is generated by inhibitory interneurons that influence the activity of the ganglion cells through their synapses. See article.
g Intelligence - Cheer up. Stop worrying. Don’t work so hard. Good advice for a long life? As it turns out, no. In a groundbreaking study of personality as a predictor of longevity, researchers found just the opposite. See article.
g Message - The search for extraterrestrial visitation is motivated not only by the writings of other authors on the subject of interstellar probes, but also by the awareness of the progression of our own probe technology. Included in this awareness are Earth's advancements in communication technology, growing understanding of exobiology and ongoing research of new possibilities to enable travel across vast distances. See article.
g Cosmicus - If the latest theory of Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho is right, the Large Hadron Collider - the world's largest atom smasher that started regular operation last year - could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Climate researchers have expanded a prevalent theory regarding the development of ice ages. In the current issue of the journal Nature three physicists from AWI's working group "Dynamics of the Palaeoclimate" present new calculations on the connection between natural insulation and long-term changes in global climate activity. Up to now the presumption was that temperature fluctuations in Antarctica, which have been reconstructed for the last million years on the basis of ice cores, were triggered by the global effect of climate changes in the northern hemisphere. See article.
g Life - The properties of optical stimuli need to be conveyed from the eye to the brain. To do this efficiently, the relevant information is extracted by pre-processing in the eye. For example, some of the so-called retinal ganglion cells, which transmit visual information to the brain via the optic nerve, only react to light stimuli moving in a particular direction. This direction selectivity is generated by inhibitory interneurons that influence the activity of the ganglion cells through their synapses. See article.
g Intelligence - Cheer up. Stop worrying. Don’t work so hard. Good advice for a long life? As it turns out, no. In a groundbreaking study of personality as a predictor of longevity, researchers found just the opposite. See article.
g Message - The search for extraterrestrial visitation is motivated not only by the writings of other authors on the subject of interstellar probes, but also by the awareness of the progression of our own probe technology. Included in this awareness are Earth's advancements in communication technology, growing understanding of exobiology and ongoing research of new possibilities to enable travel across vast distances. See article.
g Cosmicus - If the latest theory of Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho is right, the Large Hadron Collider - the world's largest atom smasher that started regular operation last year - could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Friday, March 18, 2011
Why the Fermi Paradox is a pseudo-paradox and Messenger arrives at Mercury
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 - NASA's MESSENGER probe has become the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around the planet Mercury. Studying Mercury will help astrobiologists understand the nature of small, rocky planets and the conditions that lead to habitability on such worlds. See article.
g Life - For the vast majority of plants and animals, the 'bigger is better' view of evolution may not be far off the mark, says a new broad-scale study of natural selection. Organisms with bigger bodies or faster growth rates tend to live longer, mate more and produce more offspring, whether they are deer or damselflies, the authors report. See article.
g Intelligence - People with synesthesia often report perceiving letters as appearing in different colors. But how do their brains accomplish this feat? See article.
g Message - Fermi's Paradox is not a true paradox because the search space has not been sufficiently explored. See article.
g Cosmicus - A high-tech astrophysics experiment that will probe the mysteries of our universe is getting ready to fly to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Endeavour when it launches on its final mission next month. See article.
g Learning - The Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology in the United Kingdom is being closed by Cardiff University for what the university calls "budgetary and strategic reasons". Chandra Wickramasinghe, director of the centre, has said that he plans to turn it into a limited company. Nature asks him about his work, and how he intends to go it alone. See interview.
g Aftermath - Book alert: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. In “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” Jean Heidmann, chief astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation - all of it grounded in real science - is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? Heidmann reviews the protocols established in the SETI Declaration and then offers his own suggestion: send them the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica. See article.
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g Abodes - NASA's MESSENGER probe has become the first spacecraft to enter into orbit around the planet Mercury. Studying Mercury will help astrobiologists understand the nature of small, rocky planets and the conditions that lead to habitability on such worlds. See article.
g Life - For the vast majority of plants and animals, the 'bigger is better' view of evolution may not be far off the mark, says a new broad-scale study of natural selection. Organisms with bigger bodies or faster growth rates tend to live longer, mate more and produce more offspring, whether they are deer or damselflies, the authors report. See article.
g Intelligence - People with synesthesia often report perceiving letters as appearing in different colors. But how do their brains accomplish this feat? See article.
g Message - Fermi's Paradox is not a true paradox because the search space has not been sufficiently explored. See article.
g Cosmicus - A high-tech astrophysics experiment that will probe the mysteries of our universe is getting ready to fly to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Endeavour when it launches on its final mission next month. See article.
g Learning - The Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology in the United Kingdom is being closed by Cardiff University for what the university calls "budgetary and strategic reasons". Chandra Wickramasinghe, director of the centre, has said that he plans to turn it into a limited company. Nature asks him about his work, and how he intends to go it alone. See interview.
g Aftermath - Book alert: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. In “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” Jean Heidmann, chief astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation - all of it grounded in real science - is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? Heidmann reviews the protocols established in the SETI Declaration and then offers his own suggestion: send them the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Thursday, March 17, 2011
First primitive life’s containers and astrobiology’s first four decades
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 south polar region of a frigid Saturn moon churns out far more heat than Yellowstone National Park, Earth's most famous geologic hotspot, a new study finds. See article.
g Life - Scientists have demonstrated that semipermeable vesicles can form from inorganic clay. Such vesicles might have been perfect containers for the first primitive cells. See article.
g Intelligence - For rodent pups, bonding with mom isn't hard-wired in the womb. It develops over the first few weeks of life, which is achieved by their maturing sense of smell, possibly allowing these mammals a survival advantage by learning to identify mother, siblings, and home. See article.
g Message - Some people sit in the tub, yell "Eureka", and come up with a brand new view of matter. Others can be riding a trolley home and at the sight of a clock initiate a whole new concept of time. Yet another more pedantic method is to follow government procedures to resolve riddles. Steven Dick and James Strick in their book, “The Living Universe - NASA and the development of Astrobiology,” narrate how this occurred for the new academic field of astrobiology. Though perhaps not as film-worthy as instantaneous flashes, the four decades of meetings, workshops and programs described therein show that this distinct academic area had an eventful and exciting coming of age. See review. This review is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Two satellite companies have announced a new deal to launch the first spacecraft designed to refuel other satellites in orbit. See article.
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g Abodes - The south polar region of a frigid Saturn moon churns out far more heat than Yellowstone National Park, Earth's most famous geologic hotspot, a new study finds. See article.
g Life - Scientists have demonstrated that semipermeable vesicles can form from inorganic clay. Such vesicles might have been perfect containers for the first primitive cells. See article.
g Intelligence - For rodent pups, bonding with mom isn't hard-wired in the womb. It develops over the first few weeks of life, which is achieved by their maturing sense of smell, possibly allowing these mammals a survival advantage by learning to identify mother, siblings, and home. See article.
g Message - Some people sit in the tub, yell "Eureka", and come up with a brand new view of matter. Others can be riding a trolley home and at the sight of a clock initiate a whole new concept of time. Yet another more pedantic method is to follow government procedures to resolve riddles. Steven Dick and James Strick in their book, “The Living Universe - NASA and the development of Astrobiology,” narrate how this occurred for the new academic field of astrobiology. Though perhaps not as film-worthy as instantaneous flashes, the four decades of meetings, workshops and programs described therein show that this distinct academic area had an eventful and exciting coming of age. See review. This review is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Two satellite companies have announced a new deal to launch the first spacecraft designed to refuel other satellites in orbit. See article.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
First contact with ET microbes and ancient bacteria trapped in meteorites?
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 - Are there traces of ancient bacteria trapped inside meteorites that fell to Earth decades ago? You can add that question to the list of unresolved issues surrounding the search for life beyond Earth, thanks to a just-published study by a NASA researcher. See article.
g Life - In a study published in the March 3 issue of the journal Nature, University of California, Berkeley, paleobiologists assess where mammals and other species stand today in terms of possible extinction, compared with the past 540 million years, and they find cause for hope as well as alarm. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have gained new insight into the minds of domestic hens, discovering, for the first time, that domestic hens show a clear physiological and behavioral response when their chicks are mildly distressed.
See article.
g Message - When scientists get together to talk about extraterrestrial life, they certainly don't imagine little green men. In fact, our first contact with life beyond our planet probably will involve a microbe. See article. This song is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - NASA has struck a new $753 million deal with Russia for 12 round trips to the International Space Station, but will now have to pay more per seat – almost $63 million, the U.S. space agency announced this week. See article.
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g Abodes - Are there traces of ancient bacteria trapped inside meteorites that fell to Earth decades ago? You can add that question to the list of unresolved issues surrounding the search for life beyond Earth, thanks to a just-published study by a NASA researcher. See article.
g Life - In a study published in the March 3 issue of the journal Nature, University of California, Berkeley, paleobiologists assess where mammals and other species stand today in terms of possible extinction, compared with the past 540 million years, and they find cause for hope as well as alarm. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have gained new insight into the minds of domestic hens, discovering, for the first time, that domestic hens show a clear physiological and behavioral response when their chicks are mildly distressed.
See article.
g Message - When scientists get together to talk about extraterrestrial life, they certainly don't imagine little green men. In fact, our first contact with life beyond our planet probably will involve a microbe. See article. This song is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - NASA has struck a new $753 million deal with Russia for 12 round trips to the International Space Station, but will now have to pay more per seat – almost $63 million, the U.S. space agency announced this week. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Aliens see no point in sending messages and Mars orbiter celebrates fifth anniversary
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 - Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe to unprecedented accuracy. See article.
g Abodes - Until now it was thought that once a volcano's magma chamber had cooled down it remained dormant for centuries before it could be remobilized by fresh magma. A theoretical model was tested on two major eruptions and completely overturned this hypothesis: the reawakening of a chamber could take place in just a few months. This research should lead to a reassessment of the dangerousness of some dormant volcanoes. See article.
g Life - Sea-ice algae plays an important role supporting the food web in places like the Arctic Ocean. New research shows that this algae can engineer ice to its advantage by secreting a gel-like mucus that acts as a kind of anti-freeze. The study shows a unique way in which life has evolved to survive under extreme environmental stresses. See article.
g Intelligence - For people, being touched can initiate many different reactions from comfort to discomfort, from intimacy to aggression. But how might people react if they were touched by a robot? Would they recoil, or would they take it in stride? In an initial study, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology found people generally had a positive response toward being touched by a robotic nurse, but that their perception of the robot's intent made a significant difference. See article.
g Message - Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in. See article. This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - A prolific NASA orbiter has celebrated its fifth year at Mars this month and the spacecraft has no plans to slow down anytime soon. See article.
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g Stars - Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe to unprecedented accuracy. See article.
g Abodes - Until now it was thought that once a volcano's magma chamber had cooled down it remained dormant for centuries before it could be remobilized by fresh magma. A theoretical model was tested on two major eruptions and completely overturned this hypothesis: the reawakening of a chamber could take place in just a few months. This research should lead to a reassessment of the dangerousness of some dormant volcanoes. See article.
g Life - Sea-ice algae plays an important role supporting the food web in places like the Arctic Ocean. New research shows that this algae can engineer ice to its advantage by secreting a gel-like mucus that acts as a kind of anti-freeze. The study shows a unique way in which life has evolved to survive under extreme environmental stresses. See article.
g Intelligence - For people, being touched can initiate many different reactions from comfort to discomfort, from intimacy to aggression. But how might people react if they were touched by a robot? Would they recoil, or would they take it in stride? In an initial study, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology found people generally had a positive response toward being touched by a robotic nurse, but that their perception of the robot's intent made a significant difference. See article.
g Message - Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in. See article. This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - A prolific NASA orbiter has celebrated its fifth year at Mars this month and the spacecraft has no plans to slow down anytime soon. See article.
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Monday, March 14, 2011
SETI in our home and primate aging
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 - ESA's Mars Express has returned new images of an elongated impact crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Located just south of the Huygens basin, it could have been carved out by a train of projectiles striking the planet at a shallow angle. See article.
g Life - Fossil records verify a long-standing theory that horses evolved through natural selection, according to groundbreaking research by two anatomy professors. See article.
g Intelligence - Humans aren't the only ones who grow old gracefully, says a new study of primate aging patterns. See article.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free SETI at Home software. Using Internet-connected computers, the program downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your desktop when it is idle. The program has been so successful in plowing through data that other scientific researchers, especially in medicine, are adopting it to their fields. See article.
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g Abodes - ESA's Mars Express has returned new images of an elongated impact crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Located just south of the Huygens basin, it could have been carved out by a train of projectiles striking the planet at a shallow angle. See article.
g Life - Fossil records verify a long-standing theory that horses evolved through natural selection, according to groundbreaking research by two anatomy professors. See article.
g Intelligence - Humans aren't the only ones who grow old gracefully, says a new study of primate aging patterns. See article.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free SETI at Home software. Using Internet-connected computers, the program downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your desktop when it is idle. The program has been so successful in plowing through data that other scientific researchers, especially in medicine, are adopting it to their fields. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sending our own signals to ETI and star’s bow shock
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 - Just as some drivers obey the speed limit while others treat every road as if it were the Autobahn, some stars move through space faster than others. NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this image of the star Alpha Camelopardalis, or Alpha Cam, in astronomer-speak, speeding through the sky like a motorcyclist zipping through rush-hour traffic. The supergiant star Alpha Cam is the bright star in the middle of this image, surrounded on one side by an arc-shaped cloud of dust and gas - a bow shock - which is colored red in this infrared view. See article.
g Abodes - NASA's Messenger probe promises to show us a whole new Mercury when it arrives in orbit around the planet. See article.
g Life - A pathway whereby bacteria communicate with each other has been discovered by researchers. The discovery has important implications for efforts to cope with the spread of harmful bacteria in the body. See article.
g Intelligence - One of the most complex human mysteries involves how and why we became an outlier species in terms of biological success. 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.
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g Stars - Just as some drivers obey the speed limit while others treat every road as if it were the Autobahn, some stars move through space faster than others. NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this image of the star Alpha Camelopardalis, or Alpha Cam, in astronomer-speak, speeding through the sky like a motorcyclist zipping through rush-hour traffic. The supergiant star Alpha Cam is the bright star in the middle of this image, surrounded on one side by an arc-shaped cloud of dust and gas - a bow shock - which is colored red in this infrared view. See article.
g Abodes - NASA's Messenger probe promises to show us a whole new Mercury when it arrives in orbit around the planet. See article.
g Life - A pathway whereby bacteria communicate with each other has been discovered by researchers. The discovery has important implications for efforts to cope with the spread of harmful bacteria in the body. See article.
g Intelligence - One of the most complex human mysteries involves how and why we became an outlier species in terms of biological success. 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.
Read this blogger’s books
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Giant planet orbiting Beta Pictoris and why there’s no Fermi Paradox
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 - Hobbits and orcs may exist only in fiction, but a real-life supermassive black hole has spawned a structure that looks strikingly like the evil "Eye of Sauron" from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" fantasy novels and the films inspired by them. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists have made new observations of a giant planet orbiting Beta Pictoris. See article.
g Life - Scientists have revived 100-year-old spores that had laid buried and inactive in sediments at the bottom of the sea. The study provides a glimpse into diatom communities that go back 40,000 generations. See article.
g Intelligence - The brain is a black box. A complex circuitry of neurons fires information through channels, much like the inner workings of a computer chip. But while computer processors are regimented with the deft economy of an assembly line, neural circuits are impenetrable masses. Think tumbleweed. See article.
g Message - Here’s an intriguing piece: “There is No Fermi Paradox.” The "Fermi Paradox," an argument that extraterrestrial intelligence cannot exist because it has not yet been observed, is a logical fallacy. This "paradox" is a formally invalid inference, both because it requires modal operators lying outside the first-order propositional calculus and because it is unsupported by the observational record. See article. This article is from 1985.
g Cosmicus - researchers have developed a new switching device that takes quantum communication to a new level. The device is a practical step toward creating a network that takes advantage of the mysterious and powerful world of quantum mechanics. See article.
g Imagining - The alien invasion film "Battle: Los Angeles," opening in theaters this weekend, is clearly a work of fiction. But the marketing campaign behind the movie seems determined to ground it to reality by tying it to historical events — specifically, the World War II air raid false alarm that came to be known as the Battle of Los Angeles. See article.
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g Stars - Hobbits and orcs may exist only in fiction, but a real-life supermassive black hole has spawned a structure that looks strikingly like the evil "Eye of Sauron" from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" fantasy novels and the films inspired by them. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists have made new observations of a giant planet orbiting Beta Pictoris. See article.
g Life - Scientists have revived 100-year-old spores that had laid buried and inactive in sediments at the bottom of the sea. The study provides a glimpse into diatom communities that go back 40,000 generations. See article.
g Intelligence - The brain is a black box. A complex circuitry of neurons fires information through channels, much like the inner workings of a computer chip. But while computer processors are regimented with the deft economy of an assembly line, neural circuits are impenetrable masses. Think tumbleweed. See article.
g Message - Here’s an intriguing piece: “There is No Fermi Paradox.” The "Fermi Paradox," an argument that extraterrestrial intelligence cannot exist because it has not yet been observed, is a logical fallacy. This "paradox" is a formally invalid inference, both because it requires modal operators lying outside the first-order propositional calculus and because it is unsupported by the observational record. See article. This article is from 1985.
g Cosmicus - researchers have developed a new switching device that takes quantum communication to a new level. The device is a practical step toward creating a network that takes advantage of the mysterious and powerful world of quantum mechanics. See article.
g Imagining - The alien invasion film "Battle: Los Angeles," opening in theaters this weekend, is clearly a work of fiction. But the marketing campaign behind the movie seems determined to ground it to reality by tying it to historical events — specifically, the World War II air raid false alarm that came to be known as the Battle of Los Angeles. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, March 11, 2011
ETI listening for radio signals and finding Mars in Morocco
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 dying star has been spotted coughing up a toxic mix of gases in a spectacular new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists have found that calcium, aluminum-rich inclusions, some of the oldest objects in the solar system, formed far away from our sun and then later fell back into the mid-plane of the solar system. The findings may lead to a greater understanding of how our solar system and possibly other solar systems formed and evolved. See article.
g Life - Fossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon. See article.
g Intelligence - What happened to being "quiet as a mouse"? Researchers have recently shown that, rather than being the silent creatures of popular belief, mice emit ultrasonic calls in a variety of social contexts, and these calls have song-like characteristics. So if mice sing, where do they get their music? Are they born with the songs fully formed in their heads, or do they learn them from their peers? See article.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See article. This article is from 1996.
g Cosmicus - Martian-like landscapes in Morocco provide testing grounds for the next generation of Mars exploration missions. See article.
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g Stars - A dying star has been spotted coughing up a toxic mix of gases in a spectacular new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists have found that calcium, aluminum-rich inclusions, some of the oldest objects in the solar system, formed far away from our sun and then later fell back into the mid-plane of the solar system. The findings may lead to a greater understanding of how our solar system and possibly other solar systems formed and evolved. See article.
g Life - Fossilized bones discovered in Texas from a flying reptile that died 89 million years ago may be the earliest occurrence of the prehistoric creature known as Pteranodon. See article.
g Intelligence - What happened to being "quiet as a mouse"? Researchers have recently shown that, rather than being the silent creatures of popular belief, mice emit ultrasonic calls in a variety of social contexts, and these calls have song-like characteristics. So if mice sing, where do they get their music? Are they born with the songs fully formed in their heads, or do they learn them from their peers? See article.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See article. This article is from 1996.
g Cosmicus - Martian-like landscapes in Morocco provide testing grounds for the next generation of Mars exploration missions. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Meteorite’s wildly varying travels and the politics of finding life beyond Earth
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 - Astronomers have spotted an ancient galaxy cluster that appears surprisingly young when compared to its more recently formed relatives, a new study finds. See article.
g Abodes - A micro-probe analysis of the core and outer layers of a meteorite has yielded new information about how the meteorite formed. The study provides the first evidence that dust particles experienced wildly varying environments during the time when planets were forming in our solar system. See article.
g Life - In the mating game, some female mites are mightier than their mates, new research suggests. The evidence comes, in part, from 40 million-year-old mating mites preserved in Baltic amber. See article.
g Intelligence - New research from anthropologists has confirmed Charles Darwin's speculation that the evolution of unique features in the human hand was influenced by increased tool use in our ancestors. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth,” Ben Bova proffers a good general history of astrobiology, or the history and structure of life in the cosmos -one of the newest fields of scientific research. He covers astronomy briefly and gives more detail about the political and technological history of NASA, showing the effects of politics and accidents on the field. He also notes what we have discovered about the history of life on this planet, what we are looking for beyond Earth and the solar system, and how we are presently going about it. With so much to cover, this is hardly an in-depth account, but it is a very good introduction for the general reader and even the specialist who wants a look at the larger picture. Bova seasons his account with entertaining and illustrative historical anecdotes, so that, as a bonus, we get an idea of what NASA has been doing since the end of the Apollo program and something about what it hopes to do in the future that many readers will live to see. See article.
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g Stars - Astronomers have spotted an ancient galaxy cluster that appears surprisingly young when compared to its more recently formed relatives, a new study finds. See article.
g Abodes - A micro-probe analysis of the core and outer layers of a meteorite has yielded new information about how the meteorite formed. The study provides the first evidence that dust particles experienced wildly varying environments during the time when planets were forming in our solar system. See article.
g Life - In the mating game, some female mites are mightier than their mates, new research suggests. The evidence comes, in part, from 40 million-year-old mating mites preserved in Baltic amber. See article.
g Intelligence - New research from anthropologists has confirmed Charles Darwin's speculation that the evolution of unique features in the human hand was influenced by increased tool use in our ancestors. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth,” Ben Bova proffers a good general history of astrobiology, or the history and structure of life in the cosmos -one of the newest fields of scientific research. He covers astronomy briefly and gives more detail about the political and technological history of NASA, showing the effects of politics and accidents on the field. He also notes what we have discovered about the history of life on this planet, what we are looking for beyond Earth and the solar system, and how we are presently going about it. With so much to cover, this is hardly an in-depth account, but it is a very good introduction for the general reader and even the specialist who wants a look at the larger picture. Bova seasons his account with entertaining and illustrative historical anecdotes, so that, as a bonus, we get an idea of what NASA has been doing since the end of the Apollo program and something about what it hopes to do in the future that many readers will live to see. See article.
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Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Signal verification protocols and missions to Mars, Europa recommended
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 - Scientists have announced the discovery of a new cosmic explosion: a gamma-ray burst and its associated supernova. See article.
g Abodes - There's an old saying that if you don't like the weather in New Mexico, wait five minutes. Maybe it should be amended to 10,000 years, according to new research. See article.
g Life - Scientists now have a better understanding of why spider silk fibers are so incredibly strong. Recent research describes the architecture of silk fibers from the atomic level up and reveals new information about the molecular structure that underlies the amazing mechanical characteristics of this fascinating natural material. See article.
g Intelligence - The vast majority of humans - over 90% - prefer to use their right hand for most skilled tasks. For decades, researchers have been trying to understand why this asymmetry exists. Why, with our two cerebral hemispheres and motor cortices, are we not equally skilled with both hands? See article.
g Message - The privatization of SETI has resulted in global participation in signal detection and analysis activities by a wide range of non-professionals. The SETI community welcomes this grass-roots support, every bit as much as the optical observing community honors the significant scientific contributions of the world's amateur astronomers. However, as SETI observatories spring up on college campuses and in home gardens worldwide, a need emerges for establishing rigorous signal verification protocols and stringent standards of proof. See article. This article is from 1999.
g Cosmicus - An expedition to see if some form of life ever existed on Mars and a journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to study its underground ocean should be NASA’s highest-priority missions in the next decade, a new report from the National Research Council suggests. See article.
g Learning - The TED Talks series has hosted lectures that challenge viewers to consider the Universe and what humanity is doing to make better sense of it. Ten recent talks featured amazing discussions about the convergence of space science, art and society. See article.
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g Stars - Scientists have announced the discovery of a new cosmic explosion: a gamma-ray burst and its associated supernova. See article.
g Abodes - There's an old saying that if you don't like the weather in New Mexico, wait five minutes. Maybe it should be amended to 10,000 years, according to new research. See article.
g Life - Scientists now have a better understanding of why spider silk fibers are so incredibly strong. Recent research describes the architecture of silk fibers from the atomic level up and reveals new information about the molecular structure that underlies the amazing mechanical characteristics of this fascinating natural material. See article.
g Intelligence - The vast majority of humans - over 90% - prefer to use their right hand for most skilled tasks. For decades, researchers have been trying to understand why this asymmetry exists. Why, with our two cerebral hemispheres and motor cortices, are we not equally skilled with both hands? See article.
g Message - The privatization of SETI has resulted in global participation in signal detection and analysis activities by a wide range of non-professionals. The SETI community welcomes this grass-roots support, every bit as much as the optical observing community honors the significant scientific contributions of the world's amateur astronomers. However, as SETI observatories spring up on college campuses and in home gardens worldwide, a need emerges for establishing rigorous signal verification protocols and stringent standards of proof. See article. This article is from 1999.
g Cosmicus - An expedition to see if some form of life ever existed on Mars and a journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to study its underground ocean should be NASA’s highest-priority missions in the next decade, a new report from the National Research Council suggests. See article.
g Learning - The TED Talks series has hosted lectures that challenge viewers to consider the Universe and what humanity is doing to make better sense of it. Ten recent talks featured amazing discussions about the convergence of space science, art and society. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Low-mass star’s habitable zones and ‘The Amazing Adventures of AstrobioBot’
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 - NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this image of a star-forming cloud of dust and gas, called Sh2-284, located in the constellation of Monoceros. Lining up along the edges of a cosmic hole are several "elephant trunks" - or monstrous pillars of dense gas and dust. See article.
g Abodes - Tides can render the so-called "habitable zone" around low-mass stars uninhabitable, a new report says. See article.
g Life - A new dinosaur named Brontomerus mcintoshi, or "thunder-thighs" after its enormously powerful thigh muscles, has been discovered in Utah. The new species is described in a paper recently published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica by an international team of scientists. See article.
g Intelligence - Even long after it is formed, a memory in rats can be enhanced or erased by increasing or decreasing the activity of a brain enzyme, say researchers supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health. See article.
g Message - For many years the microwave Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence held the spotlight, while the number of optical SETI observatories on this planet could be counted on the thumbs of one hand. In the five years since the last Optical SETI Conference, that has begun to change, with optical SETI finally emerging into the scientific mainstream. Advancing technology is only partly responsible for OSETI's change of fortune. This author believes that the ultimate acceptance of the optical search strategy can be attributed to the tireless efforts of a single pioneer. See article. This article is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - China is ready to carry out a multiphase construction program that leads to a large space station around 2020. As a prelude to building that facility, China is set to loft the Tiangong-1 module this year as a platform to help master key rendezvous and docking technologies. See article.
g Learning - Astrobiology Magazine introduces our first comic series, The Amazing Adventures of AstrobioBot. This digital version of a Sunday comic will follow the journeys of a little robot as he builds himself into a full-fledged astrobiology explorer. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this image of a star-forming cloud of dust and gas, called Sh2-284, located in the constellation of Monoceros. Lining up along the edges of a cosmic hole are several "elephant trunks" - or monstrous pillars of dense gas and dust. See article.
g Abodes - Tides can render the so-called "habitable zone" around low-mass stars uninhabitable, a new report says. See article.
g Life - A new dinosaur named Brontomerus mcintoshi, or "thunder-thighs" after its enormously powerful thigh muscles, has been discovered in Utah. The new species is described in a paper recently published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica by an international team of scientists. See article.
g Intelligence - Even long after it is formed, a memory in rats can be enhanced or erased by increasing or decreasing the activity of a brain enzyme, say researchers supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health. See article.
g Message - For many years the microwave Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence held the spotlight, while the number of optical SETI observatories on this planet could be counted on the thumbs of one hand. In the five years since the last Optical SETI Conference, that has begun to change, with optical SETI finally emerging into the scientific mainstream. Advancing technology is only partly responsible for OSETI's change of fortune. This author believes that the ultimate acceptance of the optical search strategy can be attributed to the tireless efforts of a single pioneer. See article. This article is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - China is ready to carry out a multiphase construction program that leads to a large space station around 2020. As a prelude to building that facility, China is set to loft the Tiangong-1 module this year as a platform to help master key rendezvous and docking technologies. See article.
g Learning - Astrobiology Magazine introduces our first comic series, The Amazing Adventures of AstrobioBot. This digital version of a Sunday comic will follow the journeys of a little robot as he builds himself into a full-fledged astrobiology explorer. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Monday, March 07, 2011
Bacterial microfossils in meteorites and communicating with aliens
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 - By studying meteorites, scientists have discovered new information about how the Earth formed. Studying the early stages of planet formation can help astrobiologists determine how and where to search for habitable planets in the universe. See article.
g Life - NASA scientist Richard B. Hoover has sparked controversy with claims that he has identified bacterial microfossils in several meteorites. If proved correct, the implications are that life is common throughout the universe, and that life on Earth may have come from other planets. See article.
g Intelligence - Anyone considering an expensive purchase might do well to drink a bottle of water first, scientists concluded after finding that people with full bladders make wiser decisions. See article.
g Message - Communicating with Aliens, Part I: The SETI debates have included cautionary arguments about the possibility that aliens might be hostile. But this perspective, most easily dealt with by military attitudes, tends to be set aside in favor of an assumption that aliens would necessarily be intelligent and motivated to communicate in a way that fits comfortably into Western assumptions — to the point of commercializing the dispatch of personal messages into deep space at a charge of $14.95 each. Unfortunately the assumptions associated with this process do not seem to have been explored. Reliance on number theory as a basis for developing communication could easily be interpreted as a convenient projection by a psycho-socially unchallenged scientific milieu — which has its own internal communication problems between disciplines for which no common language has yet been developed. The nature of the challenge can perhaps best be scoped out by exploring the difficulties of communicating with the "aliens" that are frequently encountered in the daily life of a global society. See article.
g Cosmicus - A team of scientists has developed the very first optical fiber made with a core of zinc selenide - a light-yellow compound that can be used as a semiconductor. The new class of optical fiber, which allows for a more effective and liberal manipulation of light, promises to open the door to more versatile laser-radar technology. Such technology could be applied to the development of improved surgical and medical lasers, better countermeasure lasers used by the military, and superior environment-sensing lasers such as those used to measure pollutants and to detect the dissemination of bioterrorist chemical agents. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Abodes - By studying meteorites, scientists have discovered new information about how the Earth formed. Studying the early stages of planet formation can help astrobiologists determine how and where to search for habitable planets in the universe. See article.
g Life - NASA scientist Richard B. Hoover has sparked controversy with claims that he has identified bacterial microfossils in several meteorites. If proved correct, the implications are that life is common throughout the universe, and that life on Earth may have come from other planets. See article.
g Intelligence - Anyone considering an expensive purchase might do well to drink a bottle of water first, scientists concluded after finding that people with full bladders make wiser decisions. See article.
g Message - Communicating with Aliens, Part I: The SETI debates have included cautionary arguments about the possibility that aliens might be hostile. But this perspective, most easily dealt with by military attitudes, tends to be set aside in favor of an assumption that aliens would necessarily be intelligent and motivated to communicate in a way that fits comfortably into Western assumptions — to the point of commercializing the dispatch of personal messages into deep space at a charge of $14.95 each. Unfortunately the assumptions associated with this process do not seem to have been explored. Reliance on number theory as a basis for developing communication could easily be interpreted as a convenient projection by a psycho-socially unchallenged scientific milieu — which has its own internal communication problems between disciplines for which no common language has yet been developed. The nature of the challenge can perhaps best be scoped out by exploring the difficulties of communicating with the "aliens" that are frequently encountered in the daily life of a global society. See article.
g Cosmicus - A team of scientists has developed the very first optical fiber made with a core of zinc selenide - a light-yellow compound that can be used as a semiconductor. The new class of optical fiber, which allows for a more effective and liberal manipulation of light, promises to open the door to more versatile laser-radar technology. Such technology could be applied to the development of improved surgical and medical lasers, better countermeasure lasers used by the military, and superior environment-sensing lasers such as those used to measure pollutants and to detect the dissemination of bioterrorist chemical agents. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Young star in early stages of planet formation and false claims of ETI 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 - Astronomers have gathered new data from a disc of material around a young star that is in the early stages of planetary formation. The study can help astrobiologists understand how planets form and where best to search for habitable extrasolar worlds. See article.
g Life - Plants have for the first time been cloned as seeds. The research, published Feb. 18 in the journal Science, is a major step towards making hybrid crop plants that can retain favorable traits from generation to generation. See article.
g Intelligence - A research team has discovered a second form of phototransduction light sensing in cells that is derived from vitamin B2. This discovery may reveal new information about cellular processes controlled by light. See article.
g Message - Non-professional involvement in SETI science, which is encouraged by the nonprofit SETI League, Inc., increases the opportunity for the perpetration of hoaxes. The SETI League has already been peripherally involved in three separate false claims of ETI contact. Two were simple cases of mistaken identity, easily rectified. But the third was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an Internet hacker who broke into a closed signal verification e-mail list. Such claims call for a prompt but measured response, so as not to subject the SETI community to charges of complicity in conspiracy or cover-up activities. In this presentation SETI League Executive Director H. Paul Shuch explores the dilemma of encouraging grass-roots participation, while avoiding association with fraudulent and pseudo-scientific claims. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Cosmicus - Amid much wrangling over how to allocate funds out of an increasingly out-of-control federal budget, the editors and writers at eight of the TechMediaNetwork's sites sought the advice of dozens of researchers, technologists, futurists, analysts and business owners in fields ranging from space and Earth science to health and technological innovation. See article.
g Learning - San Mateo and Hillsdale high school students have teamed up with their teachers and professors at College of San Mateo to develop a tool to identify star types, a star's radius and its distance from the Earth by analyzing the energy a star emits. See article.
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g Abodes - Astronomers have gathered new data from a disc of material around a young star that is in the early stages of planetary formation. The study can help astrobiologists understand how planets form and where best to search for habitable extrasolar worlds. See article.
g Life - Plants have for the first time been cloned as seeds. The research, published Feb. 18 in the journal Science, is a major step towards making hybrid crop plants that can retain favorable traits from generation to generation. See article.
g Intelligence - A research team has discovered a second form of phototransduction light sensing in cells that is derived from vitamin B2. This discovery may reveal new information about cellular processes controlled by light. See article.
g Message - Non-professional involvement in SETI science, which is encouraged by the nonprofit SETI League, Inc., increases the opportunity for the perpetration of hoaxes. The SETI League has already been peripherally involved in three separate false claims of ETI contact. Two were simple cases of mistaken identity, easily rectified. But the third was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an Internet hacker who broke into a closed signal verification e-mail list. Such claims call for a prompt but measured response, so as not to subject the SETI community to charges of complicity in conspiracy or cover-up activities. In this presentation SETI League Executive Director H. Paul Shuch explores the dilemma of encouraging grass-roots participation, while avoiding association with fraudulent and pseudo-scientific claims. See article. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Cosmicus - Amid much wrangling over how to allocate funds out of an increasingly out-of-control federal budget, the editors and writers at eight of the TechMediaNetwork's sites sought the advice of dozens of researchers, technologists, futurists, analysts and business owners in fields ranging from space and Earth science to health and technological innovation. See article.
g Learning - San Mateo and Hillsdale high school students have teamed up with their teachers and professors at College of San Mateo to develop a tool to identify star types, a star's radius and its distance from the Earth by analyzing the energy a star emits. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Saturday, March 05, 2011
‘The Great Debate: What is Life?’ and mock Mars explorers heading ‘home’
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 - Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, is focusing on the local effects of climate change in different places in the world. Changing climate trends are resulting in less snow in California's Sierra Nevada mountains and more heavy rain for the state of Queensland in Australia. See article.
g Life - Renowned scientists in fields ranging from astrobiology to genetics disputed the origin of life on Earth as we know it and the definition of life itself during a panel discussion titled “The Great Debate: What is Life?” at Arizona State University on Feb. 12. See article.
g Intelligence - Our earliest ancestors preferred to settle in locations that have something in common with cities such as San Francisco, Naples and Istanbul - they are often on active tectonic faults in areas that have an earthquake risk or volcanoes, or both. See article.
g Message - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox.
g Cosmicus - A crew of mock Mars explorers has wrapped up the exploration of a simulated Red Planet and is now set to "fly" back home to Earth – and back to reality. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine's climate blog, The Hot Zone, is focusing on the local effects of climate change in different places in the world. Changing climate trends are resulting in less snow in California's Sierra Nevada mountains and more heavy rain for the state of Queensland in Australia. See article.
g Life - Renowned scientists in fields ranging from astrobiology to genetics disputed the origin of life on Earth as we know it and the definition of life itself during a panel discussion titled “The Great Debate: What is Life?” at Arizona State University on Feb. 12. See article.
g Intelligence - Our earliest ancestors preferred to settle in locations that have something in common with cities such as San Francisco, Naples and Istanbul - they are often on active tectonic faults in areas that have an earthquake risk or volcanoes, or both. See article.
g Message - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox.
g Cosmicus - A crew of mock Mars explorers has wrapped up the exploration of a simulated Red Planet and is now set to "fly" back home to Earth – and back to reality. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, March 04, 2011
New bacterium found in cave and looking for ET’s breath
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 - The star-forming regions of a nearby spiral galaxy glow bright pink in a spectacular new image from a telescope atop a Chilean peak. And the galaxy's actually slightly closer than astronomers once thought, researchers say. See article.
g Abodes - The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope has discovered 19 near-Earth asteroids in one night. Cataloging near-Earth asteroids is important in determining the potential for future impact events on Earth. See article.
g Life - A team of scientists and divers of the Dominican Republic Speleogy Society found a bacterium, until now “unknown,” in the depths of a cave in the country’s eastern region, listin.com.do reports. See article.
g Intelligence - Evidence for a diversified sea-based economy among North American inhabitants dating from 12,200 to 11,400 years ago is emerging from three sites on California's Channel Islands. See article.
g Message - If ET is out there, whether in the form of intelligent beings or much simpler organisms, we may soon be hot on its trail. For the first time in history, the dream of searching for signs of life in other solar systems belongs not only on the philosopher's wish list, but on the list of doable and planned human endeavors. See article. This article is from 2002.
g Cosmicus - The same stuff that once protected astronauts as they hopped about the surface of the moon has become an architectural staple, topping stadiums, airports and other structures from Atlanta to Saudi Arabia. See article.
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g Stars - The star-forming regions of a nearby spiral galaxy glow bright pink in a spectacular new image from a telescope atop a Chilean peak. And the galaxy's actually slightly closer than astronomers once thought, researchers say. See article.
g Abodes - The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope has discovered 19 near-Earth asteroids in one night. Cataloging near-Earth asteroids is important in determining the potential for future impact events on Earth. See article.
g Life - A team of scientists and divers of the Dominican Republic Speleogy Society found a bacterium, until now “unknown,” in the depths of a cave in the country’s eastern region, listin.com.do reports. See article.
g Intelligence - Evidence for a diversified sea-based economy among North American inhabitants dating from 12,200 to 11,400 years ago is emerging from three sites on California's Channel Islands. See article.
g Message - If ET is out there, whether in the form of intelligent beings or much simpler organisms, we may soon be hot on its trail. For the first time in history, the dream of searching for signs of life in other solar systems belongs not only on the philosopher's wish list, but on the list of doable and planned human endeavors. See article. This article is from 2002.
g Cosmicus - The same stuff that once protected astronauts as they hopped about the surface of the moon has become an architectural staple, topping stadiums, airports and other structures from Atlanta to Saudi Arabia. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Sunspot drought mystery and the world of extraterrestrial science
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 - The source of a mysterious drought of sunspots in recent years apparently originated beneath the star's solar skin, investigators find. See article.
g Abodes - How severe can climate change become in a warming world? Worse than anything we've seen in written history, according to results of a study recently appearing in the journal Science. See article.
g Life - Almost 600 million years ago, before the rampant evolution of diverse life forms known as the Cambrian explosion, a community of seaweeds and worm-like animals lived in a quiet deep-water niche under the sea near what is now Lantian, a small village in Anhui Province of South China. Then they simply died, leaving some 3,000 nearly pristine fossils preserved between beds of black shale deposited in oxygen-free waters. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Are We Alone? Scientists Search for Life in Space,” a rare combination of engaging narrative and factual information, Gloria Skurzynski uses techniques she's developed as a fiction writer to energize her science writing. This book not only brings the reader into the world of extraterrestrial science, but is also very much about the hopes and dreams of real people. She lends a strong personal voice to the narrative, drawing the reader deep into the world of extraterrestrial study. Humans have always been fascinated with extraterrestrial life, and the book traces that interest, including the origination of the term "flying saucer." Sloan also explains why scientists don't buy it. See reviews.
g Cosmicus - Researchers have struck million-dollar deals for as many as 17 flights aboard two kinds of private-sector suborbital spaceships, with the prospect of many more in future years. "This is just whetting people’s taste for what is to come," said Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who helped engineer the deals and is due to be one of the first to fly. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - The source of a mysterious drought of sunspots in recent years apparently originated beneath the star's solar skin, investigators find. See article.
g Abodes - How severe can climate change become in a warming world? Worse than anything we've seen in written history, according to results of a study recently appearing in the journal Science. See article.
g Life - Almost 600 million years ago, before the rampant evolution of diverse life forms known as the Cambrian explosion, a community of seaweeds and worm-like animals lived in a quiet deep-water niche under the sea near what is now Lantian, a small village in Anhui Province of South China. Then they simply died, leaving some 3,000 nearly pristine fossils preserved between beds of black shale deposited in oxygen-free waters. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Are We Alone? Scientists Search for Life in Space,” a rare combination of engaging narrative and factual information, Gloria Skurzynski uses techniques she's developed as a fiction writer to energize her science writing. This book not only brings the reader into the world of extraterrestrial science, but is also very much about the hopes and dreams of real people. She lends a strong personal voice to the narrative, drawing the reader deep into the world of extraterrestrial study. Humans have always been fascinated with extraterrestrial life, and the book traces that interest, including the origination of the term "flying saucer." Sloan also explains why scientists don't buy it. See reviews.
g Cosmicus - Researchers have struck million-dollar deals for as many as 17 flights aboard two kinds of private-sector suborbital spaceships, with the prospect of many more in future years. "This is just whetting people’s taste for what is to come," said Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who helped engineer the deals and is due to be one of the first to fly. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere and ‘SETI 2020’
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 - Researchers have provided new information about the role of plankton in the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere. The study will help scientists better understand the links between life, the environment and the habitability on Earth. See article.
g Life - Discoveries at a new fossil site in China are filling gaps in our understanding of how life recovered after the greatest mass extinction known in Earth's history. See article.
g Message - Book alert: If you are interested in how researchers plan to search the heavens for signs of intelligent life, you should have “SETI 2020” on your bookshelf. Written by Ronald D. Ekers (editor), D. Kent Cullers and John Billingham, “SETI 2020: is a remarkably comprehensive study of how scientists busy with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should direct their efforts between now and the year 2020. Distilling the work of dozens of top SETI experts, astronomers and technology mavens, this book gives an overview of the problem of finding evidence for extraterrestrial technologies, and how to best address it. New radio telescopes consisting of large arrays of relatively small antennas are proposed and detailed. So are new types of antennas that can survey the entire sky at once. Of particular interest is the extensive treatment of optical SETI — the search for signals beamed our way using high-powered, pulsed lasers or their equivalent. A book that's interesting for both the layman and the technically sophisticated, “SETI 2020” is the definitive publication in this fascinating field. See reviews.
g Cosmicus - A research group has suggested a fundamentally novel architecture for quantum computation. They have experimentally demonstrated quantum antennas, which enable the exchange of quantum information between two separate memory cells located on a computer chip. This offers new opportunities to build practical quantum computers. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Abodes - Researchers have provided new information about the role of plankton in the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere. The study will help scientists better understand the links between life, the environment and the habitability on Earth. See article.
g Life - Discoveries at a new fossil site in China are filling gaps in our understanding of how life recovered after the greatest mass extinction known in Earth's history. See article.
g Message - Book alert: If you are interested in how researchers plan to search the heavens for signs of intelligent life, you should have “SETI 2020” on your bookshelf. Written by Ronald D. Ekers (editor), D. Kent Cullers and John Billingham, “SETI 2020: is a remarkably comprehensive study of how scientists busy with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should direct their efforts between now and the year 2020. Distilling the work of dozens of top SETI experts, astronomers and technology mavens, this book gives an overview of the problem of finding evidence for extraterrestrial technologies, and how to best address it. New radio telescopes consisting of large arrays of relatively small antennas are proposed and detailed. So are new types of antennas that can survey the entire sky at once. Of particular interest is the extensive treatment of optical SETI — the search for signals beamed our way using high-powered, pulsed lasers or their equivalent. A book that's interesting for both the layman and the technically sophisticated, “SETI 2020” is the definitive publication in this fascinating field. See reviews.
g Cosmicus - A research group has suggested a fundamentally novel architecture for quantum computation. They have experimentally demonstrated quantum antennas, which enable the exchange of quantum information between two separate memory cells located on a computer chip. This offers new opportunities to build practical quantum computers. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Fifty billion planets estimated and what if nobody is transmitting?
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 - Our galaxy could be home to a whopping 50 billion planets, say scientists working on NASA's Kepler planet-hunting telescope. See article.
g Life - Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming may affect interactions between plants and the insects that eat them, altering the course of plant evolution, research suggests. 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. This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - Oxygen has played a major role in the history of life on Earth. Now, thanks to research at NASA, oxygen is also being used to repair artistic masterpieces and enhance materials used on spacecraft. NASA has developed uses for atomic oxygen that will aid future space exploration and also improve life here on Earth. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Abodes - Our galaxy could be home to a whopping 50 billion planets, say scientists working on NASA's Kepler planet-hunting telescope. See article.
g Life - Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming may affect interactions between plants and the insects that eat them, altering the course of plant evolution, research suggests. 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. This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - Oxygen has played a major role in the history of life on Earth. Now, thanks to research at NASA, oxygen is also being used to repair artistic masterpieces and enhance materials used on spacecraft. NASA has developed uses for atomic oxygen that will aid future space exploration and also improve life here on Earth. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
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