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 largest-ever three-dimensional map of the distant universe has been created using the light of the brightest objects in the cosmos. See article.
g Abodes - A team of scientists led by Rice University has figured out why the Colorado Plateau - a 130,000-square-mile region that straddles Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico - is rising even while parts of its lower crust appear to be falling. The massive, tectonically stable region of the western United States has long puzzled geologists. See article.
g Life - Exotic bacteria that do not rely on oxygen may have played an important role in determining the composition of Earth's early atmosphere, according to a theory that a researcher is testing in the scalding hot springs of a volcanic crater in Siberia. See article.
g Message - Science fiction author David Brin offers a copy of his 1983 article “Xenology: The Science of Asking Who’s Out There”. While two decades old, the information is still relevant and offers a good overview of fundamental astrobiological questions.
g Cosmicus - A technique that astronomers use to parse starlight might also be useful in assessing skin blots that may become cancerous. See article.
g Imagining - Could Star Trek’s Caretaker of The Original Series’ “Shore Leave” fame actually evolve? Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about his race with the exception that it is very advanced technologically and quite disciplined mentally. We also know that it appears human, which virtually eliminates it from the realm of possibility, as the parallel evolution on another planet of homo sapiens is extremely unlikely. However, the Caretaker’s kind may not be humanoid at all. Indeed, his race employs machinery that can nearly instantaneously create items based on the readings of one’s thoughts. It’s similar to what the Squire of Gothos and The Next Generation’s Q can do. However, the squire and the Q can achieve this instantaneously, the squire through a machine and the Q through an omnipotent understanding of the universe. Both the squire and the Q also are energy beings. Might the caretaker as well be one (though of a different race than the squire or the Q) and merely took on human form for the landing party’s sake?
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Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Different scenarios for what’ll happen after first contact and Voyager probes return unsettling data
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 - More than 30 years after they left Earth, NASA's twin Voyager probes are now returning data from the edge of the Solar System. With each passing day they are beaming back a message that, to scientists, is both unsettling and thrilling. See article.
g Abodes - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes as the tilt of the planet's axis varies. This process could affect the stability of any liquid water, if it exists on the Martian surface. See article.
g Life - We already know about numerous extremophiles, microbes that can live in incredibly extreme conditions, which would easily kill almost every other creature. There are bacteria which survive in extremely high or low temperatures, in substances with an extreme pH, surrounded by nothing but solid rock, in the depths of the ocean, and so on. But now, researchers have found a different kind of resistance for bacteria: the ability to survive at a gravitational force 400.000 times bigger than normally on Earth. See article.
g Intelligence - People who have strokes are often left with moderate to severe physical impairments. Now, thanks to a glove developed at McGill, stroke patients may be able to recover hand motion by playing video games. The Biomedical Sensor Glove was developed by four final-year McGill Mechanical Engineering undergrads under the supervision of Professor Rosaire Mongrain. See article.
g Message - Looking for a club to join? Try The SETI League. The league’s site has a lot of great information for everyone from the beginner to accomplished technogeek.
g Cosmicus - Scientists are preparing to launch a spider habitat into space to observe their activities in microgravity. The research will help astrobiologists understand how life from Earth adapts to the space environment. See article.
g Learning - Author Marc Kaufman spoke about the origins of his new book, "First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth," with Astrobiology.com today. See article.
g Imagining - Among the more famous alien races from “Star Trek” are the Gorn, bipedal reptilians who are much larger and stronger than humans. The Gorn are an unlikely alien species but a splendid example of how we so often portray extraterrestrials based not on scientific principles but our own psychology — like the insect alien, most humans naturally find the reptilian alien repulsive. For science fiction, it’s a good choice to create suspense: creatures out of our nightmares that we keep going back to out of a fascination over what frightens us. But could the Gorn evolve on another world? Probably not. The most troubling feature of the Gorn is the remarkable parallel evolution that would have to occur on Gorn Prime to Earth for a few billion years, at least up to our Age of Dinosaurs. Also disconcerting is the Gorn’s snout; this adds weight to the head and with a large brain size creates excessive and unbalanced weight for the neck muscles to hold up. Another problem is the Gorn’s slow movements; certainly a species that evolved to intelligence would have to move a little faster, or it could not succeed in hunting. A caveat here is that its lack of agility may in part have propelled it to intelligence, as it needed to outthink faster moving prey. Some “Star Trek” fans have speculated that Gorn Prime possesses a harsh environment and a relatively high local gravity (1.4 Gs!), which accounts for the Gorn’s increased strength and endurance levels. This seems unlikely, though, as the Gorn then would be able to move swiftly on the asteroid presented in the episode, which Kirk shifts about on as if it were Earth normal gravity.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing article that is frequently referenced in astrobiology papers: "The Consequences of a Discovery: Different Scenarios" by astronomer Ivan Almar.
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g Stars - More than 30 years after they left Earth, NASA's twin Voyager probes are now returning data from the edge of the Solar System. With each passing day they are beaming back a message that, to scientists, is both unsettling and thrilling. See article.
g Abodes - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes as the tilt of the planet's axis varies. This process could affect the stability of any liquid water, if it exists on the Martian surface. See article.
g Life - We already know about numerous extremophiles, microbes that can live in incredibly extreme conditions, which would easily kill almost every other creature. There are bacteria which survive in extremely high or low temperatures, in substances with an extreme pH, surrounded by nothing but solid rock, in the depths of the ocean, and so on. But now, researchers have found a different kind of resistance for bacteria: the ability to survive at a gravitational force 400.000 times bigger than normally on Earth. See article.
g Intelligence - People who have strokes are often left with moderate to severe physical impairments. Now, thanks to a glove developed at McGill, stroke patients may be able to recover hand motion by playing video games. The Biomedical Sensor Glove was developed by four final-year McGill Mechanical Engineering undergrads under the supervision of Professor Rosaire Mongrain. See article.
g Message - Looking for a club to join? Try The SETI League. The league’s site has a lot of great information for everyone from the beginner to accomplished technogeek.
g Cosmicus - Scientists are preparing to launch a spider habitat into space to observe their activities in microgravity. The research will help astrobiologists understand how life from Earth adapts to the space environment. See article.
g Learning - Author Marc Kaufman spoke about the origins of his new book, "First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth," with Astrobiology.com today. See article.
g Imagining - Among the more famous alien races from “Star Trek” are the Gorn, bipedal reptilians who are much larger and stronger than humans. The Gorn are an unlikely alien species but a splendid example of how we so often portray extraterrestrials based not on scientific principles but our own psychology — like the insect alien, most humans naturally find the reptilian alien repulsive. For science fiction, it’s a good choice to create suspense: creatures out of our nightmares that we keep going back to out of a fascination over what frightens us. But could the Gorn evolve on another world? Probably not. The most troubling feature of the Gorn is the remarkable parallel evolution that would have to occur on Gorn Prime to Earth for a few billion years, at least up to our Age of Dinosaurs. Also disconcerting is the Gorn’s snout; this adds weight to the head and with a large brain size creates excessive and unbalanced weight for the neck muscles to hold up. Another problem is the Gorn’s slow movements; certainly a species that evolved to intelligence would have to move a little faster, or it could not succeed in hunting. A caveat here is that its lack of agility may in part have propelled it to intelligence, as it needed to outthink faster moving prey. Some “Star Trek” fans have speculated that Gorn Prime possesses a harsh environment and a relatively high local gravity (1.4 Gs!), which accounts for the Gorn’s increased strength and endurance levels. This seems unlikely, though, as the Gorn then would be able to move swiftly on the asteroid presented in the episode, which Kirk shifts about on as if it were Earth normal gravity.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing article that is frequently referenced in astrobiology papers: "The Consequences of a Discovery: Different Scenarios" by astronomer Ivan Almar.
Read this blogger’s books
Thursday, April 28, 2011
What SETI is (or was) searching for and Star Trek’s Talosians
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 cutting-edge experiment hunting for antimatter galaxies and signs of dark matter that was very nearly cancelled is finally poised to voyage into orbit aboard the next-to-last space shuttle mission. See article.
g Abodes - Greenhouse gases have increased more frequently in Earth's history than previously believed. Fluxes involved a significant exchange of carbon between surface reservoirs and the atmosphere. Higher levels of CO2 affect nutrient uptake by planets, which could cause problems as the modern climate continues to heat up. See article.
g Life - Fifty million-year-old fossils from ancestors of today's dugongs are helping scientists understand the temperature and composition of the waters in which they swam. The study is providing new information about climate change events, both ancient and modern. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers at Brown University have found that specific genetic variations can predict how persistently people will believe advice they are given, even when it is contradicted by experience. See article.
g Message - What sort of signal would satisfactorily announce an extraterrestrial intelligence as detected by radio-emission or light reception (if SETI were searching anymore for alien signals, that is)? See article.
g Cosmicus - As suborbital jaunts to space promise to become available soon to anyone with a couple hundred thousand dollars to spare, I can tell those considering a trip: You're in for a wild ride. See article.
g Imagining - Star Trek’s very first alien, the Talosians
, pose quite an evolutionary challenge: Their heads are oversized because of large, powerful brains capable of telepathy and even mind control of others. First off, a brain of that size must demand a lot of energy. This is somewhat addressed through the large arteries and veins apparent on their bald heads; their frail bodies also indicate fewer cells below the neckline for oxygen-carrying blood to support. But they probably also need greater lung capacity to cycle more oxygen into their bodies as well as a larger heart for pumping that oxygen-laden blood to and through the brain. Their bodies don’t indicate larger lungs, however. Another problem with their head/brain size is giving birth. The enormity of the head is limited by the size and shape of the pelvis — and their human shape and gait indicates they couldn’t give birth to an infant with a head any larger than ours. A possibility is that their the brain primarily develops outside of the womb; perhaps they grow in their telepathic powers as they age. Another possibility: They are not born naturally but artificially created, indicating a separation from among the most basic instincts – mating. The Talosians, after all, are fairly unimaginative creatures, dependent upon probing the minds of others for new experiences! As for their telepathic and power of illusion capabilities, we’ll just have to presume that somehow their brain lobes have evolved sections capable of connecting and interacting across the medium of air with another creature’s neurons.
g Aftermath - Here’s one common man’s musings on the consequences for society if extraterrestrial intelligence is discovered: "Inevitably society would change should extraterrestrial intelligence be discovered. The question is to what extent. We might react in the same way we did with the new millennium when it was imminent, but it proved to be much ado about almost nothing. The same may be true for the discovery of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations. On the other hand, the extreme opposite is a scenario where all of our worst fears are fulfilled." See article.
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g Stars - A cutting-edge experiment hunting for antimatter galaxies and signs of dark matter that was very nearly cancelled is finally poised to voyage into orbit aboard the next-to-last space shuttle mission. See article.
g Abodes - Greenhouse gases have increased more frequently in Earth's history than previously believed. Fluxes involved a significant exchange of carbon between surface reservoirs and the atmosphere. Higher levels of CO2 affect nutrient uptake by planets, which could cause problems as the modern climate continues to heat up. See article.
g Life - Fifty million-year-old fossils from ancestors of today's dugongs are helping scientists understand the temperature and composition of the waters in which they swam. The study is providing new information about climate change events, both ancient and modern. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers at Brown University have found that specific genetic variations can predict how persistently people will believe advice they are given, even when it is contradicted by experience. See article.
g Message - What sort of signal would satisfactorily announce an extraterrestrial intelligence as detected by radio-emission or light reception (if SETI were searching anymore for alien signals, that is)? See article.
g Cosmicus - As suborbital jaunts to space promise to become available soon to anyone with a couple hundred thousand dollars to spare, I can tell those considering a trip: You're in for a wild ride. See article.
g Imagining - Star Trek’s very first alien, the Talosians
, pose quite an evolutionary challenge: Their heads are oversized because of large, powerful brains capable of telepathy and even mind control of others. First off, a brain of that size must demand a lot of energy. This is somewhat addressed through the large arteries and veins apparent on their bald heads; their frail bodies also indicate fewer cells below the neckline for oxygen-carrying blood to support. But they probably also need greater lung capacity to cycle more oxygen into their bodies as well as a larger heart for pumping that oxygen-laden blood to and through the brain. Their bodies don’t indicate larger lungs, however. Another problem with their head/brain size is giving birth. The enormity of the head is limited by the size and shape of the pelvis — and their human shape and gait indicates they couldn’t give birth to an infant with a head any larger than ours. A possibility is that their the brain primarily develops outside of the womb; perhaps they grow in their telepathic powers as they age. Another possibility: They are not born naturally but artificially created, indicating a separation from among the most basic instincts – mating. The Talosians, after all, are fairly unimaginative creatures, dependent upon probing the minds of others for new experiences! As for their telepathic and power of illusion capabilities, we’ll just have to presume that somehow their brain lobes have evolved sections capable of connecting and interacting across the medium of air with another creature’s neurons.
g Aftermath - Here’s one common man’s musings on the consequences for society if extraterrestrial intelligence is discovered: "Inevitably society would change should extraterrestrial intelligence be discovered. The question is to what extent. We might react in the same way we did with the new millennium when it was imminent, but it proved to be much ado about almost nothing. The same may be true for the discovery of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations. On the other hand, the extreme opposite is a scenario where all of our worst fears are fulfilled." See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
SETI puts ET on hold and ‘First Contact’ author discusses his book
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 first stars in the universe may have been extraordinarily fast spinners, whirling at more than a million miles per hour, scientists say. See article.
g Abodes - By studying life in the scalding hot springs of a volcanic crater in Siberia, a team of scientists has discovered bacteria that produce and consume carbon monoxide. The findings could provide new insight into the evolution of Earth's early atmosphere. See article.
g Life - New research shows that water molecules could actually influence the structure of DNA. The finding could provide clues about how DNA originated, and how it functions in modern cells. See article
g Intelligence - When deprived of sleep, parts of the human brain may doze off, secretly snatching moments of slumber even as people seem to be awake. See article.
g Message - Budget cuts have forced the SETI Institute in California to shut down its famous search for extraterrestrial life, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The institute can no longer afford to operate its Allen Telescope Array, which has been scanning outer space for sign of communication since 2007. As a result, it's been in what the institute calls "hibernation" since April 15. See article.
g Cosmicus - As the 10th anniversary of American businessman Dennis Tito’s groundbreaking flight nears, SPACE.com caught up with the space pioneer to chat about his experience - and the prospects for private spaceflight going forward. See interview.
g Learning - Marc Kaufman, author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth talks about his book in today’s Washington Post.
g Imagining - A short entry today on the early “Star Trek” alien Balok: Creatively speaking, this alien was a disappointment compared to the previously presented Alfa 117 canine and salt vampire. Balok only possesses two real visual differences from humans: He’s shorter and possesses more child-like features (teeth and facial). As to the first trait, of height, Balok may come from a planet with heavier gravity than Earth. Or perhaps there was shorter grass on the savanna (his hominid frame indicates a primate-styled path to intelligence), so height actually may be an evolutionary disadvantage on his world. Possibly his planet is slightly cooler, as that would encourage stockier traits, though the shapes of his nostrils don’t indicate his kind regularly breathes cold air, nor does the Enterprise crew note or physically show that they’re on a cold ship. As to the second trait, of child-like features, presumably it holds some evolutionary advantage (after all, adults even in smaller mammals appear much more angular in their faces than their infants), though not enough hints were provided to offer speculation. Any ideas out there?
g Aftermath - Could Martian research samples carry diseases? Certainly this is an issue for the first time we make contact with extraterrestrial life, whether it is intelligent or microbial. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - The first stars in the universe may have been extraordinarily fast spinners, whirling at more than a million miles per hour, scientists say. See article.
g Abodes - By studying life in the scalding hot springs of a volcanic crater in Siberia, a team of scientists has discovered bacteria that produce and consume carbon monoxide. The findings could provide new insight into the evolution of Earth's early atmosphere. See article.
g Life - New research shows that water molecules could actually influence the structure of DNA. The finding could provide clues about how DNA originated, and how it functions in modern cells. See article
g Intelligence - When deprived of sleep, parts of the human brain may doze off, secretly snatching moments of slumber even as people seem to be awake. See article.
g Message - Budget cuts have forced the SETI Institute in California to shut down its famous search for extraterrestrial life, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The institute can no longer afford to operate its Allen Telescope Array, which has been scanning outer space for sign of communication since 2007. As a result, it's been in what the institute calls "hibernation" since April 15. See article.
g Cosmicus - As the 10th anniversary of American businessman Dennis Tito’s groundbreaking flight nears, SPACE.com caught up with the space pioneer to chat about his experience - and the prospects for private spaceflight going forward. See interview.
g Learning - Marc Kaufman, author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth talks about his book in today’s Washington Post.
g Imagining - A short entry today on the early “Star Trek” alien Balok: Creatively speaking, this alien was a disappointment compared to the previously presented Alfa 117 canine and salt vampire. Balok only possesses two real visual differences from humans: He’s shorter and possesses more child-like features (teeth and facial). As to the first trait, of height, Balok may come from a planet with heavier gravity than Earth. Or perhaps there was shorter grass on the savanna (his hominid frame indicates a primate-styled path to intelligence), so height actually may be an evolutionary disadvantage on his world. Possibly his planet is slightly cooler, as that would encourage stockier traits, though the shapes of his nostrils don’t indicate his kind regularly breathes cold air, nor does the Enterprise crew note or physically show that they’re on a cold ship. As to the second trait, of child-like features, presumably it holds some evolutionary advantage (after all, adults even in smaller mammals appear much more angular in their faces than their infants), though not enough hints were provided to offer speculation. Any ideas out there?
g Aftermath - Could Martian research samples carry diseases? Certainly this is an issue for the first time we make contact with extraterrestrial life, whether it is intelligent or microbial. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Size of Mars’ atmosphere changes and Star Trek’s ‘The Old Ones’
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 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes dramatically as the tilt of the planet's axis varies. This process can affect the stability of liquid water if it exists on the Martian surface and increase the frequency and severity of Martian dust storms. See article.
g Life - Brilliant gold- and silver-colored beetles have given optics researchers new insights into the way biology can recreate the appearance of some of nature's most precious metals. See article.
g Imagining - Another early “Star Trek” alien is the Exo III android makers. We really don’t know what the android creators (aka “the Old Ones”) looked like, but we can presume by the way human duplicates were created with the android-making machine that they appear like Ruk. Their height indicates that the planet’s gravity is slightly lighter than Earth’s, and there isn’t a discernable difference in the way humans step on this world. Possibly the savanna grass was taller than in our Africa (their hominid shape indicates a primate-oriented evolution). The whitish pallor probably is due to the lack of sunlight (though not the cold, as that also would make their bodies more compact); the aliens did go underground when a global ice age gripped their world. One interesting question is if they possessed the ability to build androids, why didn’t they just leave their planet when its habitability was lowered? Perhaps some religious or cultural belief prevented them from considering or pursuing space travel; possibly they developed the android-making machine when residing underground. While the show’s creators did a good job of making the Old Ones evolutionarily sound given the world’s climate of the past several eons, the aliens fall short on the Earth vertebrate factor: It’s highly unlikely that the exact facial arrangements as those of Earth’s vertebrates when first leaving the water for land would be so exactly duplicated.
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g Abodes - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the total amount of atmosphere on Mars changes dramatically as the tilt of the planet's axis varies. This process can affect the stability of liquid water if it exists on the Martian surface and increase the frequency and severity of Martian dust storms. See article.
g Life - Brilliant gold- and silver-colored beetles have given optics researchers new insights into the way biology can recreate the appearance of some of nature's most precious metals. See article.
g Imagining - Another early “Star Trek” alien is the Exo III android makers. We really don’t know what the android creators (aka “the Old Ones”) looked like, but we can presume by the way human duplicates were created with the android-making machine that they appear like Ruk. Their height indicates that the planet’s gravity is slightly lighter than Earth’s, and there isn’t a discernable difference in the way humans step on this world. Possibly the savanna grass was taller than in our Africa (their hominid shape indicates a primate-oriented evolution). The whitish pallor probably is due to the lack of sunlight (though not the cold, as that also would make their bodies more compact); the aliens did go underground when a global ice age gripped their world. One interesting question is if they possessed the ability to build androids, why didn’t they just leave their planet when its habitability was lowered? Perhaps some religious or cultural belief prevented them from considering or pursuing space travel; possibly they developed the android-making machine when residing underground. While the show’s creators did a good job of making the Old Ones evolutionarily sound given the world’s climate of the past several eons, the aliens fall short on the Earth vertebrate factor: It’s highly unlikely that the exact facial arrangements as those of Earth’s vertebrates when first leaving the water for land would be so exactly duplicated.
Read this blogger’s books
Monday, April 25, 2011
Eavesdropping on alien radio transmissions close to impossible – yet emissions from radio aurora of Jupiter-like planets detectable with radio telescopes
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 identified what appears to be a cosmic smoking gun for a historic supernova explosion, a find that may also help with the search for elusive dark energy in the universe. See article.
g Abodes - A new study shows that emissions from the radio aurora of Jupiter-like planets should be detectable with radio telescopes. The finding means that detecting exoplanets that orbit at large distances from their star could now be easier to find. See article.
g Life - A new study indicates that the Earth could recover from rising CO2 emissions faster than previously thought. Fifty-six million years ago, during a period of rising temperatures and atmospheric CO2, the Earth increased its ability to pull carbon from the air and sped up the planet's recovery. See article.
g Message - Eavesdropping on alien radio transmissions may be close to impossible, says a team of researchers who think alien signals would be indistinguishable from interstellar noise. See article.
g Imagining - Could "Star Trek"'s Alfa 177 canine exist? Setting aside the facial features that show the canine is an Earth-descended vertebrate, the answer is yes. The Alfa 113 biome the Enterprise crew visits is cold but dry, perhaps a summer plain set below a great continental ice sheet. In cold climates, life forms need to be compact and/or covered in thick hair or fat; this is so with this creature. In addition, the canine's short legs indicate it need not worry about snowdrifts. Based on the creature's canine teeth and jaw structure, it must be a predator; considering the canine's size, it likely preys on creatures no larger than rats - and rodents are quite abundant on the tundra. A lack of claws indicates it doesn't burrow, however, which probably would be necessary in such a climate. Perhaps caves in the area or other creature's burrows provide shelter. As for the antenna upon its head, I'll withhold speculation!
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g Stars - Astronomers have identified what appears to be a cosmic smoking gun for a historic supernova explosion, a find that may also help with the search for elusive dark energy in the universe. See article.
g Abodes - A new study shows that emissions from the radio aurora of Jupiter-like planets should be detectable with radio telescopes. The finding means that detecting exoplanets that orbit at large distances from their star could now be easier to find. See article.
g Life - A new study indicates that the Earth could recover from rising CO2 emissions faster than previously thought. Fifty-six million years ago, during a period of rising temperatures and atmospheric CO2, the Earth increased its ability to pull carbon from the air and sped up the planet's recovery. See article.
g Message - Eavesdropping on alien radio transmissions may be close to impossible, says a team of researchers who think alien signals would be indistinguishable from interstellar noise. See article.
g Imagining - Could "Star Trek"'s Alfa 177 canine exist? Setting aside the facial features that show the canine is an Earth-descended vertebrate, the answer is yes. The Alfa 113 biome the Enterprise crew visits is cold but dry, perhaps a summer plain set below a great continental ice sheet. In cold climates, life forms need to be compact and/or covered in thick hair or fat; this is so with this creature. In addition, the canine's short legs indicate it need not worry about snowdrifts. Based on the creature's canine teeth and jaw structure, it must be a predator; considering the canine's size, it likely preys on creatures no larger than rats - and rodents are quite abundant on the tundra. A lack of claws indicates it doesn't burrow, however, which probably would be necessary in such a climate. Perhaps caves in the area or other creature's burrows provide shelter. As for the antenna upon its head, I'll withhold speculation!
Read this blogger’s books
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Evolution of a super-brain and Star Trek’s Thasians
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 Galaxy Evolution Explorer may be closer to knowing why some of the most massive stellar explosions ever observed occur in the tiniest of galaxies. See article.
g Abodes - Poisonous carbon monoxide gas has been discovered in the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto, after a worldwide search that lasted nearly two decades, according to a new study that also detected the planet's atmosphere extending much higher above the surface than previously thought. See article.
g Intelligence - Could the evolution of the human mind, and its ability to create a potentially infinite variety of thoughts, be attributed to the formation of a “super-brain”? One theory about this collective mind centers around and event that took place in Africa no later than 75,000 years ago. See article.
g Imagining - An early “Star Trek” alien is the Thasians, who serve a deux ex machina role in one episode. The Thasians apparently are a noncorporeal life form that gave a human child incredible powers of telekinesis. Such capabilities, as exhibited by the child (now a 17-year-old teenager) appear to stem from within his own physical being, however. The Thasians themselves also are dependent on the physical reality of a spacecraft for traveling beyond their planet. Of course, how a noncorporeal life form might exist is beyond our physical science, though one might suspect it is an organized pattern of electrical impulses, somehow held together and organized without use of a physical platform (such as our brain cells) — though their powers can be transferred to such a platform, as occurs with the boy. Most likely the Thasians did not evolve as noncorporeal life forms but instead, being eons ahead of us in technology, rely on machines (using teleportation-like technology) to do their work; their own beings might be interfaced with such machines so a mere concentrated thought can command it. The Thasians, thus feeling encumbered by physical form, shifted to another dimension — again, more fiction than reality — where the very nature of that space allows the beings (electrical patterns) to remain organized, and perhaps better able to communicate with their machines. Of course, too little was said about the Thasians in the episode, though the boy did note that the Thasians do not “feel” or “touch” in the same way that humans do.
g Aftermath - How will humanity react when we receive our first interstellar phone call from ET? Though not a new piece, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak offers some intriguing thoughts.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Astronomers using NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer may be closer to knowing why some of the most massive stellar explosions ever observed occur in the tiniest of galaxies. See article.
g Abodes - Poisonous carbon monoxide gas has been discovered in the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto, after a worldwide search that lasted nearly two decades, according to a new study that also detected the planet's atmosphere extending much higher above the surface than previously thought. See article.
g Intelligence - Could the evolution of the human mind, and its ability to create a potentially infinite variety of thoughts, be attributed to the formation of a “super-brain”? One theory about this collective mind centers around and event that took place in Africa no later than 75,000 years ago. See article.
g Imagining - An early “Star Trek” alien is the Thasians, who serve a deux ex machina role in one episode. The Thasians apparently are a noncorporeal life form that gave a human child incredible powers of telekinesis. Such capabilities, as exhibited by the child (now a 17-year-old teenager) appear to stem from within his own physical being, however. The Thasians themselves also are dependent on the physical reality of a spacecraft for traveling beyond their planet. Of course, how a noncorporeal life form might exist is beyond our physical science, though one might suspect it is an organized pattern of electrical impulses, somehow held together and organized without use of a physical platform (such as our brain cells) — though their powers can be transferred to such a platform, as occurs with the boy. Most likely the Thasians did not evolve as noncorporeal life forms but instead, being eons ahead of us in technology, rely on machines (using teleportation-like technology) to do their work; their own beings might be interfaced with such machines so a mere concentrated thought can command it. The Thasians, thus feeling encumbered by physical form, shifted to another dimension — again, more fiction than reality — where the very nature of that space allows the beings (electrical patterns) to remain organized, and perhaps better able to communicate with their machines. Of course, too little was said about the Thasians in the episode, though the boy did note that the Thasians do not “feel” or “touch” in the same way that humans do.
g Aftermath - How will humanity react when we receive our first interstellar phone call from ET? Though not a new piece, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak offers some intriguing thoughts.
Read this blogger’s books
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Scientists’ booming interest in astrobiology and first contact’s effect on religion
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 - Did the early universe have just one spatial dimension? See article.
g Abodes - A computer modeling study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that at deep Earth pressures and temperatures, longer hydrocarbons may be formed from the simplest one, the methane molecule. 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. Here’s the program.
g Cosmicus - The Florida space coast is expecting near-record crowds to flock to Cape Canaveral to watch the space shuttle Endeavour launch on its last voyage April 29. See article.
g Learning - There's no good evidence to date that life exists, or ever has existed, on worlds beyond the Earth — so it might seem odd that the field of science known as astrobiology is booming. Over the past decade or so, hundreds of biologists, geologists, chemists and astronomers have conducted research and attended conferences on astrobiology around the world, and NASA even has an Astrobiology Institute at its Ames Research Center in California. See article.
g Aftermath - The discovery that alien life exists would mean that we are not the center of the universe. While most religions now recognize that the Earth is just a lump of rock, they still believe that we human beings are the most important thing in creation, that we occupy a special place in God's plan. The existence of aliens would seem to make this implausible especially if they are more advanced than we are (on all levels, intellectually, spiritually) This would mean that God has acted in the development of the aliens in a way he did not act in ours, which in turn would mean that we do not occupy the paramount role in God's creation, which is a fundamental idea in religions. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Did the early universe have just one spatial dimension? See article.
g Abodes - A computer modeling study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that at deep Earth pressures and temperatures, longer hydrocarbons may be formed from the simplest one, the methane molecule. 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. Here’s the program.
g Cosmicus - The Florida space coast is expecting near-record crowds to flock to Cape Canaveral to watch the space shuttle Endeavour launch on its last voyage April 29. See article.
g Learning - There's no good evidence to date that life exists, or ever has existed, on worlds beyond the Earth — so it might seem odd that the field of science known as astrobiology is booming. Over the past decade or so, hundreds of biologists, geologists, chemists and astronomers have conducted research and attended conferences on astrobiology around the world, and NASA even has an Astrobiology Institute at its Ames Research Center in California. See article.
g Aftermath - The discovery that alien life exists would mean that we are not the center of the universe. While most religions now recognize that the Earth is just a lump of rock, they still believe that we human beings are the most important thing in creation, that we occupy a special place in God's plan. The existence of aliens would seem to make this implausible especially if they are more advanced than we are (on all levels, intellectually, spiritually) This would mean that God has acted in the development of the aliens in a way he did not act in ours, which in turn would mean that we do not occupy the paramount role in God's creation, which is a fundamental idea in religions. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Friday, April 22, 2011
Would ETI listen to our music and identifying most important questions for extreme environment researchers
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 whirlpool-like spiral galaxy is being distorted by the gravitational pull of a neighbor in a new photo from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have found that Jupiter-like worlds around other stars push shock waves ahead of them. Like Earth's magnetic 'bow-shock', these planetary 'shocks' can protect the atmospheres of giant planets from their star's damaging emissions. See article.
g Life - From the interior of desert rocks to hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, life has adapted to extraordinary environments. And yet many such species are threatened by human activities and changing climate. Today, the European Commission's international Coordination Action for Research on Life in Extreme Environments (CAREX) project launched its roadmap identifying the most important questions for extreme environment researchers to address. See article.
g Message - Would extraterrestrials like to listen to our music? A new collaboration between science and music has created musical messages that might one day be sent to alien worlds. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - A whirlpool-like spiral galaxy is being distorted by the gravitational pull of a neighbor in a new photo from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have found that Jupiter-like worlds around other stars push shock waves ahead of them. Like Earth's magnetic 'bow-shock', these planetary 'shocks' can protect the atmospheres of giant planets from their star's damaging emissions. See article.
g Life - From the interior of desert rocks to hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, life has adapted to extraordinary environments. And yet many such species are threatened by human activities and changing climate. Today, the European Commission's international Coordination Action for Research on Life in Extreme Environments (CAREX) project launched its roadmap identifying the most important questions for extreme environment researchers to address. See article.
g Message - Would extraterrestrials like to listen to our music? A new collaboration between science and music has created musical messages that might one day be sent to alien worlds. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Planet of the black leaves and setting sights on Phobos and Deimos
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 - According to a new study, Earth-like alien planets with multiple suns may host trees and shrubs that are black or gray instead of the more familiar green. See article.
g Life - Paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Chinese Academy of Sciences announce the discovery of Liaoconodon hui, a complete fossil mammal from the Mesozoic found in China that includes the long-sought transitional middle ear. The specimen shows the bones associated with hearing in mammals -- the malleus, incus, and ectotympanic -- decoupled from the lower jaw, as had been predicted, but were held in place by an ossified cartilage that rested in a groove on the lower jaw. The new research, published in Nature this week, also suggests that the middle ear evolved at least twice in mammals, for monotremes and for the marsupial-placental group. See article.
g Intelligence - Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees - not ancestral apes - for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist. 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 editorial. This piece is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are in the sights of planners of both human and robotic spaceflights. See article.
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g Abodes - According to a new study, Earth-like alien planets with multiple suns may host trees and shrubs that are black or gray instead of the more familiar green. See article.
g Life - Paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Chinese Academy of Sciences announce the discovery of Liaoconodon hui, a complete fossil mammal from the Mesozoic found in China that includes the long-sought transitional middle ear. The specimen shows the bones associated with hearing in mammals -- the malleus, incus, and ectotympanic -- decoupled from the lower jaw, as had been predicted, but were held in place by an ossified cartilage that rested in a groove on the lower jaw. The new research, published in Nature this week, also suggests that the middle ear evolved at least twice in mammals, for monotremes and for the marsupial-placental group. See article.
g Intelligence - Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees - not ancestral apes - for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist. 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 editorial. This piece is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are in the sights of planners of both human and robotic spaceflights. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Evidence that other planets can support life and fifty Solutions to Fermi's 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 Abodes - Scientists are finding ever more evidence that Mars and many other planets may support life. See article.
g Life - Humpback whales have their own version of the hit single, according to a study reported online April 14 in Current Biology. At any given time within a population, male humpbacks all sing the same mating tune. But the pattern of the song changes over time, with the new and apparently catchy versions of the song spreading repeatedly across the ocean, almost always traveling from west to east. See article.
g Intelligence - An international team of scientists has developed a way to predict how much a person can learn. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In response to Enrico Fermi's famous 1950 question concerning the existence of advanced civilizations elsewhere, physicist Stephen Webb in “If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens... Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to Fermi's Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life” critically examines 50 resolutions to explain the total absence of empirical evidence for probes, starships, and communications from extraterrestrials. He focuses on our Milky Way Galaxy, which to date has yielded no objects or signals that indicate the existence of alien beings with intelligence and technology. His comprehensive analysis covers topics ranging from the Drake equation and Dyson spheres to the panspermia hypothesis and anthropic arguments. Of special interest are the discussions on the DNA molecule, the origin of life on Earth, and the threats to organic evolution on this planet (including mass extinctions). Webb himself concludes that the "great silence" in nature probably results from humankind's being the only civilization now in this galaxy, if not in the entire universe. This richly informative and very engaging book is recommended for most academic and public library science collections. See reviews.
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g Abodes - Scientists are finding ever more evidence that Mars and many other planets may support life. See article.
g Life - Humpback whales have their own version of the hit single, according to a study reported online April 14 in Current Biology. At any given time within a population, male humpbacks all sing the same mating tune. But the pattern of the song changes over time, with the new and apparently catchy versions of the song spreading repeatedly across the ocean, almost always traveling from west to east. See article.
g Intelligence - An international team of scientists has developed a way to predict how much a person can learn. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In response to Enrico Fermi's famous 1950 question concerning the existence of advanced civilizations elsewhere, physicist Stephen Webb in “If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens... Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to Fermi's Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life” critically examines 50 resolutions to explain the total absence of empirical evidence for probes, starships, and communications from extraterrestrials. He focuses on our Milky Way Galaxy, which to date has yielded no objects or signals that indicate the existence of alien beings with intelligence and technology. His comprehensive analysis covers topics ranging from the Drake equation and Dyson spheres to the panspermia hypothesis and anthropic arguments. Of special interest are the discussions on the DNA molecule, the origin of life on Earth, and the threats to organic evolution on this planet (including mass extinctions). Webb himself concludes that the "great silence" in nature probably results from humankind's being the only civilization now in this galaxy, if not in the entire universe. This richly informative and very engaging book is recommended for most academic and public library science collections. See reviews.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Looking for organisms that barley need water and odds of picking up 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 Abodes - All life as we know it needs water. But what organisms can survive when water is all but unavailable? To find out, one scientist is looking at soil from two of the driest places on Earth. See article.
g Life - Successful blueprints are recycled by evolution, a new study suggests. 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. This article is from 2006.
g Cosmicus - A huge, unmanned British space plane is on pace to start launching payloads into Earth orbit in less than a decade — provided it can pass a crucial engine test in June, its designers say. See article.
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g Abodes - All life as we know it needs water. But what organisms can survive when water is all but unavailable? To find out, one scientist is looking at soil from two of the driest places on Earth. See article.
g Life - Successful blueprints are recycled by evolution, a new study suggests. 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. This article is from 2006.
g Cosmicus - A huge, unmanned British space plane is on pace to start launching payloads into Earth orbit in less than a decade — provided it can pass a crucial engine test in June, its designers say. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Monday, April 18, 2011
Photosynthetic microbial mats in Antarctica and ‘The Biology of Star Trek’
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 - A new analysis of the well-known Allende meteorite could change prevailing theories about the nature of some asteroids and the formation of planets like Earth. The results indicate that asteroids with molten cores may be abundant in space, and they even could have given the Earth its oceans See article.
g Life - Photosynthetic microbial mats forming large conical structures up to half a meter tall have been discovered by astrobiologists in Lake Untersee, Antarctica. See article.
g Cosmicus - A new federal spending bill represents a cut to NASA's funding, but a lessening of restrictions on how the agency spends that money for the rest of this year. See article.
g Imagining - Browse the local used bookstores for this volume, which examined the scientific plausibility of many alien creatures in “Star Trek”: “To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek.” Published about a decade ago, Athena Andreadis' book makes a good read, boosted by her background as a molecular biologist and neurosurgeon. See review.
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g Abodes - A new analysis of the well-known Allende meteorite could change prevailing theories about the nature of some asteroids and the formation of planets like Earth. The results indicate that asteroids with molten cores may be abundant in space, and they even could have given the Earth its oceans See article.
g Life - Photosynthetic microbial mats forming large conical structures up to half a meter tall have been discovered by astrobiologists in Lake Untersee, Antarctica. See article.
g Cosmicus - A new federal spending bill represents a cut to NASA's funding, but a lessening of restrictions on how the agency spends that money for the rest of this year. See article.
g Imagining - Browse the local used bookstores for this volume, which examined the scientific plausibility of many alien creatures in “Star Trek”: “To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek.” Published about a decade ago, Athena Andreadis' book makes a good read, boosted by her background as a molecular biologist and neurosurgeon. See review.
Read this blogger’s books
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Calcium carbonate crystal eyes and what sort of signal is a SETI hit
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 across the globe can now sift through hundreds of millions of galaxies, stars and asteroids collected in the first bundle of data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. The data is invaluable for astrobiologists seeking to understand the nature of our universe and the potential for habitable planets other than our own Earth. See article.
g Life - Scientists have discovered a simple mollusk that may use eyes made of a calcium carbonate crystal to spot predators. The finding provides a new example of how evolution leads to unique traits for life. See article.
g Intelligence - Recording people belting out an old Motown tune and then asking them to listen to their own singing without the accompanying music seems like an unusually cruel form of punishment. But for a team of scientists, this exact Karaoke experiment has revealed what part of the brain is essential for embarrassment. See article.
g Message - What sort of signal would satisfactorily announce an extraterrestrial intelligence as detected by radio-emission or light reception? For an opinion article on what sort of signal is a SETI hit, click here.
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g Stars - Astronomers across the globe can now sift through hundreds of millions of galaxies, stars and asteroids collected in the first bundle of data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. The data is invaluable for astrobiologists seeking to understand the nature of our universe and the potential for habitable planets other than our own Earth. See article.
g Life - Scientists have discovered a simple mollusk that may use eyes made of a calcium carbonate crystal to spot predators. The finding provides a new example of how evolution leads to unique traits for life. See article.
g Intelligence - Recording people belting out an old Motown tune and then asking them to listen to their own singing without the accompanying music seems like an unusually cruel form of punishment. But for a team of scientists, this exact Karaoke experiment has revealed what part of the brain is essential for embarrassment. See article.
g Message - What sort of signal would satisfactorily announce an extraterrestrial intelligence as detected by radio-emission or light reception? For an opinion article on what sort of signal is a SETI hit, click here.
Read this blogger’s books
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Titan-like worlds around red dwarfs and social and political issues that will arise once we make first contact
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - New images from space reveal a photogenic, yet puzzling, look at tangled cosmic filaments that may be shaped by interstellar sonic booms throughout our galaxy. See article.
g Abodes - A new study says that worlds that orbit red dwarfs, and even rogue planets with no stars to call home, might have surface oceans loaded with organic compounds. Like the seas of liquid methane on Saturn’s moon Titan, such environments are speculated to have the potential for alien life. See article.
g Life - The movie Jurassic Park got one thing right: Those velociraptors hunted by night while the big plant-eaters browsed around the clock, according to a new study of the eyes of fossil animals. See article.
g Intelligence - Africa is the birthplace of human languages, two new studies suggest. See article.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up “Sharing the Universe,” by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials.
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g Stars - New images from space reveal a photogenic, yet puzzling, look at tangled cosmic filaments that may be shaped by interstellar sonic booms throughout our galaxy. See article.
g Abodes - A new study says that worlds that orbit red dwarfs, and even rogue planets with no stars to call home, might have surface oceans loaded with organic compounds. Like the seas of liquid methane on Saturn’s moon Titan, such environments are speculated to have the potential for alien life. See article.
g Life - The movie Jurassic Park got one thing right: Those velociraptors hunted by night while the big plant-eaters browsed around the clock, according to a new study of the eyes of fossil animals. See article.
g Intelligence - Africa is the birthplace of human languages, two new studies suggest. See article.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up “Sharing the Universe,” by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials.
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, April 15, 2011
Galaxies evolved earlier than thought and Martians bearing diseases
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 first galaxies may have formed much earlier than thought, a new study suggests — just 200 million years or so after the universe's birth. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have a new way of identifying close, faint stars. The technique should help in the hunt for extrasolar worlds because these hard-to-see stars could be home to the easiest-to-see planets. See article.
g Life - Birds are known more for their senses of vision and hearing than smell, but new research suggests that millions of years ago, the winged critters also boasted a better sense for scents. See article.
g Aftermath - Could Martian research samples carry diseases? See article. This article is from 2004.
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g Stars - The first galaxies may have formed much earlier than thought, a new study suggests — just 200 million years or so after the universe's birth. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have a new way of identifying close, faint stars. The technique should help in the hunt for extrasolar worlds because these hard-to-see stars could be home to the easiest-to-see planets. See article.
g Life - Birds are known more for their senses of vision and hearing than smell, but new research suggests that millions of years ago, the winged critters also boasted a better sense for scents. See article.
g Aftermath - Could Martian research samples carry diseases? See article. This article is from 2004.
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Inferring the Big Bang in the far future and a nonrandom alphabet of amino acids
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 - Clever astronomers in 1 trillion C.E. could still infer the Big Bang and today's leading cosmological theory, known as "lambda-cold dark matter" or LCDM. They will have to use the most distant light source available to them - hypervelocity stars flung from the center of Milkomeda. See article.
g Abodes - A new study shows that melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are contributing more to rising sea levels than other sources, such as mountain glaciers and ice caps. Studying these sheets is important, because if they collapse they could dramatically change the level of the oceans globally. See article.
g Life - An interesting research paper recently published in the Journal Astrobiology and asks, "Did Evolution Select a Nonrandom Alphabet of Amino Acids?" See article.
g Aftermath - Given the plethora of New Age/UFOlogy Web sites about alien contact, it’s refreshing to find one that’s serious. Try the “extraterrestrial intelligence, implications following first contact” entry at astrobiologist David Darling’s site See “The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight”. It includes some links and a mini reference list.
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g Stars - Clever astronomers in 1 trillion C.E. could still infer the Big Bang and today's leading cosmological theory, known as "lambda-cold dark matter" or LCDM. They will have to use the most distant light source available to them - hypervelocity stars flung from the center of Milkomeda. See article.
g Abodes - A new study shows that melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are contributing more to rising sea levels than other sources, such as mountain glaciers and ice caps. Studying these sheets is important, because if they collapse they could dramatically change the level of the oceans globally. See article.
g Life - An interesting research paper recently published in the Journal Astrobiology and asks, "Did Evolution Select a Nonrandom Alphabet of Amino Acids?" See article.
g Aftermath - Given the plethora of New Age/UFOlogy Web sites about alien contact, it’s refreshing to find one that’s serious. Try the “extraterrestrial intelligence, implications following first contact” entry at astrobiologist David Darling’s site See “The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight”. It includes some links and a mini reference list.
Read this blogger’s books
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Titan not so geologically active and the shuttles’ final resting places
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 - Have the surface and belly of Saturn's smog-shrouded moon, Titan, recently simmered like a chilly, bubbling cauldron with ice volcanoes, or has this distant moon gone cold? In a newly published analysis, a pair of NASA scientists analyzing data collected by the Cassini spacecraft suggest Titan may be much less geologically active than some scientists have thought. See article.
g Life - The evolution and diversification of the more than 300,000 living species of flowering plants may have been "jump started" much earlier than previously calculated, a new study indicates. See article.
g Intelligence - A study published by two researchers found that pigeons recognize a human face's identity and emotional expression in much the same way as people do. See article.
g Learning - NASA unveiled the final flight plans for its three retiring space shuttles on Tuesday, assigning two to museums in Washington, D.C., and California, and keeping the third at its launch and landing site in Florida. A fourth, prototype orbiter will also go to a new home in New York. See article.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing short story for you to look up: Frederick Pohl’s “The Day after the Day the Martians Came.” It examines racial prejudice and raises an interesting point about how we might react to one another following alien contact. Pohl’s story is anthologized in the classic “Dangerous Visions,” edited by Harlan Ellison.
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g Abodes - Have the surface and belly of Saturn's smog-shrouded moon, Titan, recently simmered like a chilly, bubbling cauldron with ice volcanoes, or has this distant moon gone cold? In a newly published analysis, a pair of NASA scientists analyzing data collected by the Cassini spacecraft suggest Titan may be much less geologically active than some scientists have thought. See article.
g Life - The evolution and diversification of the more than 300,000 living species of flowering plants may have been "jump started" much earlier than previously calculated, a new study indicates. See article.
g Intelligence - A study published by two researchers found that pigeons recognize a human face's identity and emotional expression in much the same way as people do. See article.
g Learning - NASA unveiled the final flight plans for its three retiring space shuttles on Tuesday, assigning two to museums in Washington, D.C., and California, and keeping the third at its launch and landing site in Florida. A fourth, prototype orbiter will also go to a new home in New York. See article.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing short story for you to look up: Frederick Pohl’s “The Day after the Day the Martians Came.” It examines racial prejudice and raises an interesting point about how we might react to one another following alien contact. Pohl’s story is anthologized in the classic “Dangerous Visions,” edited by Harlan Ellison.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Kepler Mission examines stars and why haven’t we colonized Mars?
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 Kepler Mission has detected changes in brightness in 500 sun-like stars, giving astronomers a much better idea about the nature and evolution of the stars. See article.
g Abodes - Micro-meteorites may have caused the climates of Earth and Mars to cool four billion years ago. These tiny meteorites could have bombarded the planets, making it difficult for life to survive during this early period in the Solar System.. See article.
g Life - Move over, newts and salamanders. The mouse may join you as the only animal that can re-grow their own severed limbs. Researchers are reporting that a simple chemical cocktail can coax mouse muscle fibers to become the kinds of cells found in the first stages of a regenerating limb. See article.
g Message - It's great to see the reputable National Geographic take the search for extraterrestrial life seriously. See article. This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Why haven’ we colonized Mars yet? See article.
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g Stars - NASA's Kepler Mission has detected changes in brightness in 500 sun-like stars, giving astronomers a much better idea about the nature and evolution of the stars. See article.
g Abodes - Micro-meteorites may have caused the climates of Earth and Mars to cool four billion years ago. These tiny meteorites could have bombarded the planets, making it difficult for life to survive during this early period in the Solar System.. See article.
g Life - Move over, newts and salamanders. The mouse may join you as the only animal that can re-grow their own severed limbs. Researchers are reporting that a simple chemical cocktail can coax mouse muscle fibers to become the kinds of cells found in the first stages of a regenerating limb. See article.
g Message - It's great to see the reputable National Geographic take the search for extraterrestrial life seriously. See article. This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Why haven’ we colonized Mars yet? See article.
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Monday, April 11, 2011
Space travel may break our hearts and examining the 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 Abodes - Observations from ESA's GOCE satellite have provided the best ever map of Earth's gravity. The research could further our understanding of the Earth. See article.
g Life - Pumice, the rock used remove dry skin from feet, could have been responsible for the birth of life on Earth, scientists have claimed. See article.
g Message - If you’re not familiar with Astriobiology.com’s “Great Debates” series, you’ll want to head right away to their Web site. The discussions draw upon experts in the astrobiology field. The Fermi Paradox (“If there’s intelligent life out there, then why haven’t we heard from them?” is examined in six parts here.
g Cosmicus - Astronauts on missions to the Moon and Mars will face many challenges to their health. New research shows that cosmic radiation experienced beyond the safety of Earth's magnetic field could damage arteries in our hearts, putting astronauts at risk on long-duration missions. See article.
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g Abodes - Observations from ESA's GOCE satellite have provided the best ever map of Earth's gravity. The research could further our understanding of the Earth. See article.
g Life - Pumice, the rock used remove dry skin from feet, could have been responsible for the birth of life on Earth, scientists have claimed. See article.
g Message - If you’re not familiar with Astriobiology.com’s “Great Debates” series, you’ll want to head right away to their Web site. The discussions draw upon experts in the astrobiology field. The Fermi Paradox (“If there’s intelligent life out there, then why haven’t we heard from them?” is examined in six parts here.
g Cosmicus - Astronauts on missions to the Moon and Mars will face many challenges to their health. New research shows that cosmic radiation experienced beyond the safety of Earth's magnetic field could damage arteries in our hearts, putting astronauts at risk on long-duration missions. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Finding Mars in Spain and noncorporeal life forms
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 galaxy's core is a busy place, crowded with stars swarming around an enormous black hole. When galaxies collide, it gets even messier as the two black holes spiral toward each other, merging to make an even bigger gravitational monster. See article.
g Abodes - Strange surface features created by ancient subterranean springs in Spain may provide new clues relevant to the search for water on Mars. See article.
g Intelligence - A human skull dated to about 2,684 years ago with an "exceptionally preserved" human brain still inside of it was recently discovered in a waterlogged U.K. pit. See article.
g Imagining - An early “Star Trek” alien is the .Thasians, who serve a deux ex machina role in one episode. The Thasians apparently are a noncorporeal life form that gave a human child incredible powers of telekinesis. Such capabilities, as exhibited by the child (now a 17-year-old teenager) appear to stem from within his own physical being, however. The Thasians themselves also are dependent on the physical reality of a spacecraft for traveling beyond their planet. Of course, how a noncorporeal life form might exist is beyond our physical science, though one might suspect it is an organized pattern of electrical impulses, somehow held together and organized without use of a physical platform (such as our brain cells) — though their powers can be transferred to such a platform, as occurs with the boy. Most likely the Thasians did not evolve as noncorporeal life forms but instead, being eons ahead of us in technology, rely on machines (using teleportation-like technology) to do their work; their own beings might be interfaced with such machines so a mere concentrated thought can command it. The Thasians, thus feeling encumbered by physical form, shifted to another dimension — again, more fiction than reality — where the very nature of that space allows the beings (electrical patterns) to remain organized, and perhaps better able to communicate with their machines. Of course, too little was said about the Thasians in the episode, though the boy did note that the Thasians do not “feel” or “touch” in the same way that humans do.
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g Stars - A galaxy's core is a busy place, crowded with stars swarming around an enormous black hole. When galaxies collide, it gets even messier as the two black holes spiral toward each other, merging to make an even bigger gravitational monster. See article.
g Abodes - Strange surface features created by ancient subterranean springs in Spain may provide new clues relevant to the search for water on Mars. See article.
g Intelligence - A human skull dated to about 2,684 years ago with an "exceptionally preserved" human brain still inside of it was recently discovered in a waterlogged U.K. pit. See article.
g Imagining - An early “Star Trek” alien is the .Thasians, who serve a deux ex machina role in one episode. The Thasians apparently are a noncorporeal life form that gave a human child incredible powers of telekinesis. Such capabilities, as exhibited by the child (now a 17-year-old teenager) appear to stem from within his own physical being, however. The Thasians themselves also are dependent on the physical reality of a spacecraft for traveling beyond their planet. Of course, how a noncorporeal life form might exist is beyond our physical science, though one might suspect it is an organized pattern of electrical impulses, somehow held together and organized without use of a physical platform (such as our brain cells) — though their powers can be transferred to such a platform, as occurs with the boy. Most likely the Thasians did not evolve as noncorporeal life forms but instead, being eons ahead of us in technology, rely on machines (using teleportation-like technology) to do their work; their own beings might be interfaced with such machines so a mere concentrated thought can command it. The Thasians, thus feeling encumbered by physical form, shifted to another dimension — again, more fiction than reality — where the very nature of that space allows the beings (electrical patterns) to remain organized, and perhaps better able to communicate with their machines. Of course, too little was said about the Thasians in the episode, though the boy did note that the Thasians do not “feel” or “touch” in the same way that humans do.
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Saturday, April 09, 2011
Liquid water in comets and how will humans react to first contact?
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - A huge, powerful star explosion detonated in deep space last week — an ultra-bright conflagaration that has astronomers scratching their heads over exactly how it happened. See article.
g Abodes - For the first time, scientists have found convincing evidence for the presence of liquid water in a comet, shattering the current paradigm that comets never get warm enough to melt the ice that makes up the bulk of their material. See article.
g Learning - It is not often students at Sacramento State get to hear about aliens, Martians, and extraterrestrial life at school, but at a lecture Thursday night, that was the subject of conversation.
See article.
g Aftermath - How will humanity react when we receive our first interstellar phone call from ET? Though not a new piece, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak offers some intriguing thoughts.
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g Stars - A huge, powerful star explosion detonated in deep space last week — an ultra-bright conflagaration that has astronomers scratching their heads over exactly how it happened. See article.
g Abodes - For the first time, scientists have found convincing evidence for the presence of liquid water in a comet, shattering the current paradigm that comets never get warm enough to melt the ice that makes up the bulk of their material. See article.
g Learning - It is not often students at Sacramento State get to hear about aliens, Martians, and extraterrestrial life at school, but at a lecture Thursday night, that was the subject of conversation.
See article.
g Aftermath - How will humanity react when we receive our first interstellar phone call from ET? Though not a new piece, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak offers some intriguing thoughts.
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, April 08, 2011
Worlds with no suns may harbor life and why ETI isn’t tuning us in
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 come up with a new way of identifying close, faint stars with NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite. The technique should help in the hunt for planets that lie beyond our solar system, because nearby, hard-to-see stars could very well be home to the easiest-to-see alien planets. See article.
g Abodes - There may be worlds that float through intergalactic space in darkness without stars to warm them. Such lonely planets, endlessly adrift in night, might seem too cold and dark to ever serve as homes for life. But mysterious, unseen dark matter could help make warm these starless planets and make them habitable, a new study suggests. The idea may be a bit out there, but it’s not impossible, researchers say. See article.
g Life - Exotic life forms may be lurking in your home, and a new citizen science project seeks to find them. By sampling home water heaters to study the micro-organisms that thrive there, scientists can learn more about the types of life we may find beyond Earth. See article.
g Message - For more than 85 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? See article. This article is from 2004.
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g Stars - Astronomers have come up with a new way of identifying close, faint stars with NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite. The technique should help in the hunt for planets that lie beyond our solar system, because nearby, hard-to-see stars could very well be home to the easiest-to-see alien planets. See article.
g Abodes - There may be worlds that float through intergalactic space in darkness without stars to warm them. Such lonely planets, endlessly adrift in night, might seem too cold and dark to ever serve as homes for life. But mysterious, unseen dark matter could help make warm these starless planets and make them habitable, a new study suggests. The idea may be a bit out there, but it’s not impossible, researchers say. See article.
g Life - Exotic life forms may be lurking in your home, and a new citizen science project seeks to find them. By sampling home water heaters to study the micro-organisms that thrive there, scientists can learn more about the types of life we may find beyond Earth. See article.
g Message - For more than 85 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? See article. This article is from 2004.
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Thursday, April 07, 2011
Look for ETI mining asteroids and new astrobiology book
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 Kepler mission have provided such a clear view of changes in star brightness that astronomers can now see clues about what happens inside red giant stars. The results also shed light on what could happen to the Sun in about 5 billion years. See article.
g Abodes - A photo may be worth 1,000 words, but a new depiction of NASA's Kepler mission is worth 1,235 potential alien planets. Created by a devoted mission scientist, the image takes stock of the Kepler observatory's prolific planet-hunting results so far. See article.
g Message - After 50 years of searching the heavens with radio telescopes to try to contact alien life, so far the attempts of SETI scientists seem to have fallen on deaf ears. So is there another way to try to find aliens in our galactic neighborhood? Some scientists suggest looking for signs of ETs mining asteroids. See article.
g Cosmicus - With the space shuttle program reaching its end, scientists are focusing on technology that can take humans beyond Earth. All eyes are on Mars, but designing a spacecraft that can travel to and land on the Red Planet remains a prime challenge. See article.
g Learning - It wasn’t that long ago that the field of astrobiology —the search for life beyond Earth—operated towards the fringes of scientific endeavor, research many explicitly avoided being identified with, especially those seeking government grants or academic tenure. That’s changed, though, as scientists have both discovered life in increasingly extreme environments on the Earth as well as identifying locales beyond Earth, including beyond our solar system, which may be hospitable to life. There are now astrobiology conferences, astrobiology journals, and even a NASA Astrobiology Institute. It’s in that environment of increased acceptance that Marc Kaufman surveys the state of astrobiology’s quest to discover life elsewhere in the universe in First Contact. See review.
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g Stars - NASA's Kepler mission have provided such a clear view of changes in star brightness that astronomers can now see clues about what happens inside red giant stars. The results also shed light on what could happen to the Sun in about 5 billion years. See article.
g Abodes - A photo may be worth 1,000 words, but a new depiction of NASA's Kepler mission is worth 1,235 potential alien planets. Created by a devoted mission scientist, the image takes stock of the Kepler observatory's prolific planet-hunting results so far. See article.
g Message - After 50 years of searching the heavens with radio telescopes to try to contact alien life, so far the attempts of SETI scientists seem to have fallen on deaf ears. So is there another way to try to find aliens in our galactic neighborhood? Some scientists suggest looking for signs of ETs mining asteroids. See article.
g Cosmicus - With the space shuttle program reaching its end, scientists are focusing on technology that can take humans beyond Earth. All eyes are on Mars, but designing a spacecraft that can travel to and land on the Red Planet remains a prime challenge. See article.
g Learning - It wasn’t that long ago that the field of astrobiology —the search for life beyond Earth—operated towards the fringes of scientific endeavor, research many explicitly avoided being identified with, especially those seeking government grants or academic tenure. That’s changed, though, as scientists have both discovered life in increasingly extreme environments on the Earth as well as identifying locales beyond Earth, including beyond our solar system, which may be hospitable to life. There are now astrobiology conferences, astrobiology journals, and even a NASA Astrobiology Institute. It’s in that environment of increased acceptance that Marc Kaufman surveys the state of astrobiology’s quest to discover life elsewhere in the universe in First Contact. See review.
Read this blogger’s books
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Tell-tale signs of comet impacts and teeth show changing climate
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 - Strange formations in the rings around Saturn and Jupiter are the telltale marks of dramatic comet impacts that occurred in the last few decades, two new studies suggest. See article.
g Life - Fossil teeth of African animals show that during the past 10 million years, different plant-eating critters began grazing on grass at different times as many switched from a salad-bar diet of tree leaves and shrubs. See article.
g Intelligence - Research shows that they really don't make women like they used to, at least in Spain. The study, which examined hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls spanning four centuries, shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced. See article.
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g Abodes - Strange formations in the rings around Saturn and Jupiter are the telltale marks of dramatic comet impacts that occurred in the last few decades, two new studies suggest. See article.
g Life - Fossil teeth of African animals show that during the past 10 million years, different plant-eating critters began grazing on grass at different times as many switched from a salad-bar diet of tree leaves and shrubs. See article.
g Intelligence - Research shows that they really don't make women like they used to, at least in Spain. The study, which examined hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls spanning four centuries, shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
More evidence of a hot, acidic early Earth and why NASA is sending out any deep space probes
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 Dawn spacecraft is preparing to enter orbit around the “minor planet” Vesta. The data that Dawn returns will help astrobiologists understand how small rocky bodies in our solar system were formed. See article.
g Life - A new study reveals that a group of ancient enzymes adapted to substantial changes in ocean temperature and acidity during the last four billion years, providing evidence that life on Early Earth evolved from a much hotter, more acidic environment to the cooler, less acidic global environment that exists today. See article.
g Intelligence - It's been a puzzle why our two closest living primate relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, have widely different social traits, despite belonging to the same genus. Now, a comparative analysis of their brains shows neuroanatomical differences that may be responsible for these behaviors, from the aggression more typical of chimpanzees to the social tolerance of bonobos. See article.
g Cosmicus - Nearly 50 years after the first human spaceflight, NASA is currently in poor shape to send astronauts on long deep space voyages because the agency's life and physical sciences program has shrunk dramatically in both size and scope in recent years, a new report suggests. See article.
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g Abodes - NASA's Dawn spacecraft is preparing to enter orbit around the “minor planet” Vesta. The data that Dawn returns will help astrobiologists understand how small rocky bodies in our solar system were formed. See article.
g Life - A new study reveals that a group of ancient enzymes adapted to substantial changes in ocean temperature and acidity during the last four billion years, providing evidence that life on Early Earth evolved from a much hotter, more acidic environment to the cooler, less acidic global environment that exists today. See article.
g Intelligence - It's been a puzzle why our two closest living primate relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, have widely different social traits, despite belonging to the same genus. Now, a comparative analysis of their brains shows neuroanatomical differences that may be responsible for these behaviors, from the aggression more typical of chimpanzees to the social tolerance of bonobos. See article.
g Cosmicus - Nearly 50 years after the first human spaceflight, NASA is currently in poor shape to send astronauts on long deep space voyages because the agency's life and physical sciences program has shrunk dramatically in both size and scope in recent years, a new report suggests. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Monday, April 04, 2011
First photo of Mercury from orbit and mysterious energy ribbon
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 on NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission have isolated and resolved the mysterious "ribbon" of energy and particles the spacecraft discovered in the heliosphere - the huge bubble that surrounds our solar system and protects us from galactic cosmic rays. See article.
g Abodes - The first spacecraft ever to circle Mercury has beamed home the first-ever photo taken of the small rocky planet from orbit, showing a stark landscape peppered with craters. See article.
g Life - A team of scientists has discovered that descendants of "exploratory" butterflies that colonized new habitats differ genetically from their more cautious cousins. See article.
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g Stars - Scientists on NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission have isolated and resolved the mysterious "ribbon" of energy and particles the spacecraft discovered in the heliosphere - the huge bubble that surrounds our solar system and protects us from galactic cosmic rays. See article.
g Abodes - The first spacecraft ever to circle Mercury has beamed home the first-ever photo taken of the small rocky planet from orbit, showing a stark landscape peppered with craters. See article.
g Life - A team of scientists has discovered that descendants of "exploratory" butterflies that colonized new habitats differ genetically from their more cautious cousins. See article.
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Sunday, April 03, 2011
Free-floating planets may harbor life and rocks like cotton candy
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 - Free-floating planets and sub-brown dwarfs – objects with mass midway between planets and stars – could prove fertile grounds for extraterrestrial life, according to a new study. See article.
g Abodes - A new study shows that the earliest rocks in our solar system were more like cotton candy than the hard rocks we're familiar with today. The research is providing a better picture of how rocky planets form and could help in the search for habitable worlds around distant stars. See article.
g Life - The most toxic, brightly colored members of the poison frog family may also be the best athletes, says a new study. See article.
g Cosmicus - Quantum physicists from the University of Innsbruck have set another world record: They have achieved controlled entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits) and, thus, realized the largest quantum register that has ever been produced. With this experiment the scientists have not only come closer to the realization of a quantum computer but they also show surprising results for the quantum mechanical phenomenon of entanglement. See article.
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g Stars - Free-floating planets and sub-brown dwarfs – objects with mass midway between planets and stars – could prove fertile grounds for extraterrestrial life, according to a new study. See article.
g Abodes - A new study shows that the earliest rocks in our solar system were more like cotton candy than the hard rocks we're familiar with today. The research is providing a better picture of how rocky planets form and could help in the search for habitable worlds around distant stars. See article.
g Life - The most toxic, brightly colored members of the poison frog family may also be the best athletes, says a new study. See article.
g Cosmicus - Quantum physicists from the University of Innsbruck have set another world record: They have achieved controlled entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits) and, thus, realized the largest quantum register that has ever been produced. With this experiment the scientists have not only come closer to the realization of a quantum computer but they also show surprising results for the quantum mechanical phenomenon of entanglement. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Looking for habitable worlds around white dwarfs and scientifically accurate made-up 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 Stars - Planet hunters have found hundreds of planets outside the solar system in the last decade, though it is unclear whether even one might be habitable. But it could be that the best place to look for planets that can support life is around dim, dying stars called white dwarfs. See article.
g Abodes - Between 75 and 80 percent of all volcanic activity on Earth takes place at deep-sea, mid-ocean ridges. Most of these volcanoes produce effusive lava flows rather than explosive eruptions, both because the levels of magmatic gas (which fuel the explosions and are made up of a variety of components, including, most importantly CO2) tend to be low, and because the volcanoes are under a lot of pressure from the surrounding water. See article.
g Life - Insects using vibration to attract a mate are at risk of being eaten alive by killer spiders, new research shows. See article.
g Cosmicus - Every day, about 100 tons of meteoroids bombard the Earth's atmosphere. These tiny particles can cause serious damage to spacecraft and astronauts alike. So how do we ensure the safety of space explorers and the important scientific experiments in orbit around our planet? See article.
g Imagining - Many science fiction story lines involve alien life forms. From a literary prospective, aliens often serve as metaphors for something more familiar. From a practical prospective, they make stories more interesting and TV more eye-catching. But what of scientific accuracy? A professor offers his advice about "How to Build an Alien".
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g Stars - Planet hunters have found hundreds of planets outside the solar system in the last decade, though it is unclear whether even one might be habitable. But it could be that the best place to look for planets that can support life is around dim, dying stars called white dwarfs. See article.
g Abodes - Between 75 and 80 percent of all volcanic activity on Earth takes place at deep-sea, mid-ocean ridges. Most of these volcanoes produce effusive lava flows rather than explosive eruptions, both because the levels of magmatic gas (which fuel the explosions and are made up of a variety of components, including, most importantly CO2) tend to be low, and because the volcanoes are under a lot of pressure from the surrounding water. See article.
g Life - Insects using vibration to attract a mate are at risk of being eaten alive by killer spiders, new research shows. See article.
g Cosmicus - Every day, about 100 tons of meteoroids bombard the Earth's atmosphere. These tiny particles can cause serious damage to spacecraft and astronauts alike. So how do we ensure the safety of space explorers and the important scientific experiments in orbit around our planet? See article.
g Imagining - Many science fiction story lines involve alien life forms. From a literary prospective, aliens often serve as metaphors for something more familiar. From a practical prospective, they make stories more interesting and TV more eye-catching. But what of scientific accuracy? A professor offers his advice about "How to Build an Alien".
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, April 01, 2011
Trusting the government to handle first contact and largest evolutionary tree of plants
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 bright star cluster surrounded by iridescent red gas looks like a blooming cosmic rose in a new photo from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. See article.
g Abodes - From extreme precipitation events to catastrophic droughts, the effects of climate change may be heralding in a new era of extreme weather. Scientists are trying to determine what the repercussions for the Earth's biosphere could be. See article.
g Life - An international research team has amassed the largest evolutionary tree (phylogeny) for plants. It has learned that major groups of plants tinker with their design and performance before rapidly spinning off new species. The finding upends long-held thinking that plants' speciation rates are tied to the first development of a new physical trait or mechanism. See article.
g Intelligence - Just like snowflakes, no two people are alike, even if they're identical twins according to new genetic research aimed at determining the genetic sequencing of schizophrenia using identical or monozygotic twins. See article.
g Cosmicus - Contrary to popular belief, NASA didn’t invent Tang. But the space agency's contributions to people's everyday lives here on Earth still run wide and deep. See article.
g Aftermath - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See article. This article is from 1999.
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g Stars - A bright star cluster surrounded by iridescent red gas looks like a blooming cosmic rose in a new photo from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. See article.
g Abodes - From extreme precipitation events to catastrophic droughts, the effects of climate change may be heralding in a new era of extreme weather. Scientists are trying to determine what the repercussions for the Earth's biosphere could be. See article.
g Life - An international research team has amassed the largest evolutionary tree (phylogeny) for plants. It has learned that major groups of plants tinker with their design and performance before rapidly spinning off new species. The finding upends long-held thinking that plants' speciation rates are tied to the first development of a new physical trait or mechanism. See article.
g Intelligence - Just like snowflakes, no two people are alike, even if they're identical twins according to new genetic research aimed at determining the genetic sequencing of schizophrenia using identical or monozygotic twins. See article.
g Cosmicus - Contrary to popular belief, NASA didn’t invent Tang. But the space agency's contributions to people's everyday lives here on Earth still run wide and deep. See article.
g Aftermath - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See article. This article is from 1999.
Read this blogger’s books
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