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 - New observations show that water expelled from the moon Enceladus forms a giant torus of water vapor around Saturn. Water is essential for life as we know it, and determining the locations and sources of water in the Solar System is important in the search for habitable environments on its planets and moons. See article.
g Life - New research shows that mitochondria share an ancestor with an abundant marine microorganism. See article.
g Message - Just exactly how does SETI work? See article.
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Evolution of life on land and half of population believes ETI has visited us
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 - Impurities in diamonds could help tell the story of Earth's ancient past. By studying mineral inclusions in diamonds, researchers have discovered that continents began breaking apart, drifting and colliding about 3 billion years ago. See article.
g Life - The chance discovery of agenetic mutation in wild barley is changing knowledge about the evolution of life on land. See article.
g Imagining - There’s some good news (at least for scientists and rationalists) in a new Gallup poll: When asked "do you believe that extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth at some time in the past," 51% said no. That fraction has risen. In a 1990 poll, 41% said no, and in 2001, 38%. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - Impurities in diamonds could help tell the story of Earth's ancient past. By studying mineral inclusions in diamonds, researchers have discovered that continents began breaking apart, drifting and colliding about 3 billion years ago. See article.
g Life - The chance discovery of agenetic mutation in wild barley is changing knowledge about the evolution of life on land. See article.
g Imagining - There’s some good news (at least for scientists and rationalists) in a new Gallup poll: When asked "do you believe that extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth at some time in the past," 51% said no. That fraction has risen. In a 1990 poll, 41% said no, and in 2001, 38%. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Fool’s gold role in an Earth capable of supporting of life and help SETI discover alien life from your home
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Fool's gold is providing insight into a turning point in the evolution of the planet Earth. See article.
g Life - A group of researchers recently described a new theory that carcinogenesis is another form of speciation. See article.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free ETI 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.
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g Abodes - Fool's gold is providing insight into a turning point in the evolution of the planet Earth. See article.
g Life - A group of researchers recently described a new theory that carcinogenesis is another form of speciation. See article.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free ETI 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.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Hot Jupiter aurorae affects habitability of rocky planets and ‘Worms from Hell’
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 - New research indicates aurorae on hot Jupiter planets around distant stars could be 100-1000 times brighter than those on Earth. The work has implications for the habitability of small, rocky exoplanets. See article.
g Life - Worms found miles underground in South African mines surprised scientists, because they never thought complex life could reside at such depths. These "worms from Hell" add to our understanding of life on Earth, and make us rethink assumptions about how complex life could be on Mars or other planets. See article.
g Message - The drive to place humanity at the center of the universe has led to a stream of assumptions that, as facts have been collected, are shown to be ill founded. The Ptolemaic Earth centered view was replaced by Copernican Sun centered view, which in its time was also replaced. The assumption that we are alone in the universe is also under threat of replacement. One of the more interesting aspects of our apparent aloneness was pointed out by Enrico Fermi and is known as Fermi's Paradox. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - New research indicates aurorae on hot Jupiter planets around distant stars could be 100-1000 times brighter than those on Earth. The work has implications for the habitability of small, rocky exoplanets. See article.
g Life - Worms found miles underground in South African mines surprised scientists, because they never thought complex life could reside at such depths. These "worms from Hell" add to our understanding of life on Earth, and make us rethink assumptions about how complex life could be on Mars or other planets. See article.
g Message - The drive to place humanity at the center of the universe has led to a stream of assumptions that, as facts have been collected, are shown to be ill founded. The Ptolemaic Earth centered view was replaced by Copernican Sun centered view, which in its time was also replaced. The assumption that we are alone in the universe is also under threat of replacement. One of the more interesting aspects of our apparent aloneness was pointed out by Enrico Fermi and is known as Fermi's Paradox. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Lunar volcano and why space exploration is worth the investment
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - By analyzing new images of the far side of the Moon, researchers have identified a small volcanic province created by the upwelling of silicic magama. See article.
g Cosmicus - The cost of an investment in extremely long-term exploration and research made by a nation financing large budget deficits will be borne by multiple generations. The decision to burden future citizens with the cost of a public space program begs a question of intergenerational equity with both economic and environmental aspects. While these two facets are most often been considered in a context of dialectical opposition, space exploration offers a paradigm shift that aligns economic development with environmental stewardship by actually offering to remove human economic activity from the planet. With that promise far off, the mid-term economic-environmental benefits of our public space investment are considered using historical and macroeconomic perspective. The record shows America’s space program has been one of the best ways to solve these “problems right here on Earth.” The positive economic and environmental externalities created by secondary and tertiary functions of NASA, military, and private space programs far outweigh the current level of financial investment. See article.
g Learning - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for "Life Beyond Earth," by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - By analyzing new images of the far side of the Moon, researchers have identified a small volcanic province created by the upwelling of silicic magama. See article.
g Cosmicus - The cost of an investment in extremely long-term exploration and research made by a nation financing large budget deficits will be borne by multiple generations. The decision to burden future citizens with the cost of a public space program begs a question of intergenerational equity with both economic and environmental aspects. While these two facets are most often been considered in a context of dialectical opposition, space exploration offers a paradigm shift that aligns economic development with environmental stewardship by actually offering to remove human economic activity from the planet. With that promise far off, the mid-term economic-environmental benefits of our public space investment are considered using historical and macroeconomic perspective. The record shows America’s space program has been one of the best ways to solve these “problems right here on Earth.” The positive economic and environmental externalities created by secondary and tertiary functions of NASA, military, and private space programs far outweigh the current level of financial investment. See article.
g Learning - Book alert: Scour your used bookstore shelves for "Life Beyond Earth," by Timothy Ferris. Rock-solid science writer Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated - which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book - Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Next Mars mission aims for Gale Crater and artificially created neural network made out of DNA
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 next Mars rover will land at the foot of a layered mountain inside the planet´s Gale Crater. The Mars Science Laboratory will study whether the region had favorable environmental conditions for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life ever existed. See article.
g Life - A fungus that lives in high temperatures could help us understand structures within our own cells. See article.
g Cosmicus - Researchers have taken a major step toward creating artificial intelligence - not in a robot, but in a test tube. The team created an artificial neural network out of DNA that, like a brain, is able to recall memories based on incomplete patterns. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - NASA´s next Mars rover will land at the foot of a layered mountain inside the planet´s Gale Crater. The Mars Science Laboratory will study whether the region had favorable environmental conditions for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life ever existed. See article.
g Life - A fungus that lives in high temperatures could help us understand structures within our own cells. See article.
g Cosmicus - Researchers have taken a major step toward creating artificial intelligence - not in a robot, but in a test tube. The team created an artificial neural network out of DNA that, like a brain, is able to recall memories based on incomplete patterns. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Monday, July 25, 2011
Ancient Martian analog on Earth and base pairs to build DNA
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In his final report, Henry Bortman is brought up to speed on six years of extremophile research by expedition leader Jacek Wierzchos. See article.
g Life - Researchers have discovered the seventh and eight base pairs that can be used to build DNA. See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: As many Earthlings already know —including more than 2 million computer users with firsthand experience — our best hope for finding extraterrestrial intelligence might just lie with an ingenious little screensaver. So it's not surprising that “Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations” (by Brian S. McConnell), an introduction to searching for and communicating with intelligent life, begins with some of the details behind UC Berkeley's groundbreaking, massively distributed SETI@home project, which processes intergalactic noise for pennies on the teraflop. But that's just the start of the story. Inventor and software developer Brian McConnell continues with an overview of whether and why we might find something out there, who's doing what to look for it (including the folks at Berkeley), and — once some ET picks up on the other end — what we might say and how we might say it. This last problem, which occupies the final half of the book, proves to be the most thought provoking, and McConnell has put together a methodical, nuts-and-bolts walkthrough of both the challenges involved and how binary code might be enlisted to solve them. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In his final report, Henry Bortman is brought up to speed on six years of extremophile research by expedition leader Jacek Wierzchos. See article.
g Life - Researchers have discovered the seventh and eight base pairs that can be used to build DNA. See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: As many Earthlings already know —including more than 2 million computer users with firsthand experience — our best hope for finding extraterrestrial intelligence might just lie with an ingenious little screensaver. So it's not surprising that “Beyond Contact: A Guide to SETI and Communicating with Alien Civilizations” (by Brian S. McConnell), an introduction to searching for and communicating with intelligent life, begins with some of the details behind UC Berkeley's groundbreaking, massively distributed SETI@home project, which processes intergalactic noise for pennies on the teraflop. But that's just the start of the story. Inventor and software developer Brian McConnell continues with an overview of whether and why we might find something out there, who's doing what to look for it (including the folks at Berkeley), and — once some ET picks up on the other end — what we might say and how we might say it. This last problem, which occupies the final half of the book, proves to be the most thought provoking, and McConnell has put together a methodical, nuts-and-bolts walkthrough of both the challenges involved and how binary code might be enlisted to solve them. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Largest, farthest reservoir of water yet detected and Pavilion Lake Research Project
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 discovered the largest and farthest reservoir of water yet detected in the universe. See article.
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine Field Research Editor Henry Bortman is spending the week in British Columbia with scientists from the Pavilion Lake Research Project. Their main scientific work involves the exploration of Kelly Lake with piloted submersible vehicles. But in his third report, Bortman describes a decidedly lower-tech activity. See article.
g Message - The champions of Intelligent Design make two mistakes when they claim that the SETI enterprise is logically similar to their own. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered the largest and farthest reservoir of water yet detected in the universe. See article.
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine Field Research Editor Henry Bortman is spending the week in British Columbia with scientists from the Pavilion Lake Research Project. Their main scientific work involves the exploration of Kelly Lake with piloted submersible vehicles. But in his third report, Bortman describes a decidedly lower-tech activity. See article.
g Message - The champions of Intelligent Design make two mistakes when they claim that the SETI enterprise is logically similar to their own. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at galaxy center and interstellar messaging
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 a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of the Milky Way. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have discovered a fourth moon orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto. Studying icy dwarfs like Pluto can help astrobiologists understand the diversity of worlds that might exist throughout the universe. See article.
g Message - Here’s a neat Web site: “Interstellar Messaging.” You’ll find discussion, history and real-world examples of mankind's methods and ongoing attempts to communicate with extraterrestrials. See article.
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g Stars - Astronomers have identified a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of the Milky Way. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers have discovered a fourth moon orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto. Studying icy dwarfs like Pluto can help astrobiologists understand the diversity of worlds that might exist throughout the universe. See article.
g Message - Here’s a neat Web site: “Interstellar Messaging.” You’ll find discussion, history and real-world examples of mankind's methods and ongoing attempts to communicate with extraterrestrials. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Simulating communications with human explorers on a near-Earth asteroid and modifying the Drake Equation
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine Field Research Editor Henry Bortman is spending the week in British Columbia with scientists exploring Kelly Lake in piloted submersible vehicles. This second report describes an experiment to simulate communications with human explorers on a near-Earth asteroid. See article.
g Message - Should we modify the Drake Equation to account for civilizations which actually engage in deliberate interstellar transmission? 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.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine Field Research Editor Henry Bortman is spending the week in British Columbia with scientists exploring Kelly Lake in piloted submersible vehicles. This second report describes an experiment to simulate communications with human explorers on a near-Earth asteroid. See article.
g Message - Should we modify the Drake Equation to account for civilizations which actually engage in deliberate interstellar transmission? 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.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Studying microbialite structures and theological and cultural implications of the discovery of ETI
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine Field Research Editor Henry Bortman is spending the week in British Columbia with scientists from the Pavilion Lake Research Project. They are using submersible vehicles to explore the "microbialite" structures that line the bottom of Kelly Lake. In his first report, Bortman describes some initial snags. See article.
g Cosmicus - Seven years into what was planned as a three-month mission, NASA's Opportunity rover has driven more than 50 times its original distance goal. See article.
g Aftermath - The scientific discussion of the evolution of life in the universe raises some key philosophical and theological issues Will life and intelligence be found throughout the universe, or will it turn out to be exceedingly rare? Will intelligent life be capable of both rationality and moral agency? Will evolutionary biology determine its moral content or will it merely bequeath intelligent life with moral capacity, leaving moral content to be determined independently of biology? If moral agency evolves, will these species inevitably exhibit moral failure, or is our generic human experience of moral failure strictly the result of our particular evolution, leaving us to expect there to be other civilizations that are entirely benign? The discussion of these issues, though largely hypothetical, can offer insight into the theological and cultural implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence as well into a better understanding of the human condition. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - Astrobiology Magazine Field Research Editor Henry Bortman is spending the week in British Columbia with scientists from the Pavilion Lake Research Project. They are using submersible vehicles to explore the "microbialite" structures that line the bottom of Kelly Lake. In his first report, Bortman describes some initial snags. See article.
g Cosmicus - Seven years into what was planned as a three-month mission, NASA's Opportunity rover has driven more than 50 times its original distance goal. See article.
g Aftermath - The scientific discussion of the evolution of life in the universe raises some key philosophical and theological issues Will life and intelligence be found throughout the universe, or will it turn out to be exceedingly rare? Will intelligent life be capable of both rationality and moral agency? Will evolutionary biology determine its moral content or will it merely bequeath intelligent life with moral capacity, leaving moral content to be determined independently of biology? If moral agency evolves, will these species inevitably exhibit moral failure, or is our generic human experience of moral failure strictly the result of our particular evolution, leaving us to expect there to be other civilizations that are entirely benign? The discussion of these issues, though largely hypothetical, can offer insight into the theological and cultural implications of the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence as well into a better understanding of the human condition. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Evolutionary mechanisms of bacteria and potential habitability of Alpha Centauri star system
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 - Could there be any habitable planets around the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri ABC? See article.
g Abodes - New research is helping scientists understand fundamental properties of the Earth, such as the spread of sea floors and melting of the outer core. See article.
g Life - Scientists have identified the complex sequence of movements involved in the “twitching” motility used by some bacteria. The study provides insight into evolutionary mechanisms that allow simple organisms to adapt to changing conditions in their environment. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Stars - Could there be any habitable planets around the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri ABC? See article.
g Abodes - New research is helping scientists understand fundamental properties of the Earth, such as the spread of sea floors and melting of the outer core. See article.
g Life - Scientists have identified the complex sequence of movements involved in the “twitching” motility used by some bacteria. The study provides insight into evolutionary mechanisms that allow simple organisms to adapt to changing conditions in their environment. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Rewriting genetic code of living cells and could humanity ever relate to an alien species?
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 - Long-term simulations show that close encounters between the minor planets Ceres and Vesta could affect the Earth's orbit. See article.
g Life - Researchers have developed technologies that could be used to rewrite the genetic code of living cells. This could enable cells to build proteins not found in nature, or bacteria that are resistant to viral infection. See article.
g Aftermath - Could humanity ever relate to an alien species? Consider the questioning context of these online speculations about why "Star Trek is human centered?" The latter is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? Is it possible that the reasons it wouldn’t be might indicate humanity might care little about an alien species other than as a potential threat? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - Long-term simulations show that close encounters between the minor planets Ceres and Vesta could affect the Earth's orbit. See article.
g Life - Researchers have developed technologies that could be used to rewrite the genetic code of living cells. This could enable cells to build proteins not found in nature, or bacteria that are resistant to viral infection. See article.
g Aftermath - Could humanity ever relate to an alien species? Consider the questioning context of these online speculations about why "Star Trek is human centered?" The latter is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? Is it possible that the reasons it wouldn’t be might indicate humanity might care little about an alien species other than as a potential threat? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Relating to an alien species and first space probe orbits asteroid
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In this fourth report, Field Research Editor Henry Bortman describes the work of two young researchers, Sergio Valea and Petr Vitek. See article.
g Life - Scientists have discovered the youngest dinosaur fossils yet known from before the catastrophic meteor impact that occurred 65 million years ago. The finding indicates that dinosaurs did not go extinct before the impact, providing further evidence that this event played a role in their extinction. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has become the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt. See article.
g Aftermath - Could humanity ever relate to an alien species? Consider the questioning context of these online speculations about why "Star Trek is human centered?" The latter is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? Is it possible that the reasons it wouldn’t be might indicate humanity might care little about an alien species other than as a potential threat? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In this fourth report, Field Research Editor Henry Bortman describes the work of two young researchers, Sergio Valea and Petr Vitek. See article.
g Life - Scientists have discovered the youngest dinosaur fossils yet known from before the catastrophic meteor impact that occurred 65 million years ago. The finding indicates that dinosaurs did not go extinct before the impact, providing further evidence that this event played a role in their extinction. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA's Dawn spacecraft has become the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt. See article.
g Aftermath - Could humanity ever relate to an alien species? Consider the questioning context of these online speculations about why "Star Trek is human centered?" The latter is an interesting question, possibly creating a situation dealing with a prejudice on the behalf of the writers and producers. However, would a series completely dedicated to another species, such as the Romulans, be successful in a television market? Is it possible that the reasons it wouldn’t be might indicate humanity might care little about an alien species other than as a potential threat? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Percolation theory explains Fermi Paradox and new Map of Life
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Life - A new Map of Life project has gone online, and is drawing attention to remarkable stories of convergent evolution. See article.
g Message - What if we approached the Fermi paradox — the absence of such extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth — using percolation theory? See Geoffrey A. Landis explains..
g Aftermath - The next big discovery in science will be the proof that alien life exists — and it could come any day now. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Life - A new Map of Life project has gone online, and is drawing attention to remarkable stories of convergent evolution. See article.
g Message - What if we approached the Fermi paradox — the absence of such extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth — using percolation theory? See Geoffrey A. Landis explains..
g Aftermath - The next big discovery in science will be the proof that alien life exists — and it could come any day now. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Our centuries-long debate about how to contact ETI and how archeology might help SETI
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Message - Humans have debated the best ways to contact our interstellar neighbors for centuries. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Vesta on Friday, July 15. The spacecraft is expected to confirm that it performed as planned during a scheduled communications pass that starts today at 23:30 Pacific Time. See article.
g Aftermath - Do archaeologists and anthropologists have anything to teach the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, where encounters are at the distance of light-years, and a round-trip exchange could take millennia? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Message - Humans have debated the best ways to contact our interstellar neighbors for centuries. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA's Dawn spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Vesta on Friday, July 15. The spacecraft is expected to confirm that it performed as planned during a scheduled communications pass that starts today at 23:30 Pacific Time. See article.
g Aftermath - Do archaeologists and anthropologists have anything to teach the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, where encounters are at the distance of light-years, and a round-trip exchange could take millennia? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Origin of microbialites and changing how signals are sent in space
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 - New research shows that volcanoes and earthquakes can move ancient Earth rock foundations more than 1,000 miles. See article.
g Life - Microbialites, strange carbonate structures that line the bottom of Pavilion Lake in British Columbia, Canada, come in many shapes and sizes. No-one knows why. But scientists in the Pavilion Lake Research Project hope to learn more by studying nearby Kelly Lake and making some comparisons. See article.
g Message - Recent advances in wireless computing technology could improve deep-space missions like asteroid research and remote spacecraft operations by changing the way signals are sent from Earth. A new method designed to effectively deliver commands and instructions using hundreds of millions of tiny transmitters linked together could also free the giant satellite dishes currently used to send and receive the long-range information for other applications. A research paper describing the scheme for relatively simple high-power transmitters will be published in the October issue of Radio Science, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - New research shows that volcanoes and earthquakes can move ancient Earth rock foundations more than 1,000 miles. See article.
g Life - Microbialites, strange carbonate structures that line the bottom of Pavilion Lake in British Columbia, Canada, come in many shapes and sizes. No-one knows why. But scientists in the Pavilion Lake Research Project hope to learn more by studying nearby Kelly Lake and making some comparisons. See article.
g Message - Recent advances in wireless computing technology could improve deep-space missions like asteroid research and remote spacecraft operations by changing the way signals are sent from Earth. A new method designed to effectively deliver commands and instructions using hundreds of millions of tiny transmitters linked together could also free the giant satellite dishes currently used to send and receive the long-range information for other applications. A research paper describing the scheme for relatively simple high-power transmitters will be published in the October issue of Radio Science, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Neptune’s first orbit completed since being discovered and a solution to 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 - On July 11, 2011, Neptune made its first full orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 1846. See article.
g Message - If we are not alone in the universe, why have we never picked up signals from an extraterrestrial civilization? Known as the Fermi paradox after physicist Enrico Fermi, who first posed the question, this long-standing puzzle remains one of the strongest arguments against the existence of intelligent aliens. But two physicists say they have come up with a solution. They suggest a way in which aliens could send messages to each other across space that not only disguises their locations but also makes it impossible for a casual observer to even distinguish the messages from background noise. See article.
g Cosmicus - New research is shedding light on how hole punch clouds are formed. The study could help explain local weather phenomenon, such as increased precipitation around major airports. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - On July 11, 2011, Neptune made its first full orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 1846. See article.
g Message - If we are not alone in the universe, why have we never picked up signals from an extraterrestrial civilization? Known as the Fermi paradox after physicist Enrico Fermi, who first posed the question, this long-standing puzzle remains one of the strongest arguments against the existence of intelligent aliens. But two physicists say they have come up with a solution. They suggest a way in which aliens could send messages to each other across space that not only disguises their locations but also makes it impossible for a casual observer to even distinguish the messages from background noise. See article.
g Cosmicus - New research is shedding light on how hole punch clouds are formed. The study could help explain local weather phenomenon, such as increased precipitation around major airports. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Habitat for unique forms of life and science fiction aliens
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Scientists have discovered previously unknown volcanoes beneath the cean. The volcanic activity may provide a habitat for unique forms of life. See article.
g Life - New research shows that the genetic instructions for developing limbs were present in primitive fish millions of years before animals walked on land. The findings provide new insight into the mechanisms behind the evolution of life on our planet. See article.
g Imagining - The sci-fi industry is massive with nearly every conceivable genre being developed at a frightening pace. A few decades ago wobbly plastic aliens terrorized mainstream viewers while Captain Kirk shagged his way through the ones with mystical powers of soft focus. Thankfully those days are largely dead — or are they? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - Scientists have discovered previously unknown volcanoes beneath the cean. The volcanic activity may provide a habitat for unique forms of life. See article.
g Life - New research shows that the genetic instructions for developing limbs were present in primitive fish millions of years before animals walked on land. The findings provide new insight into the mechanisms behind the evolution of life on our planet. See article.
g Imagining - The sci-fi industry is massive with nearly every conceivable genre being developed at a frightening pace. A few decades ago wobbly plastic aliens terrorized mainstream viewers while Captain Kirk shagged his way through the ones with mystical powers of soft focus. Thankfully those days are largely dead — or are they? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Monday, July 11, 2011
First contact predictions and searches for ETI artifacts
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Message - In SETI program planning, higher priority should be given in the near-term to those probe and artifact searches which can be carried out quickly and inexpensively, in preference to larger more expensive beacon searches which should be mounted in the decades ahead. See article.
g Cosmicus - Where will MSL land? NASA has narrowed the options down to two potential sites on the red planet. See article.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing paper published earlier this year and translated from German for Astrosociology.com: “Futurological Reflections on the Confrontation of Mankind with an Extraterrestrial Civilization”.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Message - In SETI program planning, higher priority should be given in the near-term to those probe and artifact searches which can be carried out quickly and inexpensively, in preference to larger more expensive beacon searches which should be mounted in the decades ahead. See article.
g Cosmicus - Where will MSL land? NASA has narrowed the options down to two potential sites on the red planet. See article.
g Aftermath - Here’s an intriguing paper published earlier this year and translated from German for Astrosociology.com: “Futurological Reflections on the Confrontation of Mankind with an Extraterrestrial Civilization”.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Ancient Mars analog on Earth and how SETI works
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 - Recent findings may change scientific opinion about the shape of the Big Bang. See article.
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In this third in a series of reports, Field Research Editor Henry Bortman recounts a day of activities at Bea Hills. See article.
g Message - Just exactly how does SETI work? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Stars - Recent findings may change scientific opinion about the shape of the Big Bang. See article.
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In this third in a series of reports, Field Research Editor Henry Bortman recounts a day of activities at Bea Hills. See article.
g Message - Just exactly how does SETI work? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Examining asteroid moon Vesta and SETI work at Harvard
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 digital camera ever built for a space mission has been constructed for the European Space Agency's galaxy-mapping Gaia mission. Gaia will map a billion stars over its five-year mission. Studying stars could help astrobiologists identify those which are capable of supporting habitable worlds. See article.
g Abodes - As the Dawn spacecraft closes in on the asteroid Vesta, researchers are looking for an asteroid moon. See article.
g Message - Among the most important SETI work is being done at Harvard University. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Stars - The largest digital camera ever built for a space mission has been constructed for the European Space Agency's galaxy-mapping Gaia mission. Gaia will map a billion stars over its five-year mission. Studying stars could help astrobiologists identify those which are capable of supporting habitable worlds. See article.
g Abodes - As the Dawn spacecraft closes in on the asteroid Vesta, researchers are looking for an asteroid moon. See article.
g Message - Among the most important SETI work is being done at Harvard University. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Exploding star expels dust equal to tens of thousands of Earth and Saturn’s largest superstorm
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 - Observations from the Herschel Space Observatory reveal that an exploding star expelled the equivalent of between 160,000 and 230,000 Earth masses of fresh dust. See article.
g Abodes - Cassini has spotted the largest superstorm yet seen on Saturn. See article.
g Message - In late 1997, after almost 40 years of operation, the Ohio State University Radio Observatory and its "Big Ear" radio telescope — which picked up the famous “Wow!” signal — ceased operation. The land on which the observatory was sitting (owned by the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio) was sold in 1983 to land developers who later claimed their rights to develop the property. The telescope was destroyed in early 1998. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Stars - Observations from the Herschel Space Observatory reveal that an exploding star expelled the equivalent of between 160,000 and 230,000 Earth masses of fresh dust. See article.
g Abodes - Cassini has spotted the largest superstorm yet seen on Saturn. See article.
g Message - In late 1997, after almost 40 years of operation, the Ohio State University Radio Observatory and its "Big Ear" radio telescope — which picked up the famous “Wow!” signal — ceased operation. The land on which the observatory was sitting (owned by the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio) was sold in 1983 to land developers who later claimed their rights to develop the property. The telescope was destroyed in early 1998. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Friday, July 08, 2011
SETI’s history and Space Shuttle’s final launch
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - The fossil record is providing new clues about how the Earth's temperature was affected by increasing CO2 concentrations 50 million years ago. The study could help astrobiologists understand how modern climate change could affect the future habitability of Earth. See article.
g Life - Scientists have “re-discovered” a glowing mushroom in Brazil. See article.
g Message - Want to get a sense of SETI’s history and varying projects? Jodrell Bank Observatory offers an easy to follow yet informative primer.
g Cosmicus - The countdown for the launch of the final Space Shuttle mission begins tomorrow. This retrospective essay provides a personal view of Shuttle´s first launch -- STS-1 -- over thirty years ago. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - The fossil record is providing new clues about how the Earth's temperature was affected by increasing CO2 concentrations 50 million years ago. The study could help astrobiologists understand how modern climate change could affect the future habitability of Earth. See article.
g Life - Scientists have “re-discovered” a glowing mushroom in Brazil. See article.
g Message - Want to get a sense of SETI’s history and varying projects? Jodrell Bank Observatory offers an easy to follow yet informative primer.
g Cosmicus - The countdown for the launch of the final Space Shuttle mission begins tomorrow. This retrospective essay provides a personal view of Shuttle´s first launch -- STS-1 -- over thirty years ago. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Martian analog in California's Mojave Desert and Hubble telescope examines exoplanet’s atmosphere
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 - Hydrogen peroxide molecules have been identified in interstellar space for the first time. See article.
g Life - Scientists are seeing new evidence that suggests traces of water on Mars are under a thin varnish of iron oxide, or rust, similar to conditions found on desert rocks in California's Mojave Desert. The findings could have implications in the search for signs of past or present life on the red planet. See article.
g Cosmicus - On July 4, 2011, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope logged its one millionth science observation while searching for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - Hydrogen peroxide molecules have been identified in interstellar space for the first time. See article.
g Life - Scientists are seeing new evidence that suggests traces of water on Mars are under a thin varnish of iron oxide, or rust, similar to conditions found on desert rocks in California's Mojave Desert. The findings could have implications in the search for signs of past or present life on the red planet. See article.
g Cosmicus - On July 4, 2011, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope logged its one millionth science observation while searching for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Searching for ETI’s artifacts and Earth’s core both melts and freezes
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 - New research shows that the Earth's core is simultaneously melting and freezing due to the circulation of heat in our planet's mantle. See article.
g Life - Scientists have determined the loudest animal on Earth. See article.
g Message - If extraterrestrial life and intelligence exist, and if these ETI have ever engaged in, or presently are engaging in, interstellar exploration or communication, this most likely will involve the transmission of material artifacts. Some evidence of this activity may be apparent from within the confines of the Solar System and thus could be detected by a suitable observational effort. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - New research shows that the Earth's core is simultaneously melting and freezing due to the circulation of heat in our planet's mantle. See article.
g Life - Scientists have determined the loudest animal on Earth. See article.
g Message - If extraterrestrial life and intelligence exist, and if these ETI have ever engaged in, or presently are engaging in, interstellar exploration or communication, this most likely will involve the transmission of material artifacts. Some evidence of this activity may be apparent from within the confines of the Solar System and thus could be detected by a suitable observational effort. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Monday, July 04, 2011
Martian analog in Atacama Desert and the Artifact Hypothesis
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In this second in a series of reports, Field Research Editor Henry Bortman recounts a day of activities at Salar de Navidad. See article.
g Message - The Artifact Hypothesis states that a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization has undertaken a long-term program of galactic exploration via transmission of material artifacts. Four general classes of unconcealed observable artifacts are potentially available to test this Hypothesis: Astroengineering activities, self-replicating artifacts, passive artifacts, and active probes. Of these, only active self-repairing probes are likely both to exist and to be observable from within the Solar System. See article.
g Cosmicus - Wine may hold a key ingredient to help astronauts cope with the negative effects of spaceflight. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest place in the world, and an environment that resembles Mars in the ancient past. In this second in a series of reports, Field Research Editor Henry Bortman recounts a day of activities at Salar de Navidad. See article.
g Message - The Artifact Hypothesis states that a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization has undertaken a long-term program of galactic exploration via transmission of material artifacts. Four general classes of unconcealed observable artifacts are potentially available to test this Hypothesis: Astroengineering activities, self-replicating artifacts, passive artifacts, and active probes. Of these, only active self-repairing probes are likely both to exist and to be observable from within the Solar System. See article.
g Cosmicus - Wine may hold a key ingredient to help astronauts cope with the negative effects of spaceflight. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Searching for extraterrestrial probes and pigmentation patterns of long-extinct creatures
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Life - Scientists are unearthing the appearance of ancient animals with the help of powerful X-rays. Trace metals in fossils are being used to determine the pigmentation patterns of creatures that have been dead for more than a hundred million years. The research is providing a unique look into the evolution of life on Earth. See article.
g Message - Interstellar spacecraft are superior to electromagnetic wave propagation for extrasolar exploration and communication. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should include a search for extraterrestrial probes. See article.
g Cosmicus - An experimental android named Justin is preparing for a stay on the International Space Station, where it will help astronauts test technologies like telepresence for future missions on the Moon, Mars and beyond. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Life - Scientists are unearthing the appearance of ancient animals with the help of powerful X-rays. Trace metals in fossils are being used to determine the pigmentation patterns of creatures that have been dead for more than a hundred million years. The research is providing a unique look into the evolution of life on Earth. See article.
g Message - Interstellar spacecraft are superior to electromagnetic wave propagation for extrasolar exploration and communication. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should include a search for extraterrestrial probes. See article.
g Cosmicus - An experimental android named Justin is preparing for a stay on the International Space Station, where it will help astronauts test technologies like telepresence for future missions on the Moon, Mars and beyond. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Vision among half-billion-year-old animals and alternatives to DNA/RNA
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Life - Half-a-billion-year-old fossils show that primitive animals had excellent vision. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life,“ a fascinating speculative book, author Seth Shostak builds a careful case for the importance of the institute's work, narrowing the range of the galaxy's possibly life-nurturing stars and imagining what forms non-carbon-based life might take. "Although a majority of the American public is convinced that aliens are making house calls to planet Earth," Shostak writes, "most scientists aren't." In prose as lively and dramatic as the science-fiction movies he clearly savors, in the book's final chapters Shostak describes scientific reality: "If it happens, it will begin slowly and without warning in a radio telescope's cramped, cluttered, control room.... under a hundred tons of steel faced off against the pinpoint gleams of the night sky." The book is rich in considered, engaging science, with occasional lapses into excessive speculation about artificial intelligence in space, or into plugs for the institute. Sections on possible alien behavior, on motives for contact and means of contact — all of which make comparisons to movies — are compelling as they reveal as much about us as about anyone who may pop across for a visit. See article.
g Imagining - Are there any alternatives to DNA or RNA, as an “X-Files” episode said there was? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Life - Half-a-billion-year-old fossils show that primitive animals had excellent vision. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life,“ a fascinating speculative book, author Seth Shostak builds a careful case for the importance of the institute's work, narrowing the range of the galaxy's possibly life-nurturing stars and imagining what forms non-carbon-based life might take. "Although a majority of the American public is convinced that aliens are making house calls to planet Earth," Shostak writes, "most scientists aren't." In prose as lively and dramatic as the science-fiction movies he clearly savors, in the book's final chapters Shostak describes scientific reality: "If it happens, it will begin slowly and without warning in a radio telescope's cramped, cluttered, control room.... under a hundred tons of steel faced off against the pinpoint gleams of the night sky." The book is rich in considered, engaging science, with occasional lapses into excessive speculation about artificial intelligence in space, or into plugs for the institute. Sections on possible alien behavior, on motives for contact and means of contact — all of which make comparisons to movies — are compelling as they reveal as much about us as about anyone who may pop across for a visit. See article.
g Imagining - Are there any alternatives to DNA or RNA, as an “X-Files” episode said there was? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Life entirely unlike we know it and robot perception
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - By tracking atmospheric features on Neptune, scientists have determined the planet's rotation. It is the first time that such a feat has been achieved for a gas planet in our solar system other than Jupiter. See article.
g Cosmicus - Scientists are developing an artificial skin for robots that will improve the “perceptions” of robots. The science could have applications in the future of robotic space exploration. See article.
g Imagining - Hundreds of astronomers recently learned that life in outer space is likely to lack green eyes and be far more prosaic, tiny and, quite possibly, completely unlike life as we know it. This blunt appraisal came from the University of Washington's Center for Astrobiology and Early Evolution, one of the first programs in the country to give an advanced degree in astrobiology. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
g Abodes - By tracking atmospheric features on Neptune, scientists have determined the planet's rotation. It is the first time that such a feat has been achieved for a gas planet in our solar system other than Jupiter. See article.
g Cosmicus - Scientists are developing an artificial skin for robots that will improve the “perceptions” of robots. The science could have applications in the future of robotic space exploration. See article.
g Imagining - Hundreds of astronomers recently learned that life in outer space is likely to lack green eyes and be far more prosaic, tiny and, quite possibly, completely unlike life as we know it. This blunt appraisal came from the University of Washington's Center for Astrobiology and Early Evolution, one of the first programs in the country to give an advanced degree in astrobiology. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited.
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