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