Sunday, January 22, 2012

Two new circumbinary planet systems and life evolving in a freshwater environment

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 - ESO's VISTA telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, has captured a striking new image of the Helix Nebula. This picture, taken in infrared light, reveals strands of cold nebular gas that are invisible in images taken in visible light, as well as bringing to light a rich background of stars and galaxies. See article.
g Abodes - Astronomers announced the discovery of two new transiting “circumbinary” planet systems - planets that orbit two stars. The study provides new information about the diversity of worlds that exist in the universe. See article.
g Life - Most scientists who study the origin of life assume that it occurred in the ocean. But a minority view is that ions in seawater may interfere with prebiotic chemistry, making a freshwater environment more likely. See article.
g Message - How scientifically accurate was the ultimate astrobiology film, “Contact”? See article.

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