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 - Blasting over two million lights years from the centre of a distant galaxy is a supersonic jet of material that looks strikingly similar to the afterburner flow of a fighter jet, except in this case the jet engine is a supermassive black hole and the jet material is moving at nearly the speed of light. See article.
g Abodes - University of Arkansas researchers have created a model that might explain how water could produce the flow patterns seen by a spacecraft orbiting Mars. See article.
g Cosmicus - In this interview, Felipe Gómez explains how the REMS instrument on the Curiosity rover could help determine the habitability of Mars. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Space germs may hold the upper hand
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 - Most big galaxies fit into one of two camps: pinwheel-shaped spiral galaxies and blobby elliptical galaxies. Spirals like the Milky Way are hip and happening places, with plenty of gas and dust to birth new stars. Ellipticals are like cosmic retirement villages, full of aging residents in the form of red giant stars. Now, astronomers have discovered that one well-known elliptical has a split personality. Centaurus A is hiding a gassy spiral in its center. See article.
g Abodes - A new hypothesis explains the origin of Saturn's strange middle-sized moons. The moons may have been spawned during giant impacts that occurred when several major satellites merged to form Saturn's large moon, Titan. See article.
g Cosmicus - A new study suggests that microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs. The data could be valuable in planning future long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Most big galaxies fit into one of two camps: pinwheel-shaped spiral galaxies and blobby elliptical galaxies. Spirals like the Milky Way are hip and happening places, with plenty of gas and dust to birth new stars. Ellipticals are like cosmic retirement villages, full of aging residents in the form of red giant stars. Now, astronomers have discovered that one well-known elliptical has a split personality. Centaurus A is hiding a gassy spiral in its center. See article.
g Abodes - A new hypothesis explains the origin of Saturn's strange middle-sized moons. The moons may have been spawned during giant impacts that occurred when several major satellites merged to form Saturn's large moon, Titan. See article.
g Cosmicus - A new study suggests that microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs. The data could be valuable in planning future long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Monday, October 29, 2012
Trojan asteroid mysteries
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 using data from WISE have uncovered new clues about asteroids that orbit the Sun on the same path as Jupiter. See article.
g Intelligence - That snake heading towards you may be further away than it appears. Fear can skew our perception of approaching objects, causing us to underestimate the distance of a threatening one, finds a study published in Current Biology. See article.
g Imagining - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, discusses the effects of spaceflight on the human body and the machines that help keep astronauts alive beyond the Earth's atmosphere. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Scientists using data from WISE have uncovered new clues about asteroids that orbit the Sun on the same path as Jupiter. See article.
g Intelligence - That snake heading towards you may be further away than it appears. Fear can skew our perception of approaching objects, causing us to underestimate the distance of a threatening one, finds a study published in Current Biology. See article.
g Imagining - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, discusses the effects of spaceflight on the human body and the machines that help keep astronauts alive beyond the Earth's atmosphere. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Whales imitating human voices
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 - Previous theories have suggested that the Moon formed from a cloud of debris caused by a small planet striking the early Earth. A new theory suggests that the impact may have actually broken off a chunk of the Earth, which later formed our planet's familiar moon. See article.
g Life - For the first time, researchers have been able to show by acoustic analysis that whales - or at least one very special white whale - can imitate the voices of humans. That's a surprise, because whales typically produce sounds in a manner that is wholly different from humans. See article.
g Cosmicus - As New Horizons travels toward Pluto, the science team has become increasingly aware that dangerous debris might be orbiting in the Pluto system. The spacecraft will have to navigate safely through the material in order to make its scientific observations of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Previous theories have suggested that the Moon formed from a cloud of debris caused by a small planet striking the early Earth. A new theory suggests that the impact may have actually broken off a chunk of the Earth, which later formed our planet's familiar moon. See article.
g Life - For the first time, researchers have been able to show by acoustic analysis that whales - or at least one very special white whale - can imitate the voices of humans. That's a surprise, because whales typically produce sounds in a manner that is wholly different from humans. See article.
g Cosmicus - As New Horizons travels toward Pluto, the science team has become increasingly aware that dangerous debris might be orbiting in the Pluto system. The spacecraft will have to navigate safely through the material in order to make its scientific observations of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Saturday, October 27, 2012
How black holes may have led to 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 Stars - What do we know about the huge black vortexes in space? And what’s behind the information black holes at the heart of the business and financial worlds? With an American astrobiologist who argues black holes might be the creative forces that made life possible. See article.
g Abodes - Watching active volcanic eruptions should definitely be done from a distance, but a group of California researchers has figured out how to do it from the comfort of home. Using an ingenious combination of Earth-based telescopic surveys and archival data, they have gathered nearly 40 distinct snapshots of effusive volcanic eruptions and high temperature outbursts on Jupiter’s tiny moon, Io, showing details as small as 60 miles on the moon’s surface. See article.
g Cosmicus - Astrophysicists have created the first online system for predicting and forecasting radiation in near-Earth, lunar, and martian space environments. The tool could be useful in predicting potential hazards for future missions to these locations. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - What do we know about the huge black vortexes in space? And what’s behind the information black holes at the heart of the business and financial worlds? With an American astrobiologist who argues black holes might be the creative forces that made life possible. See article.
g Abodes - Watching active volcanic eruptions should definitely be done from a distance, but a group of California researchers has figured out how to do it from the comfort of home. Using an ingenious combination of Earth-based telescopic surveys and archival data, they have gathered nearly 40 distinct snapshots of effusive volcanic eruptions and high temperature outbursts on Jupiter’s tiny moon, Io, showing details as small as 60 miles on the moon’s surface. See article.
g Cosmicus - Astrophysicists have created the first online system for predicting and forecasting radiation in near-Earth, lunar, and martian space environments. The tool could be useful in predicting potential hazards for future missions to these locations. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Friday, October 26, 2012
Why most known planetary systems appear different from our own solar 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 - An extraordinarily crowded planetary system is providing critical clues for understanding why most known planetary systems appear different from our own solar system. See article.
g Abodes - We have found a super-Mercury in our Sun’s neighborhood. See article.
g Life - There was no native life in the first sample of lake water from the top of Lake Vostok in Antarctica, scientists reported this week at the 12th European Workshop on Astrobiology in Stockholm, Sweden. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - An extraordinarily crowded planetary system is providing critical clues for understanding why most known planetary systems appear different from our own solar system. See article.
g Abodes - We have found a super-Mercury in our Sun’s neighborhood. See article.
g Life - There was no native life in the first sample of lake water from the top of Lake Vostok in Antarctica, scientists reported this week at the 12th European Workshop on Astrobiology in Stockholm, Sweden. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Aliens probably find Earth boring
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 - Using date from Kepler, researchers have statistically determined that most solar systems are similar to our own in that they are “flatter than pancakes.” See article.
g Abodes - Using computer simulations, researchers have predicted the amount of methane that might be seen by the Curiosity rover. Detecting methane on Mars could be significant in the search for signs of life on the red planet. See article.
g Message - Fearing an alien invasion? It is not likely to happen! The discovery of planets supporting alien life may be possible within the next 50 years, however, it is likely that extra terrestrials will find Earth too "boring" to bother with, renowned UK astronomer Sir Patrick Moore says. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Using date from Kepler, researchers have statistically determined that most solar systems are similar to our own in that they are “flatter than pancakes.” See article.
g Abodes - Using computer simulations, researchers have predicted the amount of methane that might be seen by the Curiosity rover. Detecting methane on Mars could be significant in the search for signs of life on the red planet. See article.
g Message - Fearing an alien invasion? It is not likely to happen! The discovery of planets supporting alien life may be possible within the next 50 years, however, it is likely that extra terrestrials will find Earth too "boring" to bother with, renowned UK astronomer Sir Patrick Moore says. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Searching for organic molecules on 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 Abodes - Researcher have determined that the presence of water embedded in the lunar surface may be due to the solar wind. The results also indicate that water likely exists on Mercury and on some asteroids. See article.
g Life - In this interview, Jen Eigenbrode talks about how the SAM instrument will search for the organic molecules that would indicate whether Mars ever could have supported life. See article.
g Intelligence - It takes both teeth and jaws to make a pretty smile, but the evolutionary origins of these parts of our anatomy have only just been discovered, thanks to a particle accelerator and a long dead fish. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Researcher have determined that the presence of water embedded in the lunar surface may be due to the solar wind. The results also indicate that water likely exists on Mercury and on some asteroids. See article.
g Life - In this interview, Jen Eigenbrode talks about how the SAM instrument will search for the organic molecules that would indicate whether Mars ever could have supported life. See article.
g Intelligence - It takes both teeth and jaws to make a pretty smile, but the evolutionary origins of these parts of our anatomy have only just been discovered, thanks to a particle accelerator and a long dead fish. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Alpha Centauri hosts at least one planet
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 - Alpha Centauri — the star system closest to our sun and the inspiration for legions of science fiction writers — harbors at least one planet and probably more, astronomers announced. See article.
g Life - The most common measure of intelligence in animals, brain size relative to body size, may not be as dependent on evolutionary selection on the brain as previously thought, according to a new analysis by scientists. See article.
g Cosmicus - The first Martian rock NASA’s Curiosity rover has reached out to touch presents a more varied composition than expected. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Alpha Centauri — the star system closest to our sun and the inspiration for legions of science fiction writers — harbors at least one planet and probably more, astronomers announced. See article.
g Life - The most common measure of intelligence in animals, brain size relative to body size, may not be as dependent on evolutionary selection on the brain as previously thought, according to a new analysis by scientists. See article.
g Cosmicus - The first Martian rock NASA’s Curiosity rover has reached out to touch presents a more varied composition than expected. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Planet found orbiting twin suns
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 - In a joint effort, citizen scientists and astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting twin suns that in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars. See article.
g Life - A new concept is challenging one of the basic assumptions of the theory of evolution - that survival is based on a change's functional advantage if it is to persist. See article.
g Intelligence - People in creative professions are treated more often for mental illness than the general population, there being a particularly salient connection between writing and schizophrenia. This according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet, whose large-scale Swedish registry study is the most comprehensive ever in its field. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - In a joint effort, citizen scientists and astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting twin suns that in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars. See article.
g Life - A new concept is challenging one of the basic assumptions of the theory of evolution - that survival is based on a change's functional advantage if it is to persist. See article.
g Intelligence - People in creative professions are treated more often for mental illness than the general population, there being a particularly salient connection between writing and schizophrenia. This according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet, whose large-scale Swedish registry study is the most comprehensive ever in its field. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Saturday, October 20, 2012
More evidence of surface water in Martian past
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 - Using gravitational "lenses" in space, University of Utah astronomers discovered that the centers of the biggest galaxies are growing denser - evidence of repeated collisions and mergers by massive galaxies with 100 billion stars. See article.
g Abodes - A meteorite that landed in the Moroccan desert 14 months ago is providing more information about Mars. The Tissint meteorite shows evidence that it interacted with water on the Martian surface before it made its long journey to Earth. See article.
g Cosmicus - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, documents the life of a zucchini grown in orbit on the International Space Station. Studying how plants grow in space can help astrobiologists understand how Earth life adapts to the space environment. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Using gravitational "lenses" in space, University of Utah astronomers discovered that the centers of the biggest galaxies are growing denser - evidence of repeated collisions and mergers by massive galaxies with 100 billion stars. See article.
g Abodes - A meteorite that landed in the Moroccan desert 14 months ago is providing more information about Mars. The Tissint meteorite shows evidence that it interacted with water on the Martian surface before it made its long journey to Earth. See article.
g Cosmicus - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, documents the life of a zucchini grown in orbit on the International Space Station. Studying how plants grow in space can help astrobiologists understand how Earth life adapts to the space environment. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Friday, October 19, 2012
Asteroid once possessed molten core
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 - Two massive stars racing in orbit around each other have had their colliding stellar winds X-rayed for the first time, thanks to the combined efforts of ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Swift space telescopes. Seearticle .
g Abodes - A new study has found that Vesta once had a molten, swirling mass of fluid inside the asteroid that generated a magnetic field. See article.
g Life - New research is revealing surprising connections between animal microbiomes - the communities of microbes that live inside animals' bodies - and animal behavior, according to a paper by University of Georgia ecologist Vanessa O. Ezenwa and her colleagues. The article, just published in the Perspectives section of the journal Science, reviews recent developments in this emerging research area and offers questions for future investigation. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Two massive stars racing in orbit around each other have had their colliding stellar winds X-rayed for the first time, thanks to the combined efforts of ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Swift space telescopes. See
g Abodes - A new study has found that Vesta once had a molten, swirling mass of fluid inside the asteroid that generated a magnetic field. See article.
g Life - New research is revealing surprising connections between animal microbiomes - the communities of microbes that live inside animals' bodies - and animal behavior, according to a paper by University of Georgia ecologist Vanessa O. Ezenwa and her colleagues. The article, just published in the Perspectives section of the journal Science, reviews recent developments in this emerging research area and offers questions for future investigation. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Thursday, October 18, 2012
How cosmic dust forms over time
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 - In one of the largest Hubble Space Telescope projects to date, astronomers are hoping to uncover how cosmic dust forms over time. The research is an important step in understanding the evolution of galaxies, stars and planets. See article.
g Intelligence - The unexpected survival of embryonic neurons transplanted into the brains of newborn mice in a series of experiments at the University of California, San Francisco raises hope for the possibility of using neuronal transplantation to treat diseases like Alzheimer's, epilepsy, Huntington's, Parkinson's and schizophrenia. See article.
g Cosmicus - Scientists are testing potential shielding for astronauts on long duration missions beyond Earth. Protecting astronauts from exposure to cosmic radiation is an important step in developing future missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - In one of the largest Hubble Space Telescope projects to date, astronomers are hoping to uncover how cosmic dust forms over time. The research is an important step in understanding the evolution of galaxies, stars and planets. See article.
g Intelligence - The unexpected survival of embryonic neurons transplanted into the brains of newborn mice in a series of experiments at the University of California, San Francisco raises hope for the possibility of using neuronal transplantation to treat diseases like Alzheimer's, epilepsy, Huntington's, Parkinson's and schizophrenia. See article.
g Cosmicus - Scientists are testing potential shielding for astronauts on long duration missions beyond Earth. Protecting astronauts from exposure to cosmic radiation is an important step in developing future missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Is asteroid mining wacky or doable?
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 - What is the potential habitability of the nearby star system 55 Cancri, which boasts five planets? See article.
g Abodes - ESA's Huygens probe bounced, slid and wobbled its way to rest in the 10 seconds after touching down on Saturn's moon, Titan, in January 2005, a new analysis reveals. The findings provide novel insight into the nature of the moon's surface. See article.
g Cosmicus - Remember hearing a while ago that some folks where talking about mining asteroids for a profit? Wondering if that was doable, or just crazy talk? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - What is the potential habitability of the nearby star system 55 Cancri, which boasts five planets? See article.
g Abodes - ESA's Huygens probe bounced, slid and wobbled its way to rest in the 10 seconds after touching down on Saturn's moon, Titan, in January 2005, a new analysis reveals. The findings provide novel insight into the nature of the moon's surface. See article.
g Cosmicus - Remember hearing a while ago that some folks where talking about mining asteroids for a profit? Wondering if that was doable, or just crazy talk? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Earth-sized planet may be diamond world
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 suggests that a rocky planet twice the size of Earth and orbiting a nearby star is a diamond planet. It may be the first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry than our own planet. See article.
g Life - A New York Medical College developmental biologist whose life's work has supported the theory of evolution has developed a concept that dramatically alters one of its basic assumptions - that survival is based on a change's functional advantage if it is to persist. Stuart A. Newman, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy, offers an alternative model in proposing that the origination of the structural motifs of animal form were actually predictable and relatively sudden, with abrupt morphological transformations favored during the early period of animal evolution. See article.
g Message - Two new research grants are supporting projects that bleed into science fiction. The first could help identify advanced civilizations powered by massive, orbiting solar power stations. The second study will look for ways of detecting universes other than our own. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - New research suggests that a rocky planet twice the size of Earth and orbiting a nearby star is a diamond planet. It may be the first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry than our own planet. See article.
g Life - A New York Medical College developmental biologist whose life's work has supported the theory of evolution has developed a concept that dramatically alters one of its basic assumptions - that survival is based on a change's functional advantage if it is to persist. Stuart A. Newman, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy, offers an alternative model in proposing that the origination of the structural motifs of animal form were actually predictable and relatively sudden, with abrupt morphological transformations favored during the early period of animal evolution. See article.
g Message - Two new research grants are supporting projects that bleed into science fiction. The first could help identify advanced civilizations powered by massive, orbiting solar power stations. The second study will look for ways of detecting universes other than our own. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Monday, October 15, 2012
Water discovered about dust cloud forming Sun-like star
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 - Enough water to fill Earth's oceans more than 2000 times over has been discovered in a cloud of gas and dust that is on the verge of collapsing into a new Sun-like star. The finding could help astrobiologists understand the conditions of the early Solar System. See article.
g Life - With funding from the NASA Astrobiology Institute, scientists are developing and testing instruments and techniques to detect life deep below Earth's surface. See article.
g Cosmicus - Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars program, talks about his role in developing the Curiosity rover that’s now exploring the surface of Mars. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Enough water to fill Earth's oceans more than 2000 times over has been discovered in a cloud of gas and dust that is on the verge of collapsing into a new Sun-like star. The finding could help astrobiologists understand the conditions of the early Solar System. See article.
g Life - With funding from the NASA Astrobiology Institute, scientists are developing and testing instruments and techniques to detect life deep below Earth's surface. See article.
g Cosmicus - Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars program, talks about his role in developing the Curiosity rover that’s now exploring the surface of Mars. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Young star’s dust belt matches comets in our own solar 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 - Astronomers have found pristine material in a dust belt around a young star that matches comets in our own solar system. See article.
g Life - Researchers have discovered that a bacterium's ability to withstand toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold. With this knowledge, they created a multimedia art installation that received an honorable mention at a recent cyber art competition. See article.
g Imagining - Thirty years ago, a different kind of alien hit the screen: a vulnerable, cuddly, candy-munching creature that captured hearts as well as box-office records. Is "E.T." still relevant for the 21st century? If you're looking for the extraterrestrial that humanity is most likely to run into first, E.T. definitely doesn't fit the mold. But if you're looking for the cultural icon that's most likely to motivate the search for honest-to-goodness extraterrestrials, E.T. just might be your A-list alien. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Astronomers have found pristine material in a dust belt around a young star that matches comets in our own solar system. See article.
g Life - Researchers have discovered that a bacterium's ability to withstand toxicity is key to creating 24-karat gold. With this knowledge, they created a multimedia art installation that received an honorable mention at a recent cyber art competition. See article.
g Imagining - Thirty years ago, a different kind of alien hit the screen: a vulnerable, cuddly, candy-munching creature that captured hearts as well as box-office records. Is "E.T." still relevant for the 21st century? If you're looking for the extraterrestrial that humanity is most likely to run into first, E.T. definitely doesn't fit the mold. But if you're looking for the cultural icon that's most likely to motivate the search for honest-to-goodness extraterrestrials, E.T. just might be your A-list alien. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Origin of the Solar 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 - A dying star is refusing to go quietly into the night, as seen in a combined infrared and ultraviolet view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), which NASA has lent to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In death, the star's dusty outer layers are unraveling into space, glowing from the intense ultraviolet radiation being pumped out by the hot stellar core. See article.
g Abodes - Tiny pieces of rock captured from the astroid Itokawa by the Japanese mission Hayabusa are now being analyzed. It is the first time asteroid samples have been returned to Earth, and they could help astrobiologists understand the origin of the Solar System. See article.
g Life - A new dinosaur the size of a house cat and described as a cross between "a bird, a vampire and a porcupine" has been identified in a piece of rock from South Africa. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - A dying star is refusing to go quietly into the night, as seen in a combined infrared and ultraviolet view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), which NASA has lent to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In death, the star's dusty outer layers are unraveling into space, glowing from the intense ultraviolet radiation being pumped out by the hot stellar core. See article.
g Abodes - Tiny pieces of rock captured from the astroid Itokawa by the Japanese mission Hayabusa are now being analyzed. It is the first time asteroid samples have been returned to Earth, and they could help astrobiologists understand the origin of the Solar System. See article.
g Life - A new dinosaur the size of a house cat and described as a cross between "a bird, a vampire and a porcupine" has been identified in a piece of rock from South Africa. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Friday, October 12, 2012
Shortest known orbit of any star about a black hole
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 - UCLA astronomers report the discovery of a remarkable star that orbits the enormous black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy in a blistering 11-and-a-half years - the shortest known orbit of any star near this black hole. See article.
g Life - A team of paleontologists and engineers has found that duck-billed dinosaurs had an amazing capacity to chew tough and abrasive plants with grinding teeth more complex than those of cows, horses, and other well-known modern grazers. Their study, which is published October 4 in the journal Science, is the first to recover material properties from fossilized teeth. See article.
g Cosmicus - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, proves that the sky is not the image for artistic compositions as he points he snaps photos from the vantage point of the International Space Station. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - UCLA astronomers report the discovery of a remarkable star that orbits the enormous black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy in a blistering 11-and-a-half years - the shortest known orbit of any star near this black hole. See article.
g Life - A team of paleontologists and engineers has found that duck-billed dinosaurs had an amazing capacity to chew tough and abrasive plants with grinding teeth more complex than those of cows, horses, and other well-known modern grazers. Their study, which is published October 4 in the journal Science, is the first to recover material properties from fossilized teeth. See article.
g Cosmicus - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, proves that the sky is not the image for artistic compositions as he points he snaps photos from the vantage point of the International Space Station. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Watching evolution in action
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 - Take a good look around on your next nature hike. Not only are you experiencing the wonders of the outdoors - you're probably also witnessing evolution in action. See article.
g Intelligence - Nearly 100 years after a British neurologist first mapped the blind spots caused by missile wounds to the brains of soldiers, Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have perfected his map using modern-day technology. Their results create a map of vision in the brain based upon an individual's brain structure, even for people who cannot see. Their result can, among other things, guide efforts to restore vision using a neural prosthesis that stimulates the surface of the brain. See article.
g Cosmicus - Adam Steltzner, the Entry, Descent and Landing Phase Lead for Curiosity, explains why the Mars rover matters to ordinary people. Space exploration is an expensive endeavor, but the benefits that missions bring can be wide-reaching in terms of education and economic payback. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Life - Take a good look around on your next nature hike. Not only are you experiencing the wonders of the outdoors - you're probably also witnessing evolution in action. See article.
g Intelligence - Nearly 100 years after a British neurologist first mapped the blind spots caused by missile wounds to the brains of soldiers, Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have perfected his map using modern-day technology. Their results create a map of vision in the brain based upon an individual's brain structure, even for people who cannot see. Their result can, among other things, guide efforts to restore vision using a neural prosthesis that stimulates the surface of the brain. See article.
g Cosmicus - Adam Steltzner, the Entry, Descent and Landing Phase Lead for Curiosity, explains why the Mars rover matters to ordinary people. Space exploration is an expensive endeavor, but the benefits that missions bring can be wide-reaching in terms of education and economic payback. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Carbon monoxide snow on Venus
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 study shows that Venus has a surprisingly cold region high in its atmosphere, where carbon dioxide might freeze out as ice or snow. See article.
g Life - A seven million-year-old South American fossil from a species known as Arrhinolemur scalabrinii - which translates literally to "Scalabrini's lemur without a nose" - has long been a curiosity because there is only one specimen in existence and it is unlike most other primates. There is a reason for that, scientists have discovered. The lemur without a nose is actually a fish. See article.
g Cosmicus - Researchers are presenting findings at the Frontiers in Optics 2012 meeting that observation need not disturb systems as much as once thought, severing the act of measurement from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - A new study shows that Venus has a surprisingly cold region high in its atmosphere, where carbon dioxide might freeze out as ice or snow. See article.
g Life - A seven million-year-old South American fossil from a species known as Arrhinolemur scalabrinii - which translates literally to "Scalabrini's lemur without a nose" - has long been a curiosity because there is only one specimen in existence and it is unlike most other primates. There is a reason for that, scientists have discovered. The lemur without a nose is actually a fish. See article.
g Cosmicus - Researchers are presenting findings at the Frontiers in Optics 2012 meeting that observation need not disturb systems as much as once thought, severing the act of measurement from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Titan’s changing seasons
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 observations of Titan collected over the past 30 years, scientists have found that changing seasons affect the Saturnian moon more than previously thought. See article.
g Life - A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved the long-standing scientific mystery of how mice first know to nurse or suckle. See article.
g Intelligence - To discover why Neandertals are most closely related to people outside Africa, Harvard and Max Planck Institute scientists have estimated the date when Neandertals and modern Europeans last shared ancestors. The research, published in the journal PLoS Genetics, provides a historical context for the interbreeding. It suggests that it occurred when modern humans carrying Upper Paleolithic technologies encountered Neandertals as they expanded out of Africa. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - By analyzing observations of Titan collected over the past 30 years, scientists have found that changing seasons affect the Saturnian moon more than previously thought. See article.
g Life - A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved the long-standing scientific mystery of how mice first know to nurse or suckle. See article.
g Intelligence - To discover why Neandertals are most closely related to people outside Africa, Harvard and Max Planck Institute scientists have estimated the date when Neandertals and modern Europeans last shared ancestors. The research, published in the journal PLoS Genetics, provides a historical context for the interbreeding. It suggests that it occurred when modern humans carrying Upper Paleolithic technologies encountered Neandertals as they expanded out of Africa. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Monday, October 08, 2012
Microbes living in radioactive sites
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 - An unexpected discovery by an international team of astronomers is forcing scientists to rethink their understanding of the environment in globular star clusters, tight-knit collections containing hundreds of thousands of stars. See article.
g Life - Scientists have sequenced nearly 150,000 genes from soil samples at a former uranium mill. The study could help researchers understand how microbial communities in soil clean up sites contaminated with toxic metals. The results may even have implications in helping to reduce greenhouse gases. See article.
g Intelligence - A skull fragment unearthed by anthropologists in Tanzania shows that our ancient ancestors were eating meat at least 1.5 million years ago, shedding new light into the evolution of human physiology and brain development. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - An unexpected discovery by an international team of astronomers is forcing scientists to rethink their understanding of the environment in globular star clusters, tight-knit collections containing hundreds of thousands of stars. See article.
g Life - Scientists have sequenced nearly 150,000 genes from soil samples at a former uranium mill. The study could help researchers understand how microbial communities in soil clean up sites contaminated with toxic metals. The results may even have implications in helping to reduce greenhouse gases. See article.
g Intelligence - A skull fragment unearthed by anthropologists in Tanzania shows that our ancient ancestors were eating meat at least 1.5 million years ago, shedding new light into the evolution of human physiology and brain development. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Which came first: soft-bodied or shelled 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 Abodes - Data from Curiosity indicates that Gale Crater may be drier than scientists expected based on previous measurements from the Mars Odyssey orbiter. See article.
g Life - A fossil unearthed in Great Britain may end a long-running debate about the mollusks, one of life's most diverse invertebrate groups: Which evolved first, shelled forms like clams and snails, or their shell-less, worm-like relatives? See article.
g Message - Aliens, big data and a Bangladeshi "search addict." What can be a common factor between the three? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Data from Curiosity indicates that Gale Crater may be drier than scientists expected based on previous measurements from the Mars Odyssey orbiter. See article.
g Life - A fossil unearthed in Great Britain may end a long-running debate about the mollusks, one of life's most diverse invertebrate groups: Which evolved first, shelled forms like clams and snails, or their shell-less, worm-like relatives? See article.
g Message - Aliens, big data and a Bangladeshi "search addict." What can be a common factor between the three? See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Looking for ETI’s Dyson Spheres
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 - Curiosity is monitoring the weather on Mars, and has found regular and enormous swings in atmospheric pressure through each Martian day. See article.
g Message - Last month a trio of astronomers led by Penn State's Jason Wright began a two-year search for Dyson Spheres, a search that will span the Milky Way, along with millions of other galaxies. Their project was just awarded a sizable grant from the Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds research on the "big questions" that face humanity, questions relating to "human purpose and ultimate reality." See article.
g Cosmicus - In this interview, Pan Conrad, deputy principal investigator of the SAM team, explains how they will be reconstructing the history of Mars. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Curiosity is monitoring the weather on Mars, and has found regular and enormous swings in atmospheric pressure through each Martian day. See article.
g Message - Last month a trio of astronomers led by Penn State's Jason Wright began a two-year search for Dyson Spheres, a search that will span the Milky Way, along with millions of other galaxies. Their project was just awarded a sizable grant from the Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds research on the "big questions" that face humanity, questions relating to "human purpose and ultimate reality." See article.
g Cosmicus - In this interview, Pan Conrad, deputy principal investigator of the SAM team, explains how they will be reconstructing the history of Mars. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Friday, October 05, 2012
Proposal for boat to land on Titan
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 team of engineers has put forward a new proposal for a boat to land on Titan. The robotic explorer could spend six months to a year sailing a lake on Titan and collecting scientific data. See article.
g Intelligence - The first complete gorilla genome has been mapped by scientists giving fresh insights into our own origins. See article.
g Cosmicus - While the mission control team for the Phoenix lander was making scientific discoveries on Mars, they were also the subject of a study about how humans cope with living on Mars time. The study reveals how future explorers may be affected by days that do not follow a 24-hour clock. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - A team of engineers has put forward a new proposal for a boat to land on Titan. The robotic explorer could spend six months to a year sailing a lake on Titan and collecting scientific data. See article.
g Intelligence - The first complete gorilla genome has been mapped by scientists giving fresh insights into our own origins. See article.
g Cosmicus - While the mission control team for the Phoenix lander was making scientific discoveries on Mars, they were also the subject of a study about how humans cope with living on Mars time. The study reveals how future explorers may be affected by days that do not follow a 24-hour clock. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Thursday, October 04, 2012
Ancient streambed on 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 Abodes - Curiosity has found evidence of a stream that once ran vigorously across the surface of Mars. This is the first evidence of its kind for ancient water on Mars. See article.
g Life - New research on a lizard-like amphibian highlights how difficult it would be for humans to regenerate a limb or organ. See article.
g Learning - In wanting to better assess whether life could be elsewhere, astrobiology has also set out on the more homely tasks of understanding how life evolved on the Earth, how life has persisted on our own planet for over three-and-a-half billion years and how it manages to thrive in extremes that to humans seem completely inimical to life. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Curiosity has found evidence of a stream that once ran vigorously across the surface of Mars. This is the first evidence of its kind for ancient water on Mars. See article.
g Life - New research on a lizard-like amphibian highlights how difficult it would be for humans to regenerate a limb or organ. See article.
g Learning - In wanting to better assess whether life could be elsewhere, astrobiology has also set out on the more homely tasks of understanding how life evolved on the Earth, how life has persisted on our own planet for over three-and-a-half billion years and how it manages to thrive in extremes that to humans seem completely inimical to life. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
App lets you see which stars SETI is listening to
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 study is reinforcing claims that the asteroid Vesta has a layered interior - a quality usually found only in planets and large moons. See article.
g Life - A new study is providing insights into how living organisms use different mechanisms to adapt to their surroundings. The study focuses on two microorganisms that use different techniques to cope with uranium toxicity in their environments. See article.
g Message - First Light Design (Distant Suns) has released version 3.4 of its comprehensive, award-winning Distant Suns Astronomy App for iPad and iPhone - featuring the ability to see the star systems that are being monitored in real-time by the SETI Institute for possible signs of extraterrestrial life. Whenever SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array near Mt Lassen in Northern California is operating, Distant Suns will indicate where the radio telescope's dishes are pointing. The update also includes the ability to show a star's numerical magnitude as well as its Bayer numbers in Greek and Latin, a new detailed, texture map of Mercury, a new Milky Way image, as well as a few bug fixes. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - A new study is reinforcing claims that the asteroid Vesta has a layered interior - a quality usually found only in planets and large moons. See article.
g Life - A new study is providing insights into how living organisms use different mechanisms to adapt to their surroundings. The study focuses on two microorganisms that use different techniques to cope with uranium toxicity in their environments. See article.
g Message - First Light Design (Distant Suns) has released version 3.4 of its comprehensive, award-winning Distant Suns Astronomy App for iPad and iPhone - featuring the ability to see the star systems that are being monitored in real-time by the SETI Institute for possible signs of extraterrestrial life. Whenever SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array near Mt Lassen in Northern California is operating, Distant Suns will indicate where the radio telescope's dishes are pointing. The update also includes the ability to show a star's numerical magnitude as well as its Bayer numbers in Greek and Latin, a new detailed, texture map of Mercury, a new Milky Way image, as well as a few bug fixes. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
New evidence for panspermia
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 - Saturn’s moon Titan has been observed in detail for the past 30 years, that covers an entire solar orbit for this distant world. Researcher Dr Athena Coustenis from the Paris-Meudon Observatory in France has finished an analysis of the data that was gathered during this time period and has found that the changing seasons on Titan exert much more of an influence than had previously been thought. See article.
g Life - New research supports the idea that microorganisms embedded in the fragments of distant planets may have traveled to the early Earth and seeded our planet with life. See article.
g Cosmicus - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, discusses the treasures that spaceflight may hold for humanity. Research on the International Space Station is helping scientists understand how life as we know it functions, and how it adapts to the space environment. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - Saturn’s moon Titan has been observed in detail for the past 30 years, that covers an entire solar orbit for this distant world. Researcher Dr Athena Coustenis from the Paris-Meudon Observatory in France has finished an analysis of the data that was gathered during this time period and has found that the changing seasons on Titan exert much more of an influence than had previously been thought. See article.
g Life - New research supports the idea that microorganisms embedded in the fragments of distant planets may have traveled to the early Earth and seeded our planet with life. See article.
g Cosmicus - Don Pettit, member of the Expedition 31 crew, discusses the treasures that spaceflight may hold for humanity. Research on the International Space Station is helping scientists understand how life as we know it functions, and how it adapts to the space environment. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Monday, October 01, 2012
How Earth-like are super-Earths?
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 study suggests that rocky super-Earths might cool down very slowly after their formation, making them hotter than previously thought. The research could have implications in understanding how "Earth-like" these planets truly are. See article.
g Life - A new model yields better odds for transfer of organisms among planetary systems. See article.
g Cosmicus - Astrobiologists study life in Earth's most extreme environments - from the Antarctic permafrost to the salt pans of Tunisia - in order to understand how life might adapt to environments on other planets. Recently, researchers presented new findings from field expeditions to the most Mars-like places on Earth. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Abodes - A new study suggests that rocky super-Earths might cool down very slowly after their formation, making them hotter than previously thought. The research could have implications in understanding how "Earth-like" these planets truly are. See article.
g Life - A new model yields better odds for transfer of organisms among planetary systems. See article.
g Cosmicus - Astrobiologists study life in Earth's most extreme environments - from the Antarctic permafrost to the salt pans of Tunisia - in order to understand how life might adapt to environments on other planets. Recently, researchers presented new findings from field expeditions to the most Mars-like places on Earth. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
