Friday, November 09, 2012

Our solar system not quite so special

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 - Some 4.567 billion years ago, our solar system's planets spawned from an expansive disc of gas and dust rotating around the sun. While similar processes are witnessed in younger solar systems throughout the Milky Way, the formative stages of our own solar system were believed to have taken twice as long to occur. Now, new research lead by the Centre for Star and Planet Formation at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, suggests otherwise. Indeed, our solar system is not quite as special as once believed. See article.
g Abodes - Cassini has captured images showing how Titan glows dimly in the dark. Light is emitted when charged particles bang into nitrogen molecules in the moon's dense atmosphere. The data is a glimpse into the processes behind the natural organic chemistry factory that exists on the unique moon. See article.
g Life - A new study provides a detailed picture of how opsins evolved. Opsins are light-sensitive molecules found in photoreceptor cells of the retina. See article.

Get your SF book manuscript edited