Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - A new study from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggests that galaxies form within clumps of dark matter. This mysterious substance emits no light, but it does have mass, so it can pull on matter with its gravity. Astronomers believe there's 5 times as much dark matter in the Universe as regular matter. This new Spitzer survey found that the amount of dark matter surrounding distant galaxies is surprisingly consistent. See http://internationalreporter.com/news/read.phpid=1729.
g Abodes - When scientists examined a meteorite from Mars under a microscope, they discovered tiny mineral spheres that, some argued, were produced by living organisms. Now, researchers working in the high Arctic have found similar mineral features, produced not by microbes, but by a volcano. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules
.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1996mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Thirty years ago, a young biologist set out to explain some new ideas in evolutionary biology to a wider audience. But he ended up restating Darwinian theory in such a broad and forceful way that his book has influenced specialists as well. "Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think" is a collection of essays about Dr. Dawkins's book "The Selfish Gene" and its impact. Contributors to the book, edited by Alan Grafen and Matt Ridley, are mostly biologists but include the novelist Philip Pullman, author of "His Dark Materials," and the bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries. See http://
www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/science/sciencespecial2/06dawk.
htmlex=1152158400&en=98c5134982aa5f41&ei=5070.
g Intelligence - Book alert: "Before the Dawn" is beautifully done, a grand genealogy of modern humanity, rooted in fact but spiced with an appropriate measure of speculation and hypothesis. Even for a reader to whom the material is already familiar - one who, for example, has been following Nicholas Wade's reports in the New York Times - it is well worth the trouble of reading this book for its narrative value, for the elegant way Wade has put it all together as a single compelling story. This is a brilliant book, by one of our best science journalists. See http://article.nationalreview.com/q=MmFiN
GE0NjcyMjA0MGFmYjBmNzQzZTE5OGVjZGYyMGQ.
g Message - When scientists get together to talk about extraterrestrial life, they certainly don't imagine little green men. In fact, our first contact with life beyond our planet probably will involve a microbe. See http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/34079_spacelife06.shtml. Note: This article is from 2001.
g Cosmicus - Want to encourage space exploration? Join the Planetary Society (now in its 25th year). See http://planetary.org/home/.
g Learning - Natalie Meyerhoff has been fascinated with NASA and its space programs since she was an elementary school student in Palm Springs, Calif. Now, the third-grade elementary school teacher has the opportunity to participate in a NASA project that will engage her and later her students in scientific observation and data collection. See http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article
AID=/20060703/NEWS04/607030313/1006.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure to scour your favorite used bookstores for Larry Niven’s “Ringworld” (1970) and the sequel, “Ringworld Engineers” (1980).
g Aftermath - How might we characterize the political significance of any announcement of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence? How about using the Torino Scale, which characterizes asteroid impacts, as a model to assist the discussion and interpretation of any claimed discovery of ETI? See http://64.233.167.104/searchq=cache:
BuuaRaF64gUJ:www.konkoly.hu/staff/almar/almar_rio.doc+
"Interpreting+and+Reporting+on+a+SETI+discovery"&hl=en.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Capturing neutrinos, astrobiology field report from Canadian High Arctic and primate altruism
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - The American-born Nobel prizewinning chemist Raymond Davis, who has died aged 91 of complications from Alzheimer's disease, was the first person to look into the heart of a star. He did so by capturing neutrinos, ghostly particles that are emitted in the nuclear fusion reactions that power the Sun and stream across space. According to astrophysicists, the Sun emits 2-followed-by-38- zeros neutrinos a second, which means that as you read this article billions of them are hurtling through your eyeballs at almost the speed of light. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1800815,00.html.
g Abodes - Here’s an astrobiology field report from Dale Andersen, who’s in the Canadian High Arctic searching for meteorites. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=21051.
g Life - A resilient fish — known as Antarctic notothenioids — keeps from freezing solid thanks to a special "antifreeze protein" that prevents their bodily fluids from turning into crystals. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060619_freezer_fish.html.
g Intelligence - A study recently conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, says that altruistic impulses may exist in primates other than humans. It also brings to light some surprising information about human altruism: It appears even in prelinguistic toddlers. See http://www.stnews.org/News-2891.htm.
g Message - Some people sit in the tub, yell "Eureka", and come up with a brand new view of matter. Others can be riding a trolley home and at the sight of a clock initiate a whole new concept of time. Yet another more pedantic method is to follow government procedures to resolve riddles. Steven Dick and James Strick in their book, “The Living Universe - NASA and the development of Astrobiology,” narrate how this occurred for the new academic field of astrobiology. Though perhaps not as film-worthy as instantaneous flashes, the four decades of meetings, workshops and programs described therein show that this distinct academic area had an eventful and exciting coming of age. See http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/
book_review_living_universe.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - After sixteen months orbiting the Moon, ESA's lunar mission is preparing for the end of its scientific exploration. On June 19, SMART-1 mission controllers initiated a 17-day series of maneuvers aimed at positioning the spacecraft to enhance science data return as the mission winds down. See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2003mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of lessons, designed for at-risk students: “The Plausibility of Interstellar Communication and Related Phenomena Depicted in Science Fiction Literature and the Movies.” The curriculum has four major objectives: first, to educate students to develop concepts about the proximity of our solar system in relation to other probable solar systems in the Milky Way Galaxy; second, to give students the opportunity to use these concepts to evaluate the plausibility of interstellar communication depicted in science fiction literature and movies; third, to create an opportunity for students not only to look out on the universe but to turn it inward to look at the world, their own society, and themselves as individuals; and fourth, an objective that will be integrated with all of the others is to give students to opportunity to learn and/or sharpen skills in: using the scientific method, research, reading, writing, collaboration, discussion and in critical thinking. See http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/6/98.06.02.x.html.
g Imagining - In nearly all popular science fiction dramatizations on television, most of the alien protagonists look remarkably like humans. In "Star Trek," if you forgave the Vulcan's their ears (and their hair-styles), the Klingons their foreheads and the Bajorans their ridged noses you'd think that they were all human. After all, they have two legs, two arms, 10 fingers and toes, two ears, two eyes and a nose. And while arms and eyes are universals, two arms and two legs are parochial. See article.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up “Sharing the Universe,” by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials. For reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096537
7431/10232743405947363.
g Stars - The American-born Nobel prizewinning chemist Raymond Davis, who has died aged 91 of complications from Alzheimer's disease, was the first person to look into the heart of a star. He did so by capturing neutrinos, ghostly particles that are emitted in the nuclear fusion reactions that power the Sun and stream across space. According to astrophysicists, the Sun emits 2-followed-by-38- zeros neutrinos a second, which means that as you read this article billions of them are hurtling through your eyeballs at almost the speed of light. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1800815,00.html.
g Abodes - Here’s an astrobiology field report from Dale Andersen, who’s in the Canadian High Arctic searching for meteorites. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=21051.
g Life - A resilient fish — known as Antarctic notothenioids — keeps from freezing solid thanks to a special "antifreeze protein" that prevents their bodily fluids from turning into crystals. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060619_freezer_fish.html.
g Intelligence - A study recently conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, says that altruistic impulses may exist in primates other than humans. It also brings to light some surprising information about human altruism: It appears even in prelinguistic toddlers. See http://www.stnews.org/News-2891.htm.
g Message - Some people sit in the tub, yell "Eureka", and come up with a brand new view of matter. Others can be riding a trolley home and at the sight of a clock initiate a whole new concept of time. Yet another more pedantic method is to follow government procedures to resolve riddles. Steven Dick and James Strick in their book, “The Living Universe - NASA and the development of Astrobiology,” narrate how this occurred for the new academic field of astrobiology. Though perhaps not as film-worthy as instantaneous flashes, the four decades of meetings, workshops and programs described therein show that this distinct academic area had an eventful and exciting coming of age. See http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/
book_review_living_universe.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - After sixteen months orbiting the Moon, ESA's lunar mission is preparing for the end of its scientific exploration. On June 19, SMART-1 mission controllers initiated a 17-day series of maneuvers aimed at positioning the spacecraft to enhance science data return as the mission winds down. See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2003mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of lessons, designed for at-risk students: “The Plausibility of Interstellar Communication and Related Phenomena Depicted in Science Fiction Literature and the Movies.” The curriculum has four major objectives: first, to educate students to develop concepts about the proximity of our solar system in relation to other probable solar systems in the Milky Way Galaxy; second, to give students the opportunity to use these concepts to evaluate the plausibility of interstellar communication depicted in science fiction literature and movies; third, to create an opportunity for students not only to look out on the universe but to turn it inward to look at the world, their own society, and themselves as individuals; and fourth, an objective that will be integrated with all of the others is to give students to opportunity to learn and/or sharpen skills in: using the scientific method, research, reading, writing, collaboration, discussion and in critical thinking. See http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/6/98.06.02.x.html.
g Imagining - In nearly all popular science fiction dramatizations on television, most of the alien protagonists look remarkably like humans. In "Star Trek," if you forgave the Vulcan's their ears (and their hair-styles), the Klingons their foreheads and the Bajorans their ridged noses you'd think that they were all human. After all, they have two legs, two arms, 10 fingers and toes, two ears, two eyes and a nose. And while arms and eyes are universals, two arms and two legs are parochial. See article.
g Aftermath - For some provocative reading, pick up “Sharing the Universe,” by Seth Shostak, at your local bookstore. SETI scientist Shostak almost single-handedly is outlining social and political issues that will arise once we make contact with extraterrestrials. For reviews, see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096537
7431/10232743405947363.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Pint-sized black holes, where ancient birds evolved and ‘The Human Potential for Peace’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Researchers have proposed a bizarre new theory that our solar system might be the home of thousands of very small black holes — that is, pint-size versions of the weirdest objects in the universe. See http://www.azstarnet.com/news/133081.
g Abodes - Scientists have found a chunk of a meteorite that made an enormous impact crater in South Africa 146 million years ago. Found half a mile down, the chrondritic meteorite somehow survived the shock pressures and temperatures of the immense impact. Fossil meteorites have previously been found in craters, but when larger bodies hit they were thought to be melted or vaporized within seconds of impact. The discovery of this meteorite may help us better understand the Earth's bombardment history. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=1995&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Five fossils recently found in China show that ancient birds likely evolved in an aquatic environment. Gansus yumenesis, which lived some 105 to 115 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period, took modern birds through a watery path out of the dinosaur lineage. Did this aquatic lifestyle perhaps help birds survive the cataclysm that extinguished the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1994mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Book alert: In “The Human Potential for Peace,” Douglas Fry challenges advocates of a "dark-sided, demonic view" of humanity who allegedly believe that "humans (especially human males) are a bloodthirsty mob, prone to be violent and warlike by nature.” Fry marshals an impressive array of anthropological evidence to convince readers that humans "are not really so nasty after all,” concluding that humans deserve to be known as the "peacemaking primate.” See http://human-nature.com/ep/reviews/ep04138141.html.
g Message - Searches for extraterrestrial intelligence are about to expand into new realms, thanks to new advances in technology — and new thinking. See http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/seti/article_249_1.asp.
g Cosmicus - Could astronauts one day live in inflatable space habitats? See http://science.howstuffworks.com/inflatable-spacecraft2.htm. Note: This article is a few of years old; note that NASA didn’t deploy any inflatable space habitats in 2005.
g Learning - What are university students learning about astrobiology? Check out "An Introduction to Astrobiology." Compiled by a team of experts, this textbook has been designed for elementary university courses in astrobiology. It begins with an examination of how life may have arisen on Earth and then reviews the evidence for possible life on Mars, Europa and Titan. The potential for life in exoplanetary systems and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are also discussed. The text contains numerous useful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. It is also supported by a Web site hosting further teaching materials. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, this book is suitable for self-study and will appeal to amateur enthusiasts as well as undergraduate students. It contains numerous helpful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. The book is also supported by a Website hosting further teaching materials. See http://www.science
daily./com/cgibin/apf4/amazon_products_feed.cgiOperation=Item
Lookup&ItemId=0521546214.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama” (1973) in which a huge ship bypasses Earth. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg
/simexplorer/exploreitems//0553287893/0/101/1/none
/purchase/ref=pd_sxp_r0/10391543748730217.
g Aftermath - What affect would the discovery of alien life have on the story-telling genre that inspires the search for it — science fiction? See http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue388/cassutt.html.
g Stars - Researchers have proposed a bizarre new theory that our solar system might be the home of thousands of very small black holes — that is, pint-size versions of the weirdest objects in the universe. See http://www.azstarnet.com/news/133081.
g Abodes - Scientists have found a chunk of a meteorite that made an enormous impact crater in South Africa 146 million years ago. Found half a mile down, the chrondritic meteorite somehow survived the shock pressures and temperatures of the immense impact. Fossil meteorites have previously been found in craters, but when larger bodies hit they were thought to be melted or vaporized within seconds of impact. The discovery of this meteorite may help us better understand the Earth's bombardment history. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=1995&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Five fossils recently found in China show that ancient birds likely evolved in an aquatic environment. Gansus yumenesis, which lived some 105 to 115 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period, took modern birds through a watery path out of the dinosaur lineage. Did this aquatic lifestyle perhaps help birds survive the cataclysm that extinguished the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1994mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Book alert: In “The Human Potential for Peace,” Douglas Fry challenges advocates of a "dark-sided, demonic view" of humanity who allegedly believe that "humans (especially human males) are a bloodthirsty mob, prone to be violent and warlike by nature.” Fry marshals an impressive array of anthropological evidence to convince readers that humans "are not really so nasty after all,” concluding that humans deserve to be known as the "peacemaking primate.” See http://human-nature.com/ep/reviews/ep04138141.html.
g Message - Searches for extraterrestrial intelligence are about to expand into new realms, thanks to new advances in technology — and new thinking. See http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/seti/article_249_1.asp.
g Cosmicus - Could astronauts one day live in inflatable space habitats? See http://science.howstuffworks.com/inflatable-spacecraft2.htm. Note: This article is a few of years old; note that NASA didn’t deploy any inflatable space habitats in 2005.
g Learning - What are university students learning about astrobiology? Check out "An Introduction to Astrobiology." Compiled by a team of experts, this textbook has been designed for elementary university courses in astrobiology. It begins with an examination of how life may have arisen on Earth and then reviews the evidence for possible life on Mars, Europa and Titan. The potential for life in exoplanetary systems and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are also discussed. The text contains numerous useful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. It is also supported by a Web site hosting further teaching materials. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, this book is suitable for self-study and will appeal to amateur enthusiasts as well as undergraduate students. It contains numerous helpful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. The book is also supported by a Website hosting further teaching materials. See http://www.science
daily./com/cgibin/apf4/amazon_products_feed.cgiOperation=Item
Lookup&ItemId=0521546214.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama” (1973) in which a huge ship bypasses Earth. See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg
/simexplorer/exploreitems//0553287893/0/101/1/none
/purchase/ref=pd_sxp_r0/10391543748730217.
g Aftermath - What affect would the discovery of alien life have on the story-telling genre that inspires the search for it — science fiction? See http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue388/cassutt.html.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Cosmic web’s lattice, ratio of planetary satellite systems and why human evolution occurred as it did
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers have detected substantial amounts of filamentary, cold gas in compact groups of galaxies, highlighting what may be an important force in galactic evolution, scientists announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Calgary, Alberta. The findings also raise the intriguing possibility that more matter than previously thought may be tied up in these galaxy groups, captured in the lattice of the cosmic web. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/10galaxygas/.
g Abodes - Each of our Solar System's outer gaseous planets hosts a system of multiple satellites, and these objects include Jupiter's volcanic Io and Europa with its believed subsurface ocean, as well as Titan with its dense and organic-rich atmosphere at Saturn. While individual satellite properties vary, the systems all share a striking similarity: the total mass of each satellite system compared to the mass of its host planet is very nearly a constant ratio, roughly 1:10,000. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop
=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1993mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Odd-shaped mounds of dirt in Australia are fossils of the oldest life on Earth, created by billions of microbes more than 3 billion years ago, scientists say in a new report. See http://www.
jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/06/17/features/
science/8526fcb2028623b58725718a0020fad1.txt.
g Intelligence - The fact of human evolution (taken here as self-evident) is of course not the same as the understanding of how that evolution occurred (still a scientific mystery, largely unexplained), It is also not the same as knowing why this evolution occurred the way it did over the millions of years needed to transform our hominid ancestors into us, rather than taking place some other possible way. See http://human-nature.com/ep/reviews/ep045774.html.
g Message - Scientists find it hard enough to pin down evidence of early life on our own planet. How on Earth do we plan to determine whether life exists elsewhere? See http://www.nature.com/cgitaf/
DynaPage.taffile=/nature/journal/v430/n6997/full/430288a_fs.
html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, overruling objections from the agency's chief engineer and safety office, cleared the shuttle Discovery for launch July 1 on a mission to service and resupply the International Space Station. The flight also will clear the way for the resumption of station assembly later this fall and deliver a third full-time crew member to the international outpost. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060617july1/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - In science fiction, aliens often are humanoids. Just how different will extraterrestrial life likely be from the varieties found on Earth? See http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/etlifevar.html.
g Aftermath - The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See http://ieti.org/articles/security.htm.
g Stars - Astronomers have detected substantial amounts of filamentary, cold gas in compact groups of galaxies, highlighting what may be an important force in galactic evolution, scientists announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Calgary, Alberta. The findings also raise the intriguing possibility that more matter than previously thought may be tied up in these galaxy groups, captured in the lattice of the cosmic web. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/10galaxygas/.
g Abodes - Each of our Solar System's outer gaseous planets hosts a system of multiple satellites, and these objects include Jupiter's volcanic Io and Europa with its believed subsurface ocean, as well as Titan with its dense and organic-rich atmosphere at Saturn. While individual satellite properties vary, the systems all share a striking similarity: the total mass of each satellite system compared to the mass of its host planet is very nearly a constant ratio, roughly 1:10,000. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop
=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1993mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Odd-shaped mounds of dirt in Australia are fossils of the oldest life on Earth, created by billions of microbes more than 3 billion years ago, scientists say in a new report. See http://www.
jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/06/17/features/
science/8526fcb2028623b58725718a0020fad1.txt.
g Intelligence - The fact of human evolution (taken here as self-evident) is of course not the same as the understanding of how that evolution occurred (still a scientific mystery, largely unexplained), It is also not the same as knowing why this evolution occurred the way it did over the millions of years needed to transform our hominid ancestors into us, rather than taking place some other possible way. See http://human-nature.com/ep/reviews/ep045774.html.
g Message - Scientists find it hard enough to pin down evidence of early life on our own planet. How on Earth do we plan to determine whether life exists elsewhere? See http://www.nature.com/cgitaf/
DynaPage.taffile=/nature/journal/v430/n6997/full/430288a_fs.
html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, overruling objections from the agency's chief engineer and safety office, cleared the shuttle Discovery for launch July 1 on a mission to service and resupply the International Space Station. The flight also will clear the way for the resumption of station assembly later this fall and deliver a third full-time crew member to the international outpost. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060617july1/.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - In science fiction, aliens often are humanoids. Just how different will extraterrestrial life likely be from the varieties found on Earth? See http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/etlifevar.html.
g Aftermath - The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See http://ieti.org/articles/security.htm.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Who is Frank Drake, aliens as “the other” and popular opinion on extraterrestrials
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In “Backyard Astronomy from Mars” carried in the August issue of Sky & Telescope magazine, author Jim Bell details use of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers to carry out nighttime observations. He is an astronomer and planetary scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and is the leader of the Mars Exploration Rover Panoramic Camera team. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060616_mars_astronomy.html.
g Abodes - Book alert: The publication in English of a new volume of writings, “Essays on Geochemistry and the Biosphere,” by the great Russian-Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky, should be viewed with great interest, and not only by those active in the scientific fields with which these essays deal. It is also to be hoped that the publication is a harbinger of more to come in English from the Vernadsky writings. See http://www.larouchepub.com/other/
2006/book_reviews/3324_vernadsky.html.
g Life - A butterfly has been reproduced by scientists, revealing for the first time the colorful past of a striking wild species. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtmlxml=/news/2006/06/15/
wlab15.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/15/ixnews.html.
g Intelligence - Human domestication of some animals may have shaped their cognitive abilities. Indeed, dogs respond better to human signals than the more intelligent chimpanzee. See http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513728.
g Message - For the past few decades, many astronomers (especially those who work on radio wavelength!) have been fascinated with the idea of communicating with intelligent technological civilizations (who have developed radio or laser communication). Among the first leading radio astronomers in this direction was Frank Drake who suggested an empirical relation for estimating the number of such civilizations in our galaxy. See http://www.iiap.res.in/outreach/astrobiol5.html.
g Cosmicus - The European Space Agency and the Australian National University have successfully tested a new design of spacecraft ion engine that dramatically improves performance over present thrusters and marks a major step forward in space propulsion capability. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/
01/060112040320.htm.
g Learning - There may be numerous intelligent civilizations on planets throughout our galaxy. That's the hypothesis driving SETI research. We seek evidence of extraterrestrial technology using optical and radio telescopes to search for signals that emanate from other civilized worlds. These places are far, far away. But, when discussing the search with school children, they often simply ask, "Why don't we just go there?" This can be a teachable moment. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_devore_distance_031204.
html. Note: This article is from Dec. 2003.
g Imagining - In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and The War of the Worlds. This usage is clearly anthropocentric: When humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life_in_popular_culture.
g Aftermath - The good news is that polls continue to show that between one and two-thirds of the public thinks that extraterrestrial life exists. The weird news is that a similar fraction think that some of it is visiting Earth. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content
2.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1163827.
g Stars - In “Backyard Astronomy from Mars” carried in the August issue of Sky & Telescope magazine, author Jim Bell details use of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers to carry out nighttime observations. He is an astronomer and planetary scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and is the leader of the Mars Exploration Rover Panoramic Camera team. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060616_mars_astronomy.html.
g Abodes - Book alert: The publication in English of a new volume of writings, “Essays on Geochemistry and the Biosphere,” by the great Russian-Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky, should be viewed with great interest, and not only by those active in the scientific fields with which these essays deal. It is also to be hoped that the publication is a harbinger of more to come in English from the Vernadsky writings. See http://www.larouchepub.com/other/
2006/book_reviews/3324_vernadsky.html.
g Life - A butterfly has been reproduced by scientists, revealing for the first time the colorful past of a striking wild species. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtmlxml=/news/2006/06/15/
wlab15.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/15/ixnews.html.
g Intelligence - Human domestication of some animals may have shaped their cognitive abilities. Indeed, dogs respond better to human signals than the more intelligent chimpanzee. See http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513728.
g Message - For the past few decades, many astronomers (especially those who work on radio wavelength!) have been fascinated with the idea of communicating with intelligent technological civilizations (who have developed radio or laser communication). Among the first leading radio astronomers in this direction was Frank Drake who suggested an empirical relation for estimating the number of such civilizations in our galaxy. See http://www.iiap.res.in/outreach/astrobiol5.html.
g Cosmicus - The European Space Agency and the Australian National University have successfully tested a new design of spacecraft ion engine that dramatically improves performance over present thrusters and marks a major step forward in space propulsion capability. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/
01/060112040320.htm.
g Learning - There may be numerous intelligent civilizations on planets throughout our galaxy. That's the hypothesis driving SETI research. We seek evidence of extraterrestrial technology using optical and radio telescopes to search for signals that emanate from other civilized worlds. These places are far, far away. But, when discussing the search with school children, they often simply ask, "Why don't we just go there?" This can be a teachable moment. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_devore_distance_031204.
html. Note: This article is from Dec. 2003.
g Imagining - In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and The War of the Worlds. This usage is clearly anthropocentric: When humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life_in_popular_culture.
g Aftermath - The good news is that polls continue to show that between one and two-thirds of the public thinks that extraterrestrial life exists. The weird news is that a similar fraction think that some of it is visiting Earth. See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content
2.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=1163827.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
New Horizons test, technological manifestations of an intelligent species and an extraterrestrial’s legal rights
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Massive star supernovae have been major "dust factories" ever since the first generations of stars formed several hundred million years after the Big Bang, according to an international study published in Science Express. See http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_37255.shtml.
g Abodes - It's a small object with big news for the New Horizons team: The first spacecraft to Pluto tested its tracking and imaging capabilities this week on asteroid 2002 JF56, a relatively tiny space rock orbiting in the asteroid belt. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/15newhorizons/.
g Life - In a paper soon to be published in the journal Astrobiology, Pascale Ehrenfreund and colleagues suggest that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic molecules found throughout space, may have been important multi-taskers in the origin of life on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=
News&file=article&sid=1992mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Using a revolutionary imaging process, a new study is revealing that wrinkles aren't the only cue the human eye looks for to evaluate age. Scientists at the Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for Urban Ethology (Austria) and the Department for Sociobiology/Anthropology at the University of Goettingen (Germany), have shown that facial skin color distribution, or tone, can add, or subtract, as much as 20 years to a woman's age. See http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.phpnewsid=45014.
g Message - What technological manifestations would make an advanced extraterrestrial civilization detectable? See http://www.coseti.org/lemarch1.htm. Note: This paper was written in 1992.
g Cosmicus - In the not-too-distant future, a handful of humans fortunate enough to have secured a place in a crowded spacecraft may become galactic refugees trying to find a habitable planet among the billions of stars in the Milky Way. There may be no turning back, for dear Earth could already have been consumed in hellish fires resulting from the environmental damage of human activity. After billions of years, planet Earth will have finally come to a flaming end, devastated either by a doomsday asteroid or shaken by nuclear explosions rending its surface. See http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=298798&rel_no=1&back_url.
g Learning - Eighteen middle school and high school U.S. science teachers will soon depart for Alaska for a Mars exploration and polar science research experience. See http://www.dailyindia.com/show/34688.php/Teachers-to-learn-about-Mars-Earth-science.
g Imagining - Book alert: In our current cultural fascination with the idea of alien beings from other worlds, most of it hokey at best and just plain wrong at worst, there is a definite need for some popular-level literature which helps to sort the rational wheat from the pseudoscience and Hollywood chaff. SETI scientist Seth Shostak wrote such a book, “Sharing the Universe,” in 1998. Shostak gives a comprehensive and most readable survey of what we do (and especially do not) know about life beyond the planet Earth, and how we are going about searching for our fellow inhabitants of the universe. See http://www.coseti.org/klaessho.htm.
g Aftermath - When an alien lands on the White House lawn, who should greet him (her? it?): Someone from the Immigration and Naturalization Service or someone from the Fish and Wildlife Commission? What legal rights would an extraterrestrial have? See http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/LegalRightsOfETs.htm. Note: This article is from 1977, but the issue has been thought about very little.
g Stars - Massive star supernovae have been major "dust factories" ever since the first generations of stars formed several hundred million years after the Big Bang, according to an international study published in Science Express. See http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_37255.shtml.
g Abodes - It's a small object with big news for the New Horizons team: The first spacecraft to Pluto tested its tracking and imaging capabilities this week on asteroid 2002 JF56, a relatively tiny space rock orbiting in the asteroid belt. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/15newhorizons/.
g Life - In a paper soon to be published in the journal Astrobiology, Pascale Ehrenfreund and colleagues suggest that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic molecules found throughout space, may have been important multi-taskers in the origin of life on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=
News&file=article&sid=1992mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Using a revolutionary imaging process, a new study is revealing that wrinkles aren't the only cue the human eye looks for to evaluate age. Scientists at the Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for Urban Ethology (Austria) and the Department for Sociobiology/Anthropology at the University of Goettingen (Germany), have shown that facial skin color distribution, or tone, can add, or subtract, as much as 20 years to a woman's age. See http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.phpnewsid=45014.
g Message - What technological manifestations would make an advanced extraterrestrial civilization detectable? See http://www.coseti.org/lemarch1.htm. Note: This paper was written in 1992.
g Cosmicus - In the not-too-distant future, a handful of humans fortunate enough to have secured a place in a crowded spacecraft may become galactic refugees trying to find a habitable planet among the billions of stars in the Milky Way. There may be no turning back, for dear Earth could already have been consumed in hellish fires resulting from the environmental damage of human activity. After billions of years, planet Earth will have finally come to a flaming end, devastated either by a doomsday asteroid or shaken by nuclear explosions rending its surface. See http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=298798&rel_no=1&back_url.
g Learning - Eighteen middle school and high school U.S. science teachers will soon depart for Alaska for a Mars exploration and polar science research experience. See http://www.dailyindia.com/show/34688.php/Teachers-to-learn-about-Mars-Earth-science.
g Imagining - Book alert: In our current cultural fascination with the idea of alien beings from other worlds, most of it hokey at best and just plain wrong at worst, there is a definite need for some popular-level literature which helps to sort the rational wheat from the pseudoscience and Hollywood chaff. SETI scientist Seth Shostak wrote such a book, “Sharing the Universe,” in 1998. Shostak gives a comprehensive and most readable survey of what we do (and especially do not) know about life beyond the planet Earth, and how we are going about searching for our fellow inhabitants of the universe. See http://www.coseti.org/klaessho.htm.
g Aftermath - When an alien lands on the White House lawn, who should greet him (her? it?): Someone from the Immigration and Naturalization Service or someone from the Fish and Wildlife Commission? What legal rights would an extraterrestrial have? See http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/LegalRightsOfETs.htm. Note: This article is from 1977, but the issue has been thought about very little.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Astrobiology expedition to Arctic glacier field, golden record and star life
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Sibling rivalry is alive and well in outer space. The Milky Way galaxy has two sister spirals competing for attention from photographers. The Andromeda galaxy usually wins the contest, posing frequently for cosmic portraits. In this new image from the MMT Observatory, the second sister finally gets her due notice. Here, the Triangulum galaxy emerges from the shadows to reveal stunning swirls of stars and dust dotted with brilliant pink nebulae. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/14milkywaysister/.
g Abodes - A scientific expedition to a remote glacier field in Canada's High Arctic may help researchers unlock the secrets about the beginning of life and provide insights for future exploration of our solar system. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.
phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1991mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Another important piece to the photosynthesis puzzle is now in place. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have identified one of the key molecules that help protect plants from oxidation damage as the result of absorbing too much light. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050121093925.htm.
g Intelligence - An ancient rock carving has been linked to an astronomical event. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20097.
g Message - When the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977, they each included a gold-plated phonograph record (a "golden record") of natural sounds, greetings in human voices, and a variety of music. The record cover has symbolic instructions that show how to use and understand the record, though scientists still debate whether other civilizations will be able to decipher them. For info on Voyager’s golden record, see http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html. For an explanation of the record cover diagram, see http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec1.html. For an interactive module that contains greetings, sounds, and pictures included on the record (requires Flash plug-in), see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/flash/voyager_record/index_voyager.html.
g Cosmicus - Biomimetic devices look to nature for inspiration, mimicking the way insects, plants and animals cope with difficulties. From the way plants furl their leaves to how wasps bore holes into trees, evolution has developed clever and varied ways to solve engineering problems. Alex Ellery is the head of the Robotics Research group at the Surrey Space Centre in the United Kingdom. In this interview with Astrobiology Magazine, he explains how robotics can borrow from the strategies used by life, and discusses how these techniques may be used in future European space exploration missions. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20096.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of lessons, designed for at-risk students: “The Plausibility of Interstellar Communication and Related Phenomena Depicted in Science Fiction Literature and the Movies.” The curriculum has four major objectives: first, to educate students to develop concepts about the proximity of our solar system in relation to other probable solar systems in the Milky Way Galaxy; second, to give students the opportunity to use these concepts to evaluate the plausibility of interstellar communication depicted in science fiction literature and movies; third, to create an opportunity for students not only to look out on the universe but to turn it inward to look at the world, their own society, and themselves as individuals; and fourth, an objective that will be integrated with all of the others is to give students to opportunity to learn and/or sharpen skills in: using the scientific method, research, reading, writing, collaboration, discussion and in critical thinking. See http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/6/98.06.02.x.html.
g Imagining - We normally think of life developing on a planet. But could it evolve on a star? Robert L. Forward took this idea to an extreme in “Dragon's Egg,” a novel about life on the surface of a neutron star, composed of very dense "degenerate" matter. Surface gravity is in the millions, and the inhabitants live and think proportionally faster. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/
034543529X/10355674236622261v=glance&n=283155.
g Aftermath - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life - even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See http://www.astrobio.net/ news/article163.html.
g Stars - Sibling rivalry is alive and well in outer space. The Milky Way galaxy has two sister spirals competing for attention from photographers. The Andromeda galaxy usually wins the contest, posing frequently for cosmic portraits. In this new image from the MMT Observatory, the second sister finally gets her due notice. Here, the Triangulum galaxy emerges from the shadows to reveal stunning swirls of stars and dust dotted with brilliant pink nebulae. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/14milkywaysister/.
g Abodes - A scientific expedition to a remote glacier field in Canada's High Arctic may help researchers unlock the secrets about the beginning of life and provide insights for future exploration of our solar system. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.
phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1991mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Another important piece to the photosynthesis puzzle is now in place. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have identified one of the key molecules that help protect plants from oxidation damage as the result of absorbing too much light. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050121093925.htm.
g Intelligence - An ancient rock carving has been linked to an astronomical event. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20097.
g Message - When the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977, they each included a gold-plated phonograph record (a "golden record") of natural sounds, greetings in human voices, and a variety of music. The record cover has symbolic instructions that show how to use and understand the record, though scientists still debate whether other civilizations will be able to decipher them. For info on Voyager’s golden record, see http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html. For an explanation of the record cover diagram, see http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec1.html. For an interactive module that contains greetings, sounds, and pictures included on the record (requires Flash plug-in), see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/flash/voyager_record/index_voyager.html.
g Cosmicus - Biomimetic devices look to nature for inspiration, mimicking the way insects, plants and animals cope with difficulties. From the way plants furl their leaves to how wasps bore holes into trees, evolution has developed clever and varied ways to solve engineering problems. Alex Ellery is the head of the Robotics Research group at the Surrey Space Centre in the United Kingdom. In this interview with Astrobiology Magazine, he explains how robotics can borrow from the strategies used by life, and discusses how these techniques may be used in future European space exploration missions. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20096.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of lessons, designed for at-risk students: “The Plausibility of Interstellar Communication and Related Phenomena Depicted in Science Fiction Literature and the Movies.” The curriculum has four major objectives: first, to educate students to develop concepts about the proximity of our solar system in relation to other probable solar systems in the Milky Way Galaxy; second, to give students the opportunity to use these concepts to evaluate the plausibility of interstellar communication depicted in science fiction literature and movies; third, to create an opportunity for students not only to look out on the universe but to turn it inward to look at the world, their own society, and themselves as individuals; and fourth, an objective that will be integrated with all of the others is to give students to opportunity to learn and/or sharpen skills in: using the scientific method, research, reading, writing, collaboration, discussion and in critical thinking. See http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/6/98.06.02.x.html.
g Imagining - We normally think of life developing on a planet. But could it evolve on a star? Robert L. Forward took this idea to an extreme in “Dragon's Egg,” a novel about life on the surface of a neutron star, composed of very dense "degenerate" matter. Surface gravity is in the millions, and the inhabitants live and think proportionally faster. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/
034543529X/10355674236622261v=glance&n=283155.
g Aftermath - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life - even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See http://www.astrobio.net/ news/article163.html.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Star formation has gone wild, impact crater beneath Antarctic ice and Bernal sphere
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Staring into the crowded, dusty core of two merging galaxies, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a region where star formation has gone wild. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/14starbirth/.
g Abodes - "Snowball Earth" proponents, who say that Earth's oceans were long ago covered by thick ice, explain the survival of life by hypothesizing the existence of small warm spots, or refugia. On the other side, supporters of a "Slushball Earth" say the planet included large areas of thin ice or open ocean, particularly around the equator. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17926.
g Life - The eroded remnant of a huge impact crater has been discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet in Wilkes Land. Its estimated age of 250 million years and its 500 km diameter make the impact a plausible suspect for the mass extinction that marked the end of the Permian era, when 90 per cent of all species on Earth were wiped out, allowing the dinosaurs to become the dominant land-dwelling animals. See http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10386431.
g Intelligence - Hobbit-sized humans who survived on an isolated Indonesian island until 12,000 years ago were smart enough to make stone tools even though they had small brains, scientists have said. See http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=301666&sid=FTP.
g Message - SETI research isn’t limited to a single facility listening to radio signals. Another dimension of the program is The Mega-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay, which searched the Southern Hemisphere's skies briefly during the 1990s. To learn more about it, see http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATES/seti/META2/META-story.html.
g Cosmicus - A key step to establishing humanity as a spacefaring race will be permanent space habitats. One possible design a Bernal sphere, first proposed in 1929 by Dr. John Desmond Bernal. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernal_sphere.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Scientists at the SETI Institute have long considered what life might be like on other worlds. You can join in this quest through a game-like science lesson, "Inventing Life Forms." It’s suitable for inventors of all ages. Using one of a pair of dice, you work through the selection of characteristics for your life form. Then, you apply this data and your imagination to invent a life form and develop a world where your creature could live. Download the instructions for "Inventing Life Forms" from the SETI Institute website. It’s the PDF lesson featured with our teaching guide, "How Might Life Evolve on Other Worlds?"
g Aftermath - Reactions to the announcement that scientists had found evidence for primitive life in a meteorite from Mars have been intense. Some concerned the scientific evidence, some the implications of extraterrestrial life, especially if intelligent. Underlying these reactions are assumptions, or beliefs, which often have a religious grounding. The two divergent beliefs, for and against the plurality of life in the universe, are examined historically and through religious traditions, particularly the Judeo-Christian. This examination guides the formulation of the right relation between science and religion as one that respects the autonomy of each discipline, yet allows for each to be open to the discoveries of the other. Based on this relationship, perspectives from scientific exploration are developed that can help individuals to respect and cope with the new phenomena that science brings, whether these imply that we might be alone in the universe or co-creatures of God with the ancient Martians. See http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/cosmos/perspectives/corbally.shtml.
g Stars - Staring into the crowded, dusty core of two merging galaxies, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a region where star formation has gone wild. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/14starbirth/.
g Abodes - "Snowball Earth" proponents, who say that Earth's oceans were long ago covered by thick ice, explain the survival of life by hypothesizing the existence of small warm spots, or refugia. On the other side, supporters of a "Slushball Earth" say the planet included large areas of thin ice or open ocean, particularly around the equator. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=17926.
g Life - The eroded remnant of a huge impact crater has been discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet in Wilkes Land. Its estimated age of 250 million years and its 500 km diameter make the impact a plausible suspect for the mass extinction that marked the end of the Permian era, when 90 per cent of all species on Earth were wiped out, allowing the dinosaurs to become the dominant land-dwelling animals. See http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10386431.
g Intelligence - Hobbit-sized humans who survived on an isolated Indonesian island until 12,000 years ago were smart enough to make stone tools even though they had small brains, scientists have said. See http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=301666&sid=FTP.
g Message - SETI research isn’t limited to a single facility listening to radio signals. Another dimension of the program is The Mega-Channel Extraterrestrial Assay, which searched the Southern Hemisphere's skies briefly during the 1990s. To learn more about it, see http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATES/seti/META2/META-story.html.
g Cosmicus - A key step to establishing humanity as a spacefaring race will be permanent space habitats. One possible design a Bernal sphere, first proposed in 1929 by Dr. John Desmond Bernal. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernal_sphere.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Scientists at the SETI Institute have long considered what life might be like on other worlds. You can join in this quest through a game-like science lesson, "Inventing Life Forms." It’s suitable for inventors of all ages. Using one of a pair of dice, you work through the selection of characteristics for your life form. Then, you apply this data and your imagination to invent a life form and develop a world where your creature could live. Download the instructions for "Inventing Life Forms" from the SETI Institute website. It’s the PDF lesson featured with our teaching guide, "How Might Life Evolve on Other Worlds?"
g Aftermath - Reactions to the announcement that scientists had found evidence for primitive life in a meteorite from Mars have been intense. Some concerned the scientific evidence, some the implications of extraterrestrial life, especially if intelligent. Underlying these reactions are assumptions, or beliefs, which often have a religious grounding. The two divergent beliefs, for and against the plurality of life in the universe, are examined historically and through religious traditions, particularly the Judeo-Christian. This examination guides the formulation of the right relation between science and religion as one that respects the autonomy of each discipline, yet allows for each to be open to the discoveries of the other. Based on this relationship, perspectives from scientific exploration are developed that can help individuals to respect and cope with the new phenomena that science brings, whether these imply that we might be alone in the universe or co-creatures of God with the ancient Martians. See http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/cosmos/perspectives/corbally.shtml.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Galaxy-sized ball of fire, habitable worlds around red dwarfs and astrobiology expedition to Atacama
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Thanks to data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray satellite, a team of international scientists found a comet-like ball of gas over a thousand million times the mass of the sun hurling through a distant galaxy cluster over 750 kilometers per second. This colossal "ball of fire" is by far the largest object of this kind ever identified. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/12fireballs/.
g Abodes - Can planets orbiting red dwarf M-type stars support life, perhaps even intelligent creatures? So far, most scientists emphatically have said “No.” For a different perspective, see http://www.astrobio.net/news/article901.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who served as the first Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, is one of the world's leading experts on the hepatitis B virus. He was the 1976 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, for his discovery of the virus, and subsequently helped develop both the test used for detecting it and a vaccine to prevent its spread. Hepatitis B virus, a primary cause of fatal liver cancer, has infected some 2 billion people now alive worldwide, and about 375 million remain infected. Blumberg is currently the senior advisor to the president of the Fox Chase Cancer Center and a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia. Astrobiology Magazine interviewed Dr. Blumberg about hepatitis B, his current research, and the role of viruses in the evolution of life on Earth. In this second and final part of the interview, Dr. Blumberg discusses the worldwide effort to vaccinate children against hepatitis B, and weighs in on the question of whether or not viruses are alive. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20072.
g Intelligence - Rapid climate change may have enabled early humans to venture out of Africa and colonize the rest of the world, according to a new study. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060612-africa.html.
g Message - Here’s a neat radio interview on the program “Earth and Sky,” about scientists looking for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth. See http://www.earthsky.com/shows/edgeofdiscovery.php?date=20030513. Note: The interview is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - Future explorers on the Moon and Mars could be outfitted in lightweight, high-tech spacesuits that offer far more flexibility than the bulky suits that were used for spacewalks in the 1960s. Research is under way at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a “Bio-Suit System” that incorporates a suit designed to augment a person’s biological skin by providing mechanical counter-pressure. The “epidermis” of such a second skin could be applied in spray-on fashion in the form of an organic, biodegradable layer. See http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/
spacesuit_innovations_050126.html. Note: This article is form 2005.
g Learning - What are seven NASA Explorer School teachers doing in the Atacama desert in Chile? They are studying side-by-side with NASA scientists who search for life in extreme environments, closely approximating what they expect to find on other planets. Why the Atacama - an inhospitable, seemingly lifeless, sun drenched spot that is probably the driest place on Earth? See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20071.
g Imagining - The students of Prof. Joan Slonczewski, who taught “Biology 103: Biology in Science Fiction” at Kenyon College in 2003, using astrobiological principles, attempted to create a number of plausible alien civilizations and worlds as a class project. Here’s another one, about the life in the ecosystem of planet Ralinius. See http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/2001projects/Ralinius/Wel
come.htm.
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue128/cool.html.
g Stars - Thanks to data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray satellite, a team of international scientists found a comet-like ball of gas over a thousand million times the mass of the sun hurling through a distant galaxy cluster over 750 kilometers per second. This colossal "ball of fire" is by far the largest object of this kind ever identified. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/12fireballs/.
g Abodes - Can planets orbiting red dwarf M-type stars support life, perhaps even intelligent creatures? So far, most scientists emphatically have said “No.” For a different perspective, see http://www.astrobio.net/news/article901.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who served as the first Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, is one of the world's leading experts on the hepatitis B virus. He was the 1976 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, for his discovery of the virus, and subsequently helped develop both the test used for detecting it and a vaccine to prevent its spread. Hepatitis B virus, a primary cause of fatal liver cancer, has infected some 2 billion people now alive worldwide, and about 375 million remain infected. Blumberg is currently the senior advisor to the president of the Fox Chase Cancer Center and a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia. Astrobiology Magazine interviewed Dr. Blumberg about hepatitis B, his current research, and the role of viruses in the evolution of life on Earth. In this second and final part of the interview, Dr. Blumberg discusses the worldwide effort to vaccinate children against hepatitis B, and weighs in on the question of whether or not viruses are alive. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20072.
g Intelligence - Rapid climate change may have enabled early humans to venture out of Africa and colonize the rest of the world, according to a new study. See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060612-africa.html.
g Message - Here’s a neat radio interview on the program “Earth and Sky,” about scientists looking for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth. See http://www.earthsky.com/shows/edgeofdiscovery.php?date=20030513. Note: The interview is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - Future explorers on the Moon and Mars could be outfitted in lightweight, high-tech spacesuits that offer far more flexibility than the bulky suits that were used for spacewalks in the 1960s. Research is under way at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a “Bio-Suit System” that incorporates a suit designed to augment a person’s biological skin by providing mechanical counter-pressure. The “epidermis” of such a second skin could be applied in spray-on fashion in the form of an organic, biodegradable layer. See http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/
spacesuit_innovations_050126.html. Note: This article is form 2005.
g Learning - What are seven NASA Explorer School teachers doing in the Atacama desert in Chile? They are studying side-by-side with NASA scientists who search for life in extreme environments, closely approximating what they expect to find on other planets. Why the Atacama - an inhospitable, seemingly lifeless, sun drenched spot that is probably the driest place on Earth? See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20071.
g Imagining - The students of Prof. Joan Slonczewski, who taught “Biology 103: Biology in Science Fiction” at Kenyon College in 2003, using astrobiological principles, attempted to create a number of plausible alien civilizations and worlds as a class project. Here’s another one, about the life in the ecosystem of planet Ralinius. See http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/2001projects/Ralinius/Wel
come.htm.
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue128/cool.html.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Planet’s planetary systems, Carl Sagan gazes at Mars and ‘Radio Astrobiology’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Forget our traditional ideas of where a planetary system forms - new research led by a University of Toronto astronomer reveals that planetary nurseries can exist not only around stars but also around objects that are themselves not much heftier than Jupiter. It suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our sun. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=mod
load&name=News&file=article&sid=1987mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A new discovery suggests that ancient Earth was much colder than previously thought — a discovery that has broad implications for those studying the earth's climate. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15866. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Life - Since their discovery in the late 1970s, microorganisms known as archaea have fascinated scientists with their ability to thrive where no other life can - in conditions that are extremely hot, acidic or salty. Researchers from the University of Georgia and Harvard University have found evidence that low-temperature archaea might have evolved from a moderate-temperature environment rather than from their high-temperature counterparts - as most scientists had believed. See http://www.astrobio.net/news
/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1988
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - The evolutionary precursors of modern apes and people diverged from ancient monkeys between 29 million and 34.5 million years ago, a new genetic analysis concludes. This evolutionary parting of the ways had previously been placed at between 23 million and 25 million years ago. See http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=117352. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Is anyone out there? The chance of spotting signals from extraterrestrials is about to soar, say SETI Institute scientists, who, together with radio astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley have begun building the first telescope to look around the clock for life on other planets. See http://www.aip.org/pt/vol-53/iss-10/p71.html.
g Cosmicus - The year is 1947. Twelve-year-old Carl Sagan is standing outside a small house in the Eastern city of Brooklyn, New York. It is dark. He is looking up at the sky. After a few minutes, he finds the spot for which he has been searching. It is a light red color in the night sky. Carl is looking at the planet Mars. See http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2006-05-30-voa5.cfm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat new podcast program, “Radio Astrobiology.” In the first show, host Simon Mitton unveils the science behind astrobiology in Part I of an in-depth interview with David Southwood, Director of Science for the European Space Agency. In this segment of the interview, Southwood reveals Europe's plans for exploring the universe and expanding our knowledge of astrobiology. (Clicking on this link will launch you directly into the podcast program [9 MB, mp3]). See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1909
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 for more.
g Imagining - Will Star Trek’s carbon-based life forms be the norm for alien chemistry? See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220889. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Aftermath - Scientists such as the SETI Institute’s John Billingham and Jill Tarter have taken the lead in planning for the day we might receive a signal from life beyond Earth. Working with diplomats and space lawyers, they have helped develop protocols that guide the activities of SETI scientists who think they may have detected extraterrestrial intelligence. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_protocols_010228.html. Note: This story is a couple of years old.
g Stars - Forget our traditional ideas of where a planetary system forms - new research led by a University of Toronto astronomer reveals that planetary nurseries can exist not only around stars but also around objects that are themselves not much heftier than Jupiter. It suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our sun. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=mod
load&name=News&file=article&sid=1987mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A new discovery suggests that ancient Earth was much colder than previously thought — a discovery that has broad implications for those studying the earth's climate. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15866. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Life - Since their discovery in the late 1970s, microorganisms known as archaea have fascinated scientists with their ability to thrive where no other life can - in conditions that are extremely hot, acidic or salty. Researchers from the University of Georgia and Harvard University have found evidence that low-temperature archaea might have evolved from a moderate-temperature environment rather than from their high-temperature counterparts - as most scientists had believed. See http://www.astrobio.net/news
/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1988
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - The evolutionary precursors of modern apes and people diverged from ancient monkeys between 29 million and 34.5 million years ago, a new genetic analysis concludes. This evolutionary parting of the ways had previously been placed at between 23 million and 25 million years ago. See http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=117352. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Is anyone out there? The chance of spotting signals from extraterrestrials is about to soar, say SETI Institute scientists, who, together with radio astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley have begun building the first telescope to look around the clock for life on other planets. See http://www.aip.org/pt/vol-53/iss-10/p71.html.
g Cosmicus - The year is 1947. Twelve-year-old Carl Sagan is standing outside a small house in the Eastern city of Brooklyn, New York. It is dark. He is looking up at the sky. After a few minutes, he finds the spot for which he has been searching. It is a light red color in the night sky. Carl is looking at the planet Mars. See http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2006-05-30-voa5.cfm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat new podcast program, “Radio Astrobiology.” In the first show, host Simon Mitton unveils the science behind astrobiology in Part I of an in-depth interview with David Southwood, Director of Science for the European Space Agency. In this segment of the interview, Southwood reveals Europe's plans for exploring the universe and expanding our knowledge of astrobiology. (Clicking on this link will launch you directly into the podcast program [9 MB, mp3]). See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1909
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 for more.
g Imagining - Will Star Trek’s carbon-based life forms be the norm for alien chemistry? See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220889. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Aftermath - Scientists such as the SETI Institute’s John Billingham and Jill Tarter have taken the lead in planning for the day we might receive a signal from life beyond Earth. Working with diplomats and space lawyers, they have helped develop protocols that guide the activities of SETI scientists who think they may have detected extraterrestrial intelligence. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_protocols_010228.html. Note: This story is a couple of years old.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Interstellar dust factories, dwarf dinosaurs and O'Neill cylinder
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Massive star supernovae have been major "dust factories" ever since the first generations of stars formed several hundred million years after the Big Bang, according to an international study published in Science Express. See http://www.hindu.com/thehindu
/holnus/008200606100312.htm.
g Abodes - NASA is cancelling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth's changing climate and environment. See http://www.smh.com.
au/news/world/brassed-off-scientists-warning-on-nasa-cuts/2006/06/09/1149815315508.html.
g Life - Dwarf dinosaurs? It sounds like the old George Carlin joke about jumbo shrimp: two words that just don't go together. But fossils from northern Germany have revealed a dinosaur that evolved into a dwarf, ending up only about one-third the size of its closest known relatives, scientists report. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/pioneerpress/news/local/14765511.htm.
g Intelligence - To understand how intelligence develops, we have only one example to study: the development of human intelligence on Earth. Since intelligent life took a long time to develop on Earth, some believe it will take just as long on other worlds. The appearance of evolution seems aimed towards the development of intelligence, but what kinds and with what frequencies? See http://astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&thold=-1&mode=flat&order=0&sid=323. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Message - The chances are there's life out there, but any messages could be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtmlxml=
/connected/2005/10/05/ecfdisco05.xml&sSheet=/connected/2005/
10/05/ixconnrite.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - A key step to establishing humanity as a spacefaring race will be permanent space habitats. One possible design is the O'Neill cylinder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.
g Learning - American Indians and the Alaska Native population comprise 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The National Science Foundation cites this population group as only 0.3 percent of the U.S. science and engineering workforce. See http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060608005135&newsLang=en.
g Imagining - Here’s a neat Web site that lists a variety of quality science fiction books focusing on aliens and their encounters with humans at http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.html. Scroll to “START HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT SUBGENRE CATEGORY YOU LIKE” and click on ALIENS ON EARTH. The day-glow green background on this Web site is painful, but every book listed is a good read.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
g Stars - Massive star supernovae have been major "dust factories" ever since the first generations of stars formed several hundred million years after the Big Bang, according to an international study published in Science Express. See http://www.hindu.com/thehindu
/holnus/008200606100312.htm.
g Abodes - NASA is cancelling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth's changing climate and environment. See http://www.smh.com.
au/news/world/brassed-off-scientists-warning-on-nasa-cuts/2006/06/09/1149815315508.html.
g Life - Dwarf dinosaurs? It sounds like the old George Carlin joke about jumbo shrimp: two words that just don't go together. But fossils from northern Germany have revealed a dinosaur that evolved into a dwarf, ending up only about one-third the size of its closest known relatives, scientists report. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/pioneerpress/news/local/14765511.htm.
g Intelligence - To understand how intelligence develops, we have only one example to study: the development of human intelligence on Earth. Since intelligent life took a long time to develop on Earth, some believe it will take just as long on other worlds. The appearance of evolution seems aimed towards the development of intelligence, but what kinds and with what frequencies? See http://astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&thold=-1&mode=flat&order=0&sid=323. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Message - The chances are there's life out there, but any messages could be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtmlxml=
/connected/2005/10/05/ecfdisco05.xml&sSheet=/connected/2005/
10/05/ixconnrite.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - A key step to establishing humanity as a spacefaring race will be permanent space habitats. One possible design is the O'Neill cylinder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.
g Learning - American Indians and the Alaska Native population comprise 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The National Science Foundation cites this population group as only 0.3 percent of the U.S. science and engineering workforce. See http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060608005135&newsLang=en.
g Imagining - Here’s a neat Web site that lists a variety of quality science fiction books focusing on aliens and their encounters with humans at http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.html. Scroll to “START HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT SUBGENRE CATEGORY YOU LIKE” and click on ALIENS ON EARTH. The day-glow green background on this Web site is painful, but every book listed is a good read.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Brown dwarf genesis, red rain and virtual astrobiological field trip
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered that the large disks of gas and dust around young stars will fragment if two young stars pass close to each other and form smaller brown dwarfs stars with disks of their own. See http://www.physorg.com/news69083174.html.
g Abodes - No one knows when life first established a firm foothold on Earth. Ask around in the scientific community, though, and you'll probably hear that the surface of early Earth, before about 3.8 billion years ago, was too hostile an environment for even a lowly microbe to set up shop. The main problem, as the conventional argument goes, was that between around 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, comets and asteroids were constantly bombarding Earth. The disastrous effects of these impacts would have rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. Not necessarily so, say a team of astrobiologists who are studying the oldest known sedimentary rocks on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=68. Note: This article is from November 2000.
g Life - In 1968, a red-tinted rain dropped fine grit from the Sahara over southern England in 1968. It's not all that uncommon a phenomenon, and so in 2001, when red rain - as red as blood, in some cases - fell over the southwestern Indian state of Kerala sporadically from July 25 to Sept. 23, the first assumption was that the rainwater had been contaminated by dust. See http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/arts_life/story.html?id=c1627bd9-334a-428a-8d5f-a7c532c44ec2.
g Intelligence - First discovered 150 years ago, Neanderthals have been studied more widely than any other form of human. Thanks to a new interactive inventory and online catalogue developed in Europe, scientists worldwide can now probe the secrets of this primitive relative from the comfort of their computer. See http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/08/1674760.htm.
g Message - The earliest speculations about communication with extraterrestrial intelligence involved contact with the Moon and with other planets of our own solar system. In the 1800s, many astronomers thought that — at least theoretically — life might well exist throughout the solar system. But when people raised the question of whether we are really alone in the solar system, they began to imagine ways to find a very concrete answer. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179533.
g Cosmicus - When the space exploration initiative was announced, Congress asked the NRC to review the science NASA proposed to carryout under the initiative. It also asked the NRC to assess whether this program would provide balanced scientific research across the established disciplines supported by NASA in addition to supporting the new initiative. In 2005, the NRC released three studies focusing on a portion of that task, but changes at NASA forced the postponement of the last phase. This report presents that last phase with an assessment of the health of the NASA scientific disciplines under the budget requests imposed by the exploration initiative. The report also provides an analysis of whether the science budget appropriately reflects cross-disciplinary scientific priorities. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=20962.
g Learning - Join scientists in Australia via the "Virtual Field Trip" at NASA’s Quest website. The VFT is an immersive multimedia application developed to support student and user exploration of areas on Earth that have been identified as analog sites to regions on Mars. In their first education and public outreach collaboration, NASA and Macquarie University in Sydney, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, have created an innovative online field experience that combines the cool tools of the Internet with good scientific fieldwork at remote sites. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/0seti_outback_060608.html.
g Imagining - What about the invading aliens from the X-Files: Are they plausible? A book released a few years ago that addresses the topic is “The Science of the X-Files,” by Jeanne Cavelos. There’s a review of the book (look near the end for a discussion on the extraterrestrial biology) at http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/science-of-the-x-files/.
g Aftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered that the large disks of gas and dust around young stars will fragment if two young stars pass close to each other and form smaller brown dwarfs stars with disks of their own. See http://www.physorg.com/news69083174.html.
g Abodes - No one knows when life first established a firm foothold on Earth. Ask around in the scientific community, though, and you'll probably hear that the surface of early Earth, before about 3.8 billion years ago, was too hostile an environment for even a lowly microbe to set up shop. The main problem, as the conventional argument goes, was that between around 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, comets and asteroids were constantly bombarding Earth. The disastrous effects of these impacts would have rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. Not necessarily so, say a team of astrobiologists who are studying the oldest known sedimentary rocks on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=68. Note: This article is from November 2000.
g Life - In 1968, a red-tinted rain dropped fine grit from the Sahara over southern England in 1968. It's not all that uncommon a phenomenon, and so in 2001, when red rain - as red as blood, in some cases - fell over the southwestern Indian state of Kerala sporadically from July 25 to Sept. 23, the first assumption was that the rainwater had been contaminated by dust. See http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/arts_life/story.html?id=c1627bd9-334a-428a-8d5f-a7c532c44ec2.
g Intelligence - First discovered 150 years ago, Neanderthals have been studied more widely than any other form of human. Thanks to a new interactive inventory and online catalogue developed in Europe, scientists worldwide can now probe the secrets of this primitive relative from the comfort of their computer. See http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/08/1674760.htm.
g Message - The earliest speculations about communication with extraterrestrial intelligence involved contact with the Moon and with other planets of our own solar system. In the 1800s, many astronomers thought that — at least theoretically — life might well exist throughout the solar system. But when people raised the question of whether we are really alone in the solar system, they began to imagine ways to find a very concrete answer. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179533.
g Cosmicus - When the space exploration initiative was announced, Congress asked the NRC to review the science NASA proposed to carryout under the initiative. It also asked the NRC to assess whether this program would provide balanced scientific research across the established disciplines supported by NASA in addition to supporting the new initiative. In 2005, the NRC released three studies focusing on a portion of that task, but changes at NASA forced the postponement of the last phase. This report presents that last phase with an assessment of the health of the NASA scientific disciplines under the budget requests imposed by the exploration initiative. The report also provides an analysis of whether the science budget appropriately reflects cross-disciplinary scientific priorities. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=20962.
g Learning - Join scientists in Australia via the "Virtual Field Trip" at NASA’s Quest website. The VFT is an immersive multimedia application developed to support student and user exploration of areas on Earth that have been identified as analog sites to regions on Mars. In their first education and public outreach collaboration, NASA and Macquarie University in Sydney, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, have created an innovative online field experience that combines the cool tools of the Internet with good scientific fieldwork at remote sites. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/0seti_outback_060608.html.
g Imagining - What about the invading aliens from the X-Files: Are they plausible? A book released a few years ago that addresses the topic is “The Science of the X-Files,” by Jeanne Cavelos. There’s a review of the book (look near the end for a discussion on the extraterrestrial biology) at http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/science-of-the-x-files/.
g Aftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Beta Pictoris’ carbon-rich worlds, cosmic radiation’s effect on human evolution and space habitats
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Scientists using NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE, have discovered abundant amounts of carbon gas in a dusty disk surrounding a well-studied young star named Beta Pictoris. The star's planets could be exotic, carbon-rich worlds of graphite, diamond and methane. See http://www.astrobio.net
/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid
=1984mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A small, near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa is just a pile of floating rubble, probably created from the breakup of an ancient planet, according to a University of Michigan researcher that was part of the Japanese space mission Hayabusa. See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=
article&sid=1982mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Oregon researchers say organisms are adapting to altered seasons and not to direct effects of increasing temperatures. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20053.
g Intelligence - After decades of focusing their attentions skyward, a husband and wife team of astronomers – now in their 80s – are grappling with a question that seems, at first light, to be far, far away from astronomy. Namely: Why did modern humans and other species emerge some 40,000 years ago? Their answer: Cosmic radiation, which the Meinels will elaborate on June 20 in a noon public lecture at the University of San Diego, part of the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20060607-9999-lz1c07meinel.html.
g Message - In the search for life on other worlds, scientists can listen for radio transmissions from stellar neighborhoods where intelligent civilizations might lurk or they can try to actually spot planets like our own in habitable zones around nearby stars. Either approach is tricky and relies on choosing the right targets for scrutiny out of the many thousands of nearby stars in our galactic neighborhood. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1884.html.
g Cosmicus - For humanity to truly become a spacefaring race, we will need to construct permanent space habitats, a space station intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility. It would be a "city" in space, where people would live, work and raise families. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_habitat.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - Could the universe be populated by aggressive intelligent species, such as science fiction’s Alien and Predator? SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak offers some thoughts at http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220878.
g Aftermath - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1999/Jun-11-Fri-1999/news/11331065.html. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Stars - Scientists using NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE, have discovered abundant amounts of carbon gas in a dusty disk surrounding a well-studied young star named Beta Pictoris. The star's planets could be exotic, carbon-rich worlds of graphite, diamond and methane. See http://www.astrobio.net
/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid
=1984mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A small, near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa is just a pile of floating rubble, probably created from the breakup of an ancient planet, according to a University of Michigan researcher that was part of the Japanese space mission Hayabusa. See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=
article&sid=1982mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Oregon researchers say organisms are adapting to altered seasons and not to direct effects of increasing temperatures. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20053.
g Intelligence - After decades of focusing their attentions skyward, a husband and wife team of astronomers – now in their 80s – are grappling with a question that seems, at first light, to be far, far away from astronomy. Namely: Why did modern humans and other species emerge some 40,000 years ago? Their answer: Cosmic radiation, which the Meinels will elaborate on June 20 in a noon public lecture at the University of San Diego, part of the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20060607-9999-lz1c07meinel.html.
g Message - In the search for life on other worlds, scientists can listen for radio transmissions from stellar neighborhoods where intelligent civilizations might lurk or they can try to actually spot planets like our own in habitable zones around nearby stars. Either approach is tricky and relies on choosing the right targets for scrutiny out of the many thousands of nearby stars in our galactic neighborhood. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1884.html.
g Cosmicus - For humanity to truly become a spacefaring race, we will need to construct permanent space habitats, a space station intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility. It would be a "city" in space, where people would live, work and raise families. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_habitat.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - Could the universe be populated by aggressive intelligent species, such as science fiction’s Alien and Predator? SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak offers some thoughts at http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220878.
g Aftermath - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1999/Jun-11-Fri-1999/news/11331065.html. Note: This article is from 1999.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Galaxy arrangement, Snowball Earth and message beamed at M13
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Scientists at the University of Chicago have bolstered the case for a popular scenario of the big bang theory that neatly explains the arrangement of galaxies throughout the universe. Their supercomputer simulation shows how dark matter, an invisible material of unknown composition, herded luminous matter in the universe from its initial smooth state into the cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters that populate the universe. See http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/687002.html.
g Abodes - It has been 2.3 billion years since Earth's atmosphere became infused with enough oxygen to support life as we know it. About the same time, the planet became encased in ice that some scientists speculate was more than a half-mile deep. That raises questions about whether complex life could have existed before "Snowball Earth" and survived, or if it first evolved when the snowball began to melt. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20018.
g Life - A scientist at Washington State University says the first extraterrestrial life we find is likely to be single-celled organisms surviving on a moon of Saturn, or in the atmosphere of Venus. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002566731_
webspacelife17.html.
g Intelligence - The brain is a "time machine," assert two Duke neuroscientists — and understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051028142649.htm.
g Message - In 1974, the most powerful broadcast ever deliberately beamed into space was made from Puerto Rico. The broadcast formed part of the ceremonies held to mark a major upgrade to the Arecibo Radio Telescope. The transmission consisted of a simple, pictorial message, aimed at our putative cosmic companions in the globular star cluster M13. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179070.
g Cosmicus - Several Russian media reports, including some citing a high-ranking official in the country’s Federal Space Agency, have stated that an agreement is in hand with U.S. entrepreneur and X Prize sponsor Anousheh Ansari for a future trip to the International Space Station. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051011072450.htm.
g Learning - Looking for an overview of the astrobiological field? Try "Introduction to Exobiology" (http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiol
ogy/), which explores the field from a lay perspective and includes a self-test. It's part of the Cruising Chemistry project at Duke.
g Imagining - There are several species in the Star Trek universe that look exactly like humans. The unlikely fact that life on different planets has taken a similar, if not the same direction was sufficiently explained in The Next Generation episode "The Chase." In this key episode to the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's crew finds evidence that four billion years ago the first human civilization explored our galaxy, and they were disappointed because they found themselves alone. To preserve their heritage, they spread encoded DNA fragments across many Class-M planets throughout the galaxy, thereby triggering a development similar to their own. Aside from the evolution schedule the DNA fragments, correctly assembled, contain a message to their descendants, namely humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and all the other humanoid races of the galaxy that are in some way related to each other. As fascinating is this theory, a couple of problems remain. See http://www.exastrisscientia.org/inconsistencies1c.htm.
g Aftermath - What would be the affect on humanity following contact with alien life? Portions of a Brookings Institute report offer some insights. See http://www.humanunderground.com/Brookings.html for either the entire report or the relevant excerpts.
g Stars - Scientists at the University of Chicago have bolstered the case for a popular scenario of the big bang theory that neatly explains the arrangement of galaxies throughout the universe. Their supercomputer simulation shows how dark matter, an invisible material of unknown composition, herded luminous matter in the universe from its initial smooth state into the cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters that populate the universe. See http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/687002.html.
g Abodes - It has been 2.3 billion years since Earth's atmosphere became infused with enough oxygen to support life as we know it. About the same time, the planet became encased in ice that some scientists speculate was more than a half-mile deep. That raises questions about whether complex life could have existed before "Snowball Earth" and survived, or if it first evolved when the snowball began to melt. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20018.
g Life - A scientist at Washington State University says the first extraterrestrial life we find is likely to be single-celled organisms surviving on a moon of Saturn, or in the atmosphere of Venus. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002566731_
webspacelife17.html.
g Intelligence - The brain is a "time machine," assert two Duke neuroscientists — and understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051028142649.htm.
g Message - In 1974, the most powerful broadcast ever deliberately beamed into space was made from Puerto Rico. The broadcast formed part of the ceremonies held to mark a major upgrade to the Arecibo Radio Telescope. The transmission consisted of a simple, pictorial message, aimed at our putative cosmic companions in the globular star cluster M13. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179070.
g Cosmicus - Several Russian media reports, including some citing a high-ranking official in the country’s Federal Space Agency, have stated that an agreement is in hand with U.S. entrepreneur and X Prize sponsor Anousheh Ansari for a future trip to the International Space Station. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051011072450.htm.
g Learning - Looking for an overview of the astrobiological field? Try "Introduction to Exobiology" (http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiol
ogy/), which explores the field from a lay perspective and includes a self-test. It's part of the Cruising Chemistry project at Duke.
g Imagining - There are several species in the Star Trek universe that look exactly like humans. The unlikely fact that life on different planets has taken a similar, if not the same direction was sufficiently explained in The Next Generation episode "The Chase." In this key episode to the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's crew finds evidence that four billion years ago the first human civilization explored our galaxy, and they were disappointed because they found themselves alone. To preserve their heritage, they spread encoded DNA fragments across many Class-M planets throughout the galaxy, thereby triggering a development similar to their own. Aside from the evolution schedule the DNA fragments, correctly assembled, contain a message to their descendants, namely humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and all the other humanoid races of the galaxy that are in some way related to each other. As fascinating is this theory, a couple of problems remain. See http://www.exastrisscientia.org/inconsistencies1c.htm.
g Aftermath - What would be the affect on humanity following contact with alien life? Portions of a Brookings Institute report offer some insights. See http://www.humanunderground.com/Brookings.html for either the entire report or the relevant excerpts.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Extrasolar dead zone, miniature star systems and Neanderthal DNA
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario find that "dead zones"- which typically extend out to 13 astronomical units from the central star of an extrasolar planetary system - can significantly slow planetary migration so that planets are not lost to the systems. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1983
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Two new studies, based on observations made with ESO's telescopes, show that objects only a few times more massive than Jupiter are born with discs of dust and gas, the raw material for planet making. This suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our Sun. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20026.
g Life - The discovery of millions of ancient, ultra-tiny microbes 3,000 meters deep in a Greenland glacier suggests that similar hardy species may live in ice elsewhere in the solar system, researchers say. See http://www.rense.com/general53/alien.htm. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Intelligence - Scientists have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal that lived 100,000 years ago - the oldest human-type DNA so far. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5052414.stm.
g Message - Is it more likely for an advanced civilization to resort to some sophisticated encoding scheme than we would? See http://www.setiuniverse.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.aspa=178&z=10.
g Cosmicus - The news was mixed for NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View as the space agency announced the roles its 10 centers will play in missions designed to send humans to space more often and keep them there longer. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/twincities/business/technology/14753105.htm.
g Learning - What is an astrobiologist, and can you become one? See http://www.astrobiology.com/how.to.html.
g Imagining - Alien design bibliography: When science fiction writers set out to design a world, they usually take care that their physics and astronomy conforms to known science by reading a few physics and astronomy books. But when designing aliens, anything goes, it seems! The problem appears to be that the literature of biology is simply unknown in the SF world. Mention Freeman Dyson or Robert Forward, and most hard SF readers and writers will know whom you are talking about. But mention Steven Vogel or Colin Pennycuick, and you are likely to be rewarded with polite bafflement. Here’s a list of books that’ll give you a solid grounding in biology. See http://www.branta.demon.co.uk/alien-design/books.htm.
g Aftermath - Book Alert II: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. Jean Heidmann, Chief Astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book, “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation — all of it grounded in real science — is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521453402/104-9182723-7020748 for reviews.
g Stars - Astronomers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario find that "dead zones"- which typically extend out to 13 astronomical units from the central star of an extrasolar planetary system - can significantly slow planetary migration so that planets are not lost to the systems. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1983
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Two new studies, based on observations made with ESO's telescopes, show that objects only a few times more massive than Jupiter are born with discs of dust and gas, the raw material for planet making. This suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our Sun. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20026.
g Life - The discovery of millions of ancient, ultra-tiny microbes 3,000 meters deep in a Greenland glacier suggests that similar hardy species may live in ice elsewhere in the solar system, researchers say. See http://www.rense.com/general53/alien.htm. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Intelligence - Scientists have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal that lived 100,000 years ago - the oldest human-type DNA so far. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5052414.stm.
g Message - Is it more likely for an advanced civilization to resort to some sophisticated encoding scheme than we would? See http://www.setiuniverse.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.aspa=178&z=10.
g Cosmicus - The news was mixed for NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View as the space agency announced the roles its 10 centers will play in missions designed to send humans to space more often and keep them there longer. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/twincities/business/technology/14753105.htm.
g Learning - What is an astrobiologist, and can you become one? See http://www.astrobiology.com/how.to.html.
g Imagining - Alien design bibliography: When science fiction writers set out to design a world, they usually take care that their physics and astronomy conforms to known science by reading a few physics and astronomy books. But when designing aliens, anything goes, it seems! The problem appears to be that the literature of biology is simply unknown in the SF world. Mention Freeman Dyson or Robert Forward, and most hard SF readers and writers will know whom you are talking about. But mention Steven Vogel or Colin Pennycuick, and you are likely to be rewarded with polite bafflement. Here’s a list of books that’ll give you a solid grounding in biology. See http://www.branta.demon.co.uk/alien-design/books.htm.
g Aftermath - Book Alert II: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. Jean Heidmann, Chief Astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book, “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation — all of it grounded in real science — is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521453402/104-9182723-7020748 for reviews.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Epsilon Eridani, looking for more than water and when humans starting wearing clothes
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Within 20 ly of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Epsilon Eridani. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/eps-erid.htm.
g Abodes - The great search for extraterrestrial life has focused on water at the expense of a crucial element, say geobiologists at the University of Southern California. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1951.
g Life - How does the Drake Equation fare across our solar system? An analysis shows that one of the main thrusts of solar system should be focused on the biomarkers of the eukaryotic stage of development for life. See http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~chelaf/TestingDrakeEq.html.
g Intelligence - If you're looking for insight into the 5 million years of human evolution, consider the lowly body louse, the species of lice that targets clothing. Presumably, the body louse didn't evolve before humans began to wear more than a fig leaf. How long ago was that? The louse's DNA might hold the answer. See http://www.wired.com/news/culture/reviews/0,70920-0.html?tw=wn_index_5.
g Message - Humankind has been unintentionally transmitting signals into space - primarily high-frequency radio, television, and radar - for more than fifty years. Our earliest TV broadcasts have reached several thousand nearby stars, although any alien viewers would have to build a very large antenna (thousands of acres in size) to detect them. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179534.
g Cosmicus - Martin Rees is Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and Britain’s Astronomer Royal. He is the author of numerous popular science books, including the best selling "Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe." Astrobiology Magazine caught up with Rees as he ponders the effect of interplanetary travel on human evolution. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1752mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Ken Bain knows a lot about teaching. He learned some of it from 41 years in the classroom, some from the research of fellow scholars - and some from an 18-month-old grandson who was savvy about cell phones. See http://www.casperstartribune.net/art
icles/2006/06/03/news/wyoming/cf0965b98d354e0c87257
181007ee97a.txt.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your bookstore for Andre Norton’s "The Last Planet" (1953), famous for the birdman or "The Beast Master" (1959), famous for the lizard men.
g Aftermath - If and when life is discovered beyond Earth, non-scientific dimensions may strongly influence decisions about the nature and scope of future missions and activities. It is appropriate to encourage international discussion and consideration of the issues prior to an event of such historical significance. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Within 20 ly of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Epsilon Eridani. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/eps-erid.htm.
g Abodes - The great search for extraterrestrial life has focused on water at the expense of a crucial element, say geobiologists at the University of Southern California. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1951.
g Life - How does the Drake Equation fare across our solar system? An analysis shows that one of the main thrusts of solar system should be focused on the biomarkers of the eukaryotic stage of development for life. See http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~chelaf/TestingDrakeEq.html.
g Intelligence - If you're looking for insight into the 5 million years of human evolution, consider the lowly body louse, the species of lice that targets clothing. Presumably, the body louse didn't evolve before humans began to wear more than a fig leaf. How long ago was that? The louse's DNA might hold the answer. See http://www.wired.com/news/culture/reviews/0,70920-0.html?tw=wn_index_5.
g Message - Humankind has been unintentionally transmitting signals into space - primarily high-frequency radio, television, and radar - for more than fifty years. Our earliest TV broadcasts have reached several thousand nearby stars, although any alien viewers would have to build a very large antenna (thousands of acres in size) to detect them. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179534.
g Cosmicus - Martin Rees is Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and Britain’s Astronomer Royal. He is the author of numerous popular science books, including the best selling "Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe." Astrobiology Magazine caught up with Rees as he ponders the effect of interplanetary travel on human evolution. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1752mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Ken Bain knows a lot about teaching. He learned some of it from 41 years in the classroom, some from the research of fellow scholars - and some from an 18-month-old grandson who was savvy about cell phones. See http://www.casperstartribune.net/art
icles/2006/06/03/news/wyoming/cf0965b98d354e0c87257
181007ee97a.txt.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your bookstore for Andre Norton’s "The Last Planet" (1953), famous for the birdman or "The Beast Master" (1959), famous for the lizard men.
g Aftermath - If and when life is discovered beyond Earth, non-scientific dimensions may strongly influence decisions about the nature and scope of future missions and activities. It is appropriate to encourage international discussion and consideration of the issues prior to an event of such historical significance. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Lalande 21185, titan’s dunes and Southern stargazing
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Within 20 light years of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Lalande 21185. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/la21185.htm.
g Abodes - Radar images taken when the Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan last October show dunes 330 feet high that run parallel to each other for hundreds of miles at Titan's equator. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1950.
g Life - Mammals, once tiny creatures scampering on the forest floor, grew larger as the amount of oxygen in the air increased over millions of years, a new study says. See http://www.livescience.
com/animalworld/ap_050929_oxygen_mammals.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Human evolution, Chicago researchers report, is still under way, in what has become our most important organ: the brain. In two related papers published in Science, they show that two genes linked to brain size are rapidly evolving in humans. The researchers looked at variations of microcephalin and ASPM within modern humans, and found for each gene one class of variants has arisen recently and has been spreading rapidly because it is favored by selection. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
09/050909221043.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - The Harvard SETI Group have conducted several searches for extraterrestrial life since 1978. For a history of those searches, see http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/setihist.html.
g Cosmicus - After years of quasi-colonial treatment from their European partners, local astronomers in Chile and South Africa are coming into their own. Dirk Steuerwald tracks the changing climate for the stargazers of the south. See http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060529/full/nj7093-662a.html.
g Learning - Tim Spuck made two discoveries recently. The first involved his high school science classroom in Oil City. The second involved a patch of stars some 800 light years away. Mr. Spuck made the first discovery because he's something of an iconoclast, at least when it comes to education. Want to really get him talking? Ask him if he sees any problems with how science is taught to teenagers. "Something is missing," he said. "The inspiration." See http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06155/695585-298.stm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting Web site about alien depictions in science fiction: “Life on Other Worlds” at http://davidszondy.com/future/otherworlds/life.htm.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See http://www.nidsci.org/news/roper/roperpressrelease.html.
g Stars - Within 20 light years of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Lalande 21185. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/la21185.htm.
g Abodes - Radar images taken when the Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan last October show dunes 330 feet high that run parallel to each other for hundreds of miles at Titan's equator. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1950.
g Life - Mammals, once tiny creatures scampering on the forest floor, grew larger as the amount of oxygen in the air increased over millions of years, a new study says. See http://www.livescience.
com/animalworld/ap_050929_oxygen_mammals.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Human evolution, Chicago researchers report, is still under way, in what has become our most important organ: the brain. In two related papers published in Science, they show that two genes linked to brain size are rapidly evolving in humans. The researchers looked at variations of microcephalin and ASPM within modern humans, and found for each gene one class of variants has arisen recently and has been spreading rapidly because it is favored by selection. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
09/050909221043.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - The Harvard SETI Group have conducted several searches for extraterrestrial life since 1978. For a history of those searches, see http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/setihist.html.
g Cosmicus - After years of quasi-colonial treatment from their European partners, local astronomers in Chile and South Africa are coming into their own. Dirk Steuerwald tracks the changing climate for the stargazers of the south. See http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060529/full/nj7093-662a.html.
g Learning - Tim Spuck made two discoveries recently. The first involved his high school science classroom in Oil City. The second involved a patch of stars some 800 light years away. Mr. Spuck made the first discovery because he's something of an iconoclast, at least when it comes to education. Want to really get him talking? Ask him if he sees any problems with how science is taught to teenagers. "Something is missing," he said. "The inspiration." See http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06155/695585-298.stm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting Web site about alien depictions in science fiction: “Life on Other Worlds” at http://davidszondy.com/future/otherworlds/life.htm.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See http://www.nidsci.org/news/roper/roperpressrelease.html.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Goldilocks Zone, messages beamed at Earth and the Thirty Meter Telescope
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Few Catholics and even fewer Americans are aware that Vatican priests man a telescope in Arizona or even that the Catholic Church engages in scientific research. But the priests see themselves bridging the gap between science and religion. In the process, they have emerged as a powerful voice against “creationism” and the theory of “intelligent design,” which holds that certain forms in nature are too complex to have evolved through natural selection and must have been created by a “designer” who might be called God. See http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.phpcontent_id
=129285.
g Abodes - Some day, scientists hope to find the Holy Grail of planetary astronomy - an Earth-like planet circling another star in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold region known as the "Goldilocks Zone." See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/balhs.earthshine02jun02
,0,684332.storycoll=bal-home-headlines.
g Life - Something about nature loves a helix, the ubiquitous spiral shape taken on by DNA and many other molecules found in the cells of living creatures. The shape is so useful that, while researching the means of creating self-assembling artificial helices, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania believe that they have come across a plausible mathematical reason for why the helical shape is so common. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223135535.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Nearly 3 million years ago, our ancestors had brains about as big as modern chimps. Since then the brain that would become human grew steadily, tripling in size. But this extra cranium capacity may not have resulted in smarter hominids. As far as tool making is concerned, there is little evidence of improvement over much of the period that the brain was growing. Then came the Big Bang of human brain growth. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050219_big_brains.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in, says one astrobiologist. See http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/
08/09/1092022404578.htmloneclick=true. Note: this article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The detailed design for the Thirty Meter Telescope developed by a U.S.-Canadian team is capable of delivering on the full promise of its enormous light-collecting area, according to the findings of an independent panel of experts. See http://www.physorg.com/news68475073.html.
g Learning - Our future depends on improved science education. See http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060604/OPINI
ON01/606040357/1002/OPINION.
g Imagining - There’s a set of interesting musings about “characterization and aliens” in science fiction at http://www.sfwriter.com/rmcharac.htm. The point made in the essay is apt: Too many alien species presented in sci-fi are monocultures and lack any individuality. We should presume that if not cultures then certainly individuals of extraterrestrial species will be as diverse as they are in humanity.
g Aftermath - Director, writer, and one of the most memorable fictional explorers of space - William Shatner's Captain Kirk - explains how to go where few have gone before: how extreme explorers might confront the limits of life both terrestrial or beyond. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/print.phpsid=739.
g Stars - Few Catholics and even fewer Americans are aware that Vatican priests man a telescope in Arizona or even that the Catholic Church engages in scientific research. But the priests see themselves bridging the gap between science and religion. In the process, they have emerged as a powerful voice against “creationism” and the theory of “intelligent design,” which holds that certain forms in nature are too complex to have evolved through natural selection and must have been created by a “designer” who might be called God. See http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.phpcontent_id
=129285.
g Abodes - Some day, scientists hope to find the Holy Grail of planetary astronomy - an Earth-like planet circling another star in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold region known as the "Goldilocks Zone." See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/balhs.earthshine02jun02
,0,684332.storycoll=bal-home-headlines.
g Life - Something about nature loves a helix, the ubiquitous spiral shape taken on by DNA and many other molecules found in the cells of living creatures. The shape is so useful that, while researching the means of creating self-assembling artificial helices, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania believe that they have come across a plausible mathematical reason for why the helical shape is so common. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223135535.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Nearly 3 million years ago, our ancestors had brains about as big as modern chimps. Since then the brain that would become human grew steadily, tripling in size. But this extra cranium capacity may not have resulted in smarter hominids. As far as tool making is concerned, there is little evidence of improvement over much of the period that the brain was growing. Then came the Big Bang of human brain growth. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050219_big_brains.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in, says one astrobiologist. See http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/
08/09/1092022404578.htmloneclick=true. Note: this article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The detailed design for the Thirty Meter Telescope developed by a U.S.-Canadian team is capable of delivering on the full promise of its enormous light-collecting area, according to the findings of an independent panel of experts. See http://www.physorg.com/news68475073.html.
g Learning - Our future depends on improved science education. See http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060604/OPINI
ON01/606040357/1002/OPINION.
g Imagining - There’s a set of interesting musings about “characterization and aliens” in science fiction at http://www.sfwriter.com/rmcharac.htm. The point made in the essay is apt: Too many alien species presented in sci-fi are monocultures and lack any individuality. We should presume that if not cultures then certainly individuals of extraterrestrial species will be as diverse as they are in humanity.
g Aftermath - Director, writer, and one of the most memorable fictional explorers of space - William Shatner's Captain Kirk - explains how to go where few have gone before: how extreme explorers might confront the limits of life both terrestrial or beyond. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/print.phpsid=739.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
