Processes behind planetary evolution and ‘The Crowded Universe’

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - What is the habitable zone for the nearby star 2MA-0415-0935?
g Abodes - New research shows that many of the objects in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter were actually formed in the far reaches of the solar system. The study sheds new light on the processes behind the evolution of the planets. See article.
g Message - At his day job, Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Washington studies how stars and planets are born. In recent years, he has consulted with scientists for NASA’s Kepler space telescope on their mission of finding planets outside our solar system that might be hospitable to life. Mr. Boss, a 58-year-old astronomer and theoretical astrophysicist, was in New York City recently to promote his new book, “The Crowded Universe: the Search for Living Planets,” about the scientific hunt for extraterrestrial life. Here’s an edited version of a two-hour conversation with Boss.
g Cosmicus - Checkout this SETI Institute essay, which begins: “Imagine that you could send a single short message through time to anyone who has ever lived, telling them one modern fact that would give them hope for the future of humanity. I don't think you could find anything more powerful than this: Human beings have walked on the Moon, and upon first arrival left a plaque that read ‘We came in peace for all mankind.’”
g Aftermath - Would ET vote? What effect will ET’s political philosophy have on ours once contact is made? See article. It’s an older piece but well worth the read.
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How Enceladus got its stripes and astrobiology goes hip-hop

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - What is the habitable zone for the nearby star L 347-14?
g Abodes - A new study has revealed the origin of Enceladus' tiger stripes and subsurface ocean. These features are not the result of the moon having a hot core, and are instead caused by Enceladus' unusual chemical composition. See article.
g Cosmicus - Here are “10 Reasons Why Apollo 11 Moon Landing Was Awesome”.
g Learning - An academic hip-hop artist will perform for space scientists in the U.S. See article.

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Martian dust and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter paves way for moon return

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - What is the habitable zone for the nearby star GJ 205?
g Abodes - In a new research, scientists have attributed the clinginess of Martian dust to electrons jumping back and forth between dust grains as they collide in the wind. The research became necessary as many probes sent to the Red Planet, like the Mars rover Spirit, get stuck in Martian soil. See article.
g Message - If you’re not familiar with Astriobiology.com’s “Great Debates series, you’ll want to head right away to their Web site. The discussions draw upon experts in the astrobiology field. The Fermi paradox (“If there’s intelligent life out there, then why haven’t we heard from them?” is examined in six parts.
g Cosmicus - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is NASA’s first mission to the Moon in a decade and paves the way for the return of astronauts to our satellite. Forty years after humans first walked on the Moon, the LRO mission is returning images of the historic Apollo landing sites. See article.

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40th anniversary of first moon landing and contact with E.T. by 2025

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - What is the habitable zone for the nearby star 2MA-18353259?
g Abodes - Shifting dust storms on Mars might be contributing to global warming there that is shrinking the planet's southern polar ice caps, scientists say. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Message - Earthlings could make contact with extraterrestrial beings by the year 2025, two astronomers predict. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - NASA has released newly restored video from the historic Apollo 11 moonwalk. This week marks the 40th anniversary of the incredible event, when human beings made their first visit to a world beyond our own planet Earth. See article.

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Habitable zone of Stein 2051 and wheat bread on Mars

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - What is the habitable zone for the nearby star system Stein 2051 AB?
g Abodes - Earth's twin, Venus, offers life as we know it few safe places on its faint red-glowing surface, which is hot enough to melt lead. But higher in the clouds, small amounts of water and strange ultraviolet absorbers make for a balmy 107 F abode. The Principal Investigator for NASA's Planetary Atmospheres and Venus Data Analysis Program speculates about what might surprise Venusian explorers. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - Does a sandwich on Mars taste different? The answer could be no, according to new research that found long-term spaceflight exposure doesn't change later generations of wheat seeds. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of Web pages for kids, courtesy of the Canadian Space Agency. The pages include coloring books, digital puzzles and space projects.

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Dramatic new images of Mars and what happens after contact?

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Dramatic new images of Mars have revealed volcanoes, lakes and ice on the surface of the red planet, thanks to NASA's latest Mars-orbiting satellite. See article.
g Life - A new discovery in Australia indicates that many different kinds of dinosaurs shared burrowing behaviors. Digging dinosaurs from diverse species could be found in different regions of the world and over millions of years spanning the Cretacous Period. The research is helping scientists understand how organisms on Earth adapted to climate change in our planet's past. See article.
g Cosmicus - Craig Nelson's new book, "Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon," recounts the dramatic days in July 1969 and the astronauts who became legends. See review.
g Imagining - Though an older Web posting, “After Contact, Then What?” shows how little we’ve thought about this question.

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Cosmological computer simulations and the noncorporeal lifeforms

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Cosmologists have come up with a novel technique, based on how brain neurons behave, which can dramatically speed up computer simulations of the universe. See article.
g Life - Scientists say they have discovered marine microorganisms use manganese and iron to convert methane into carbon dioxide. See article.
g Cosmicus - As the world observes the 40th anniversary of the historic moon landing on July 20, 1969, the U.S. agency that accomplished that feat is working on plans for a return to the moon and an even more ambitious plan to use the moon as a base for missions to Mars. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is gearing up for its biggest challenge yet at a time when funding may be harder to come by. See article.
g Imagining - An early “Star Trek” alien is the Thasians, who serve a deux ex machina role in one episode. The Thasians apparently are a noncorporeal life form that gave a human child incredible powers of telekinesis. Such capabilities, as exhibited by the child (now a 17-year-old teenager) appear to stem from within his own physical being, however. The Thasians themselves also are dependent on the physical reality of a spacecraft for traveling beyond their planet. Of course, how a noncorporeal life form might exist is beyond our physical science, though one might suspect it is an organized pattern of electrical impulses, somehow held together and organized without use of a physical platform (such as our brain cells) — though their powers can be transferred to such a platform, as occurs with the boy. Most likely the Thasians did not evolve as noncorporeal life forms but instead, being eons ahead of us in technology, rely on machines (using teleportation-like technology) to do their work; their own beings might be interfaced with such machines so a mere concentrated thought can command it. The Thasians, thus feeling encumbered by physical form, shifted to another dimension — again, more fiction than reality — where the very nature of that space allows the beings (electrical patterns) to remain organized, and perhaps better able to communicate with their machines. Of course, too little was said about the Thasians in the episode, though the boy did note that the Thasians do not “feel” or “touch” in the same way that humans do.

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When our view of Earth changed and when we get our first interstellar phone call

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - The type of mineralogical composition on the surface of Mars influences the measuring of its temperature. See article.
g Cosmicus - In 1969 the world changed. Or perhaps I should say our perception of the world changed. For thousands of years, people woke and slept, ate and drank and went about their business. And whenever we looked down, we saw earth - dirt, soil, rock, sand or water, but always earth. But at 2:56 a.m. one July day, Neil Armstrong looked down at his feet and saw something different. For the first time, one of us stood on something else. For the first time, Earth was something "up there," no longer the location of all events, but a specific place in the heavens. See essay.
g Learning - Here's an event we need more of (and more kids participating in as well!): "She is an Astronomer" features a variety of hands-on science activities and demonstrations, planetarium shows every half hour, and, weather permitting, safe telescope viewing of the sun. Some of New Mexico's top female astronomers and scientists will staff activity stations and interact with girls ages 8-18, for whom the event is aimed. See article.
g Aftermath - How will humanity react when we receive our first interstellar phone call from ET? Though not a new piece, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak offers some intriguing thoughts here.

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Mars 500 ends and 'Are We Alone?" to begin

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Microbes from the ocean have been shown to process methane in ways that were previously unknown. The discovery could help astrobiologists understand how the early biosphere of Earth interacted with our planet's atmosphere. See article.
g Cosmicus - The 105-day space travel simulation experiment 'Mars 500', based in Moscow with German involvement, has just finished. On July 14, the crew left the module system at the Institute for Biomedical Problems at the Russian Academy of Sciences. See article.
g Message - For more than 80 years, we’ve been sending radio (and eventually television) transmissions into space, allowing anyone in space to hear war reports from London, “I Love Lucy” reruns and our latest election results. So wouldn’t hearing aliens be as simple as turning on the radio? Here’s why not.
g Learning - Almost forty years after man first walked on the moon, Discovery Channel's new "Are We Alone?" will take a fresh look at one of science’s greatest mysteries. Are there life forms existing beyond Earth? Could the bizarre, hellish worlds of our solar system harbor or evolve alien biology? And does Earth itself provide a road map to answers for these age old questions. The program premieres Thursday (July 16) at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

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Microbe for Mars and exopolitics in Spanish

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Australian astronomers have made the most detailed map yet of a radio galaxy, which could lead to a better understanding of these strange phenomena. See article.
g Life - Mars is not for the finicky. If something does live there, it's likely going to be similar to the more adaptive life forms on our planet. A group of researchers is studying a particular microbe that they think could be a model for Mars life. See article.
g Cosmicus - If you're looking to keep up with the latest on the International Space Station and the space shuttle controversy (and its apparently final missions), check out the blog site Space Station-Shuttle Blog. There's lots of other neat NASA-related info at the site as well.
g Aftermath - Exopolitics: Politics, Government and Law in the Universe, the work credited with founding the field of exopolitics, the study of relations between our human civilization here on Earth and extraterrestrial ones, is now coming out in Spanish.

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Conan the Bacterium and reliving the first moon landing

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Science conducted from the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii has again rewritten the record books, this time for the discovery of the most distant supernovae. See article.
g Life - U.S. Planetary Society Scientists have picked the first crew of Earthlings to fly to another planet. Those chosen for a Mars mission to be launched in October include specimens of thale cress and brewer's yeast, and a microbe known as Conan the Bacterium. See article.
g Learning - Weren't alive in 1969? No problem. Now you can watch the Apollo 11 mission recreated in real time on the Web, follow Twitter feeds of transmissions between Mission Control and the spacecraft, and even get an e-mail alert when the lunar module touches down. See article.
g Cosmicus - James L. Green, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA, has announced that applications are now being accepted for the position of senior Program Scientist for Astrobiology. See article.

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New kind of astronomical object and astrophotography

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - The tight cluster of stars surrounding a supermassive black hole after it has been violently kicked out of a galaxy represents a new kind of astronomical object and a fossil record of the kick. See article.
g Life - In living organisms, chiral compounds such as amino acids and sugars exist as single enantiomers. What is the origin of this exclusive preference? Japanese scientists believe that achiral molecules from space could provide the answer. See article.
g Cosmicus - Neil Armstrong's hometown is going all out for the 40th anniversary of the frst moon walk. See article.
g Learning - Just take a moment and guess: from how far away can a camera, whether point and shoot or SLR, still take good pictures of the intended subject? 1,000 feet? Go farther. A mile? No problem. How about light years? Yes, cameras can literally see light years away. While most photographers tend to focus (bad humor, I know) on terrestrial objects, a small group of photographers reach for and capture the stars on their camera's sensor. These people are astrophotographers, and you can be one of them, too. See article.

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How distribution of chemicals affects evolution and astrobiology at the Pavilion Lake Research Project

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - In the search for life beyond Earth, scientists 'follow the water' to find places that might be hospitable. However, every home gardener knows that plants need more than water, or even sunshine. They also need fertilizer – a mixture of chemical elements that are the building blocks of the molecules of life. Scientists at Arizona State University are studying how the distribution of these elements on Earth – or beyond – shapes the distribution of life, the state of the environment and the course of evolution. See article.
g Life - To approach the empirical question of how far we can test the earliest stages of biological evolution in our own solar system, we should decide first whether we should expect any form of convergence in the exo-microorganisms that we might encounter, possibly close to the surface of icy worlds, such as Europa. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - By using a combination of remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, SCUBA divers and DeepWorker submersibles, the Pavilion Lake Research Project is blending cutting-edge science and technology to advance our knowledge of astrobiology and to help us learn how to explore with humans on the Moon and Mars. See article.
g Learning - If science communications in astrobiology is about researchers sharing their results, the audience for new findings may well turn out to be a surprising finding in itself. John Horack, one of the principal Internet architects for how a Webby-award winning NASA site found its audience, explains new ways to view the problem of sharing science. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.

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How would extraterrestrials search for us and protecting the health of human astronauts

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Powerful evidence that life may still exist on Mars has been presented by NASA after the discovery that huge plumes of methane were being spurted into the planet's atmosphere. See article.
g Life - The search for life elsewhere in the solar system and beyond should include research to detect what some scientists call "weird" life, with biochemistry different from that of life on Earth, says a new report from the National Research Council. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Message - If extraterrestrial aliens searched the heavens looking for beings like us, could they find us? Wouldn't it be like locating a needle in a haystack? See article.
g Cosmicus - A transparent roundworm experiment reveals biological effects of microgravity and space radiation, and could provide clues on protecting the health of human astronauts. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a great educational tool for teaching astrobiology and various principles of science: COTI. COTI is an educational experiment in creation — students design an integrated world, alien life form and culture, and simulate contact with a future human society. One team constructs a solar system, a world and its ecology, an alien life form and its culture, basing each step on the previous one and utilizing the principles of science as a guide to imagination. The other team designs a future human colony, planetary or spacefaring, "creating and evolving" its culture as an exercise in cultural structure, dynamics and adaptation. Through a structured system of progressive revelation, the teams then simulate — and experience — contact between the two cultures in real time, exploring the problems and possibilities involved in inter-cultural encounters. See article.

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Plants may save planets from ice ages and call for an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - During the last ice age, glaciers advanced over mucah of the Earth's surface. Scientists have long wondered why the planet didn't freeze over entirely. New research shows that Earth may have been saved from a runaway 'icehouse' by plants. See article.
g Life - Project Scientist Jorge Vago explains how the European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover, scheduled for launch in 2011, will carry out its search for signs of life on Mars. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Learning - What are SETI scientists doing to foment the study and understanding of astrobiology in our schools? See article.
g Aftermath - A movement is underway in Denver, Colo., to approve creation of an 18-member Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission that would “ensure the health, safety and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles.” If this initiative garners the 3,973 valid signatures required to make the ballot, and is passed by voters, the Commission would be funded by “grants, gifts and donations.” See blog article.

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Binary star-disk system and the limits of life on Earth

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by a disk of dust that could form planetary systems. If both stars of capable of forming planets, it increases the likelihood of discovering Earth-like planets around distant stars. See article.
g Abodes - A scorching-hot gas planet beyond our solar system is steaming up with water vapor, according to new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Life - Welsh scientists are claiming they have evidence life on Earth started inside a comet in space. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Learning - Here’s an interesting classroom activity: “Who Can Live Here?” Students explore the limits of life on Earth to extend their beliefs about life to include its possibility on other worlds.

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Martian habitability past and future, and reconnaissance for Lunar colonization

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - New data shows that the area where NASA's Phoenix Mars mission landed may have been habitable for microbes in Mars' past – and could become habitable again in Mars' future. The results are discussed in the first major peer-reviewed reports on the mission's findings, published in this week's edition of the journal Science. See article.
g Life - Why do plants reflect in the green and have a “red edge” in the red, and should extrasolar photosynthesis be the same? See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images since reaching lunar orbit June 23. This mission will help NASA identify safe landing sites for future explorers, locate potential resources, describe the moon's radiation environment and demonstrate new technologies. See article.
g Learning - Nationally, there's political pressure to improve K-12 education. The federal mandate known as 'No Child Left Behind' drives schools to focus on basics: reading, writing and arithmetic in order to improve student test scores in these areas. Art, music, social studies, science, etc. are pushed aside in the paper chase generated by standardized tests. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.

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Comet caused Tunguska explosion and ‘The Universe’ on Blu-Ray

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - In 1908, an object originating from space impacted the Earth and leveled 830 square miles of forest in Siberia. The origins of this object were a mystery until now. With science performed on the space shuttle, researchers have determined that the 1908 Tunguska explosion was caused by a comet. See article.
g Life - How life began: This problem really permeates much of humankind, societies and cultures past and present. Some have evoked a supreme being to explain the origin of life; others look to the scientific method to provide answers. Regardless of the position, there have been at least two extremely exciting discoveries or reports that really change the nature of the game. The first one is the discovery of planets around nearby stars. There are other solar systems in space. The other is the discovery of the possibility that life existed on Mars. See article.
g Learning - The Blu-ray release for the second season of the engrossing series "The Universe" (which includes an episode about astrobiology) garnered a decent review.

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Biologically active Mars and exposure to cosmic rays

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - The sun, a star at the center of the solar system, is known to provide ideal conditions for life to thrive on Earth. But, astronomers have claimed that it also leaves the planet wide open to harmful cosmic rays. See article.
g Abodes - A team of NASA and university scientists has achieved the first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. This discovery indicates the planet is either biologically or geologically active. See article.
g Life - A class of especially hardy microbes that live in some of the harshest Earthly environments could flourish on cold Mars and other chilly planets, according to a research team of astronomers and microbiologists. See article. Note: This article is from 2006.
g Cosmicus - A team of scientists joined together to create a new cleaning protocol that could be implemented during "Search for Life" missions on Mars and other locations, it was recently announced. See article.
g Learning - Are you a future SETI scientist? See article. Note: This article is from 2001.

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First raw data returned from Kepler and will aliens be carbon-based?

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Scientists have revealed a connection between solar activity and periods of heavy rain in East Africa. The findings show one way in which changes in the Solar System environment can directly affect life on Earth. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Life - It’s a question as common as brown dogs: Will alien life be carbon-based? See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the data archive center for NASA's Kepler mission, and has now received the first raw science data from Kepler. Now, the data can be analyzed and used to search for Earth-like worlds around distant stars. See article.
g Learning - Book alert: Astrobiology is a very broad interdisciplinary field covering the origin, evolution, distribution, and destiny of life in the universe, as well as the design and implementation of missions for solar system exploration. The last section of the “The New Science of Astrobiology,” by J. Chela-Flores, consists of a supplement, including a glossary, notes and tables, which represent highly condensed ‘windows' into research ranging from basic sciences to earth and life sciences, as well as the humanities. These additions should make this book accessible to a wide readership: scientists, humanists, and the general reader will have an opportunity to participate in one of the most rewarding activities of contemporary culture. See article.

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Life beginning in space and Astrobiology Education Poster

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new paper by Cardiff University scientists. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Life - Physicists have discovered life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond Earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Learning - NASA’s free Astrobiology Education Poster illustrates in words and pictures the fundamental questions addressed by astrobiology: What is life? Where is it? How do you find it? Three activities have been developed to explore these themes. It’s great for teachers — or parents looking to spend some quality time with their children. See article.

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Enceladus’ salty subsurface ocean and a computerized version of the primordial soup

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - A new discovery at Enceladus could have implications for the potential for life on the Saturnian moon. Researchers have found that the large plume of water spurting from the moon is likely fed by a salty, subsurface ocean. See article.
g Life - The Evogrid is a proposed computerized version of the primordial soup. Digitally simulating virtual particles could help answer the question of how life originated on Earth, and perhaps even spread life to other worlds. See article.
g Learning - Water. It's essential for life as best we know it. Almost three-fourths of the Earth is covered with water. We live on the pale blue dot, and our lives depend fundamentally on water. Yet, just after Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, the surface was mostly dry. "So, where did the water come from?" asked a high school teacher this morning at the Astrobiology Summer Science Institute for Teachers here at San Francisco State University. It's a good question that his students are very likely to ask as they study the evolution of our planetary system. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.

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Small climate shifts affect planet habitability and NASA dithers on moon base

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - The change in Earth’s climate may help scientists better understand planetary habitability in general. Scientists are now learning how small shifts in climate can have dramatic consequences for the planet’s environment and the life that depends on it. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA is dithering about whether its future plans should include a Moon base or focus on missions further out into the solar system, New Scientist reports. See article.
g Learning - Astronomy Online provides a wealth of resources and information for teachers, students, or anyone interested in astronomy. The content is arranged into nine broad categories including Observation, Science, Solar System, Stars, Our Galaxy, Cosmology, Astrobiology, Exoplanets, and Astrophotography. See review.

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Mars volcano may host alien life and Buzz Aldrin speaks out on NASA's future

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - American astrogeologists believe that there may be pockets of liquid water trapped in sediment layers beneath the slopes of Olympus Mons - the titanic 15-mile-high Martian volcano, three times as high as Mount Everest. Such underground ponds or puddles might be home, they speculate, to strange alien lifeforms. See article.
g Cosmicus - Buzz Aldrin has thrown his weight behind those who believe that the Ares component of NASA's Constellation programme is on a hike to nowhere. See article.
g Learning - When does asking the right questions tell more than necessarily knowing the right answers? Perhaps when crossing the fertile boundary between biology and astronomy. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.

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Life in Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes and stuck rover studies Martian environment

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - A new study has found that hydrocarbon lakes on Titan could be good hosts for a certain type of chemistry that could lead to life. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA's Mars rover Spirit is having traction trouble in the Martian soil. Although stuck, the rover is taking advantage of the situation by learning more about Mars' environmental history. See article.
g Learning - The approaching 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission is a perfect reason to re-live those moments -- or perhaps experience them for the first time -- at the Space Center's Visitors Complex. And in a public observance this July 16, Aldrin and three of the other 11 Earthlings who have walked on the moon will recall the experience as they stand beneath the largest attraction at the Visitors Complex, a Saturn V rocket left over when the Apollo program ended. See article.

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Temperatures of ancient Earth and molecules on our primordial world

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Scientists have developed a way of studying ancient temperatures on Earth - from the body temperature of dinosaurs to the planet's surface temperature during the ice ages. The method could help scientists understand the connections between the biosphere and the early environment of Earth. See article.
g Life - Researchers have created new materials that assemble and disassemble in a way similar to DNA. The materials are constructed from molecules that would be expected to exist on the primordial Earth, and could help answer questions about the origin of life. See article.
g Learning - Astrobiology experts from the University of Glamorgan and Cardiff University have formed a unique research partnership. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.

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Foundation for life and clues from Greenland about ET

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - Scientists have developed a new model explaining how simple processes may have laid the foundation for life. Based on simple chemical and physical laws, the model shows how interactions between just a few chemicals can lead to novel combinations of molecules of greater complexity. This emergence of complexity in natural systems is essential in understanding how life as we know it began. See article.
g Life - A bacterium recovered from beneath three kilometers of glacial ice in Greenland may hold clues as to how life could exist on other planets. Astrobiologists are now studying the unique organism, which has been isolated under ice for over 120,000 years. See article.
g Learning - The fact that you’re confronting this column on a Web site devoted to space science and astronomy makes you roughly as rare as technetium. Despite the fact that astronomy is one of the two most popular science subjects in American schools (the other is biology), it’s really not that popular. See article. Note: This column is from 2007.

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Next mission to Europa and ‘looking’ for ET in Iceland

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - A Wheaton College assistant professor of physics has received a five-year, roughly $200,000 NASA Astrobiology Institute grant that will shape the next mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. See article.
g Life - New research in Antarctica has revealed cells that might repair their DNA at extremely cold temperatures and, in doing so, could effectively be “immortal.” If confirmed, the findings would have implications for the potential for life in the ice of worlds like Mars and Europa. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Cosmicus - In the not-too-distant future, NASA is planning to build lunar research outposts where astronauts will perform important scientific experiments on the Moon. However, such missions may have implications for the mental health of employees working in isolation for extended periods. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.
g Learning - About 40 graduate students and postdocs from the U.S. and Europe will study everything from the formation of water molecules in space to the evolution of earth's first organisms when they travel to inner Iceland to visit glaciers, geysers, hot springs, lava fields and Mars-like areas. There, participants will learn more about Iceland's "extremophiles" - micro-organisms that live in extremely hot, cold, acidic or otherwise inhospitable conditions. See article.

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Sol’s astrosphere and how nickel helped life evolve

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - In a paper to appear in Astrobiology, David Smith at the University of Arizona in Tucson and John Scalo at the University of Texas, Austin, calculated the squeezing of various stars' protective "astrospheres". They found Earth is exposed to between one and 10 interstellar assaults every billion years. Habitable planets around a red dwarf, which account for three of every four stars, are never exposed. That's because they need to be close to these dim stars to be warm enough to be habitable. See article.
g Abodes - The rise of oxygen on early Earth may have been caused by a microbial changing of the guard between methane-producers and oxygen-producers. This swap may have been initiated by a drop in the ocean's nickel abundance. Continuing studies of the world's largest iron ore deposits could cement the case. See article.
g Life - The capability of detecting biomarkers, such as amino acids, in chemically complex field samples is essential to establishing the knowledge required to search for chemical signatures of life in future planetary explorations. However, due to the complexities of in situ investigations, it is important to establish a new analytical scheme that utilizes a minimal amount of sample preparation. A new research paper reports the feasibility of a novel and sensitive technique, which has been established to quantitate amino acids in terrestrial crust samples directly without derivatization using volatile ion-pairing liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry equipped with an electrospray ionization source.
g Learning - While the space shuttle fleet continues its countdown to retirement, Kennedy Space Center teams are already at work to transition the Florida spaceport into the home of the Ares rocket family that promises to carry astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.

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Thirty million year old ice age and using cellulose microfibers to find extraterrestrial life

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Abodes - New research shows that a 'brief' ice age in Earth's past actually lasted for 30 million years. During the ice age, global warming was curbed by the natural burial of organic carbon underground. The study is helping scientists understand the historical connections between the biosphere and the environment of Earth. See article.
g Life - A new study shows that abundant cellulose microfibers are present in t250 million year old halite and appear remarkably intact. This discovery points to cellulose as an ideal macromolecular target in the search for life on other planets in our Solar System. See article.
g Cosmicus - As the 21st century gets underway, the impact of space activities upon the welfare of humanity only will increase. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site courtesy of NASA: “Future Flight Design”. Written for grades 3-7, kids can design air transportation and aircraft systems.

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