Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - For many stargazers, the night sky might look like a backdrop of very similar twinkling lights. But actually the billions of stars that make up the universe are varied and full of tantalizing marvels. From stellar fireworks caused by supernova explosions to invisible black holes, astronomers are gradually figuring out how stars work and what makes each variety unique. Many mysteries remain, however. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/top10_star_mysteries.html.
g Abodes - The production of chemically reactive oxidants on the surface of Mars and icy moons such as Europa may provide clues to their habitability and offers new avenues for future space exploration and the analysis of surface soil and ice shells, according to three special papers published in Astrobiology journal. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=20277.
g Life - Leopards may not be able to change their spots, but corals can change their skeletons, building them out of different minerals depending on the chemical composition of the seawater around them. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060706095218.htm.
g Intelligence - Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060711084914.htm.
g Cosmicus - Space station flight director Rick LaBrode sweated bullets going into today's spacewalk to fix a stalled robot arm transporter on the international lab complex. But months of planning, tests and simulations paid off with a successful repair job, clearing the way for resumption of station assembly. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060710eva2wrap/.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
Saturn’s rings, mammoth hair coloring and Mars exploration after 2010
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - indirect evidence from X-ray telescopes has revealed telltale signs of thousands of black holes lurking in our own galaxy and beyond. Many are the remnants of exploded stars. But to other far more massive black holes, swallowing a single star is like Mount Everest absorbing a snowflake. See http://www.space.com/science
astronomy/060710_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - NASA Cassini spacecraft images of Saturn's diaphanous G and E rings are yielding new clues about their structure and formation. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705171218.htm.
g Life - By examining DNA extracted from a mammoth bone frozen in Siberian permafrost and comparing it with sequences from other mammoth remains, researchers have concluded that the wooly creatures probably carried two versions of Mc1r, a gene whose protein product helps determine hair color in several mammals, including humans, mice, horses and dogs. See http://www.live
science.com/animalworld/060706_mammoth_hair.html.
g Intelligence - Scientists may have revealed the origin of the battle of the sexes—in our genes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060707190114.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA needs to rethink its Mars exploration plans after 2010 given new understandings about the red planet and likely funding levels in the coming years, according to a report just out from a panel of outside experts. See http://www.space.com/news/060706_mars_report.html.
g Stars - indirect evidence from X-ray telescopes has revealed telltale signs of thousands of black holes lurking in our own galaxy and beyond. Many are the remnants of exploded stars. But to other far more massive black holes, swallowing a single star is like Mount Everest absorbing a snowflake. See http://www.space.com/science
astronomy/060710_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - NASA Cassini spacecraft images of Saturn's diaphanous G and E rings are yielding new clues about their structure and formation. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705171218.htm.
g Life - By examining DNA extracted from a mammoth bone frozen in Siberian permafrost and comparing it with sequences from other mammoth remains, researchers have concluded that the wooly creatures probably carried two versions of Mc1r, a gene whose protein product helps determine hair color in several mammals, including humans, mice, horses and dogs. See http://www.live
science.com/animalworld/060706_mammoth_hair.html.
g Intelligence - Scientists may have revealed the origin of the battle of the sexes—in our genes. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060707190114.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA needs to rethink its Mars exploration plans after 2010 given new understandings about the red planet and likely funding levels in the coming years, according to a report just out from a panel of outside experts. See http://www.space.com/news/060706_mars_report.html.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Geothermal hot springs, new species of ancient aquatic reptile and practice shuttle repairs
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have successfully modeled the spectacular landscapes seen at geothermal hot springs. See http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2006/07/060705182251.htm.
g Life - Scientists have identified a new species of ancient aquatic reptile that swam the seas when dinosaurs still ruled the Earth. Dubbed Umoonasaurus, the creature lived in waters off the coast of what is now Australia 115 million years ago, when the continent was located much closer to Antarctica than it is now. See http://www.live
science.com/animalworld/060707_aquatic_reptile.html.
g Intelligence - Having several older brothers increases the likelihood of a man being gay, a finding researchers say adds weight to the idea that there is a biological basis for sexual orientation. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060626_gay_brothers.html.
g Cosmicus - Astronaut Mike Fossum, anchored to the end of a 100-foot space crane positioned at one end of the space station's solar array truss, pretended to make heat shield repairs Saturday, measuring the forces imparted to the untried space crane to judge its stability as a repair platform. See http://www.spaceflightnow.
com/shuttle/sts121/060708eva1start/index3.html. For related story, see “Mission Update” at http://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/index.html.
g Abodes - Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have successfully modeled the spectacular landscapes seen at geothermal hot springs. See http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2006/07/060705182251.htm.
g Life - Scientists have identified a new species of ancient aquatic reptile that swam the seas when dinosaurs still ruled the Earth. Dubbed Umoonasaurus, the creature lived in waters off the coast of what is now Australia 115 million years ago, when the continent was located much closer to Antarctica than it is now. See http://www.live
science.com/animalworld/060707_aquatic_reptile.html.
g Intelligence - Having several older brothers increases the likelihood of a man being gay, a finding researchers say adds weight to the idea that there is a biological basis for sexual orientation. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060626_gay_brothers.html.
g Cosmicus - Astronaut Mike Fossum, anchored to the end of a 100-foot space crane positioned at one end of the space station's solar array truss, pretended to make heat shield repairs Saturday, measuring the forces imparted to the untried space crane to judge its stability as a repair platform. See http://www.spaceflightnow.
com/shuttle/sts121/060708eva1start/index3.html. For related story, see “Mission Update” at http://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/index.html.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
What makes Earth habitable, crossing the impassable barrier, Discovery analysis continues
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - What makes Earth habitable? This LiveScience original video explores the science of global warming and explains how, for now, conditions here are just right. See http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=GoldilocksGreen.
g Life - Reef fish share genetic connections across what Darwin termed an 'impassable barrier', 5000km of deep ocean separating the eastern and central Pacific, according to a report by Smithsonian scientists in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705184842.htm.
g Intelligence - Animal Controlled Computer Games, a graduation project by Wim van Eck, is a Pac-Man-style game in which humans can play against real insects. The project has been written up in a short paper submitted to the 2006 International Conference on Entertainment. His project parallels part of the plot of “Ender's Game”, the Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel by Orson Scott Card. See http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/
060707_pacman_insects.html.
g Cosmicus - Engineers are still assessing the health of two leading edge panels on Discovery's right wing, along with a protruding gap filler just in front of a propellant feedline access door on the orbiter's belly. Mission Management Team Chairman John Shannon said Friday it might take another day or two before engineers can either give Discovery a clean bill of health or show the "regions of interest" represent potentially serious problems. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060707analysis/.
g Abodes - What makes Earth habitable? This LiveScience original video explores the science of global warming and explains how, for now, conditions here are just right. See http://www.livescience.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=GoldilocksGreen.
g Life - Reef fish share genetic connections across what Darwin termed an 'impassable barrier', 5000km of deep ocean separating the eastern and central Pacific, according to a report by Smithsonian scientists in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705184842.htm.
g Intelligence - Animal Controlled Computer Games, a graduation project by Wim van Eck, is a Pac-Man-style game in which humans can play against real insects. The project has been written up in a short paper submitted to the 2006 International Conference on Entertainment. His project parallels part of the plot of “Ender's Game”, the Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel by Orson Scott Card. See http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/
060707_pacman_insects.html.
g Cosmicus - Engineers are still assessing the health of two leading edge panels on Discovery's right wing, along with a protruding gap filler just in front of a propellant feedline access door on the orbiter's belly. Mission Management Team Chairman John Shannon said Friday it might take another day or two before engineers can either give Discovery a clean bill of health or show the "regions of interest" represent potentially serious problems. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060707analysis/.
Friday, July 07, 2006
When Arctic ice formed, developing urban trees and Discovery heat shield OK
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Embedded in the heart of a supernova remnant 10,000 light-years away is a stellar object the likes of which astronomers have never seen before in our galaxy. See http://www.space.com/
scienceastronomy/060706_supernova_mystery.html.
g Abodes - Arctic ice formed about 45 million years ago – roughly 14 million years ahead of previous predictions – according to new research published in Nature. An international team of scientists, including Brown geologist Steven Clemens, says this startling evidence shows that glaciers formed in tandem at Earth’s poles, providing important insights into global climate change. See http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/geowissenschaften/bericht-60549.html. For related story, please see “Warming Climate Plays Large Role In Western U.S. Wildfires, Study Shows” at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060707093644.htm.
g Life - In an effort to improve the survival chances of urban trees, scientists have developed a cloning technique that allows oaks to develop their own root system rather than having growers painstakingly use the grafting method, which involves propagation by joining plant parts. See http://www.livescience.com/environment/
060706_designer_trees.html.
g Cosmicus - Preliminary assessment of the shuttle Discovery's heat shield after a dramatic end-over-end flip while approaching the international space station shows no signs of appreciable damage to the ship's fragile heat shield tiles from debris impacts during launch, officials said. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060706nodamage/.
g Stars - Embedded in the heart of a supernova remnant 10,000 light-years away is a stellar object the likes of which astronomers have never seen before in our galaxy. See http://www.space.com/
scienceastronomy/060706_supernova_mystery.html.
g Abodes - Arctic ice formed about 45 million years ago – roughly 14 million years ahead of previous predictions – according to new research published in Nature. An international team of scientists, including Brown geologist Steven Clemens, says this startling evidence shows that glaciers formed in tandem at Earth’s poles, providing important insights into global climate change. See http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/geowissenschaften/bericht-60549.html. For related story, please see “Warming Climate Plays Large Role In Western U.S. Wildfires, Study Shows” at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060707093644.htm.
g Life - In an effort to improve the survival chances of urban trees, scientists have developed a cloning technique that allows oaks to develop their own root system rather than having growers painstakingly use the grafting method, which involves propagation by joining plant parts. See http://www.livescience.com/environment/
060706_designer_trees.html.
g Cosmicus - Preliminary assessment of the shuttle Discovery's heat shield after a dramatic end-over-end flip while approaching the international space station shows no signs of appreciable damage to the ship's fragile heat shield tiles from debris impacts during launch, officials said. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060706nodamage/.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Rising carbon dioxide’s effect on oceans, life living inside salt rock and brain spontaneously rewiring itself
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning are dramatically altering ocean chemistry and threatening marine organisms, including corals, that secrete skeletal structures and support oceanic biodiversity. A landmark report released July 5 summarizes the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on these organisms, known as marine calcifiers, and recommends future research for determining the extent of the impacts. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705083057.htm.
g Life - After years of searching for evidence of microbial life in the driest region of Chile’s Atacama Desert, chemist Jacek Wierzchos finally found it. Living inside rocks made of salt. But how it manages to eke out a living there is still a bit of a mystery. See http://www.
astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2013mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/ap_060705_coma.html.
g Cosmicus - The shuttle Discovery is closing in on the international space station today for a long-awaited linkup that will boost the lab's crew size to three, provide more than 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies and give mission managers their first detailed view of the fragile heat shield tiles on the shuttle's belly. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060706debris/.
g Abodes - Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning are dramatically altering ocean chemistry and threatening marine organisms, including corals, that secrete skeletal structures and support oceanic biodiversity. A landmark report released July 5 summarizes the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on these organisms, known as marine calcifiers, and recommends future research for determining the extent of the impacts. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705083057.htm.
g Life - After years of searching for evidence of microbial life in the driest region of Chile’s Atacama Desert, chemist Jacek Wierzchos finally found it. Living inside rocks made of salt. But how it manages to eke out a living there is still a bit of a mystery. See http://www.
astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2013mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/ap_060705_coma.html.
g Cosmicus - The shuttle Discovery is closing in on the international space station today for a long-awaited linkup that will boost the lab's crew size to three, provide more than 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies and give mission managers their first detailed view of the fragile heat shield tiles on the shuttle's belly. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060706debris/.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Martian desert varnish, Automated Transfer Vehicle and extraterrestrial ergonomics
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - New research reveals that the dark coating known as desert varnish creates a record of life around it, by binding traces of DNA, amino acids and other organic compounds to desert rocks. Samples of Martian desert varnish could therefore show whether there has been life on Mars at any stage over the last 4.5 billion years. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules
.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2012mode=thread&order
=0&thold=0.
g Cosmicus - Acoustic testing of Jules Verne, the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), has successfully been completed at ESA's test facilities in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060703210043.htm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “Ergonomics For Extraterrestrials,” in which students develop an extraterrestrial life form, and to create a workstation that accommodates its unique characteristics. See http://www.nasaexplorers.com/show_912_teacher_st.php?id=030106130336.
g Abodes - New research reveals that the dark coating known as desert varnish creates a record of life around it, by binding traces of DNA, amino acids and other organic compounds to desert rocks. Samples of Martian desert varnish could therefore show whether there has been life on Mars at any stage over the last 4.5 billion years. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules
.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2012mode=thread&order
=0&thold=0.
g Cosmicus - Acoustic testing of Jules Verne, the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), has successfully been completed at ESA's test facilities in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060703210043.htm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “Ergonomics For Extraterrestrials,” in which students develop an extraterrestrial life form, and to create a workstation that accommodates its unique characteristics. See http://www.nasaexplorers.com/show_912_teacher_st.php?id=030106130336.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Brown dwarf weather patterns, conversations on Mars and Discovery lifts off
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Ever since their discovery 11 years ago, brown dwarfs have baffled scientists. First it was the question of how to categorize them. These celestial orbs are too massive to be a planet and not massive enough to be a star. Now scientists are investigating astonishing weather patterns on brown dwarfs that could rival Jupiter's Great Red Spot and even Earth's intense hurricanes.
See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060703_mystery
_monday.html.
g Abodes - It may be difficult for two people to have a conversation on Mars, according to a research paper by Penn State graduate student in acoustics Amanda Hanford and Lyle Long, professor of aerospace engineering. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2011mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Entrance fees to Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park will fund a two-year research study to survey and map the park's fossil sites. See http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/184870/4/.
g Intelligence - A study of the sleep characteristics of 669 middle-aged adults found that people sleep much less than they should, and even less than they think. Published in the July issue in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the study also found that blacks sleep less than whites, men sleep less than women, and the poor sleep less than the wealthy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060703162945.htm.
g Cosmicus - The space shuttle Discovery and its flag-waving crew thundered into space today, putting on a spectacular Fourth of July skyshow as it rocketed away on a long-awaited mission to repair and resupply the international space station. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060704launch/.
g Stars - Ever since their discovery 11 years ago, brown dwarfs have baffled scientists. First it was the question of how to categorize them. These celestial orbs are too massive to be a planet and not massive enough to be a star. Now scientists are investigating astonishing weather patterns on brown dwarfs that could rival Jupiter's Great Red Spot and even Earth's intense hurricanes.
See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060703_mystery
_monday.html.
g Abodes - It may be difficult for two people to have a conversation on Mars, according to a research paper by Penn State graduate student in acoustics Amanda Hanford and Lyle Long, professor of aerospace engineering. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2011mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Entrance fees to Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park will fund a two-year research study to survey and map the park's fossil sites. See http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/184870/4/.
g Intelligence - A study of the sleep characteristics of 669 middle-aged adults found that people sleep much less than they should, and even less than they think. Published in the July issue in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the study also found that blacks sleep less than whites, men sleep less than women, and the poor sleep less than the wealthy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060703162945.htm.
g Cosmicus - The space shuttle Discovery and its flag-waving crew thundered into space today, putting on a spectacular Fourth of July skyshow as it rocketed away on a long-awaited mission to repair and resupply the international space station. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts121/060704launch/.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Primordial star blob, bird extinction rates and advantages of orbital settlements
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - The European Southern Observatory's VLT has helped scientists to discover a large primordial 'blob', more than 10 billion light-years away. The most likely scenario to account for its existence and properties is that it represents the early stage in the formation of a galaxy, when gas falls onto a large clump of dark matter. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/
060703163148.htm.
g Abodes - Transparent jellyfish-like creatures known as salps, considered by many a low member in the ocean food web, may be more important to the fate of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the ocean than previously thought. See http://www.astrobio.net/
news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2010
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Birds enjoy a relatively slow rate of extinction, but a new study suggests that rate might be severely underestimated. See http://www.
livescience.com/animalworld/060703_bird_extinctions.html.
g Intelligence - The mechanism behind jet lag, insomnia and other disorders that rely on an inner body clock is not what it seems, scientists announced. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060703_body_clock.html.
g Cosmicus - What advantages would orbital settlements have over a colony built on another planet? See http://members.aol.com/oscarcombs/spacsetl.htm.
g Stars - The European Southern Observatory's VLT has helped scientists to discover a large primordial 'blob', more than 10 billion light-years away. The most likely scenario to account for its existence and properties is that it represents the early stage in the formation of a galaxy, when gas falls onto a large clump of dark matter. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/
060703163148.htm.
g Abodes - Transparent jellyfish-like creatures known as salps, considered by many a low member in the ocean food web, may be more important to the fate of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the ocean than previously thought. See http://www.astrobio.net/
news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2010
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Birds enjoy a relatively slow rate of extinction, but a new study suggests that rate might be severely underestimated. See http://www.
livescience.com/animalworld/060703_bird_extinctions.html.
g Intelligence - The mechanism behind jet lag, insomnia and other disorders that rely on an inner body clock is not what it seems, scientists announced. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060703_body_clock.html.
g Cosmicus - What advantages would orbital settlements have over a colony built on another planet? See http://members.aol.com/oscarcombs/spacsetl.htm.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Freshwater flood of ocean, America’s new breed of rockets and astronauts safe from kidney stones
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - Near the end of the last Ice Age 8,000 years ago, an ice dam on North America's east coast broke, releasing a torrent of fresh water seven times more voluminous than all the Great Lakes combined. It all rushed into the Atlantic Ocean over the course of only a few months. See http://www.livescience.com/environment/060629_lake_bursts.html.
g Cosmicus - A new spy satellite is circling Earth after a spectacular sendoff Tuesday evening, marking the first time such a clandestine national security spacecraft has launched aboard America's modern breed of rockets. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d317/.
g Cosmicus - Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a way for astronauts to reduce their risk of developing kidney stones while in space. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/mod
ules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2009mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Near the end of the last Ice Age 8,000 years ago, an ice dam on North America's east coast broke, releasing a torrent of fresh water seven times more voluminous than all the Great Lakes combined. It all rushed into the Atlantic Ocean over the course of only a few months. See http://www.livescience.com/environment/060629_lake_bursts.html.
g Cosmicus - A new spy satellite is circling Earth after a spectacular sendoff Tuesday evening, marking the first time such a clandestine national security spacecraft has launched aboard America's modern breed of rockets. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d317/.
g Cosmicus - Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a way for astronauts to reduce their risk of developing kidney stones while in space. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/mod
ules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2009mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Ozone layer under repair, ants’ internal pedometer, artificial brain cells and America’s need breed of rockets
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Abodes - The hole in Earth's protective ozone layer won't repair itself until about two decades later than had been expected, scientists announced. See http://www.livescience.com/environment/060630_ozone_hole.html.
g Life - Ants use an internal pedometer to find their way home without getting sidetracked, a new study reports. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060629_ant_pedometers.html.
g Intelligence - A uniform neural net of brain cells—a brain chip—has been created by a team of scientists lead by Yael Hanein of Tel Aviv University in Israel. See http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060626_neural_net.html
g Abodes - The hole in Earth's protective ozone layer won't repair itself until about two decades later than had been expected, scientists announced. See http://www.livescience.com/environment/060630_ozone_hole.html.
g Life - Ants use an internal pedometer to find their way home without getting sidetracked, a new study reports. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060629_ant_pedometers.html.
g Intelligence - A uniform neural net of brain cells—a brain chip—has been created by a team of scientists lead by Yael Hanein of Tel Aviv University in Israel. See http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060626_neural_net.html
Friday, June 30, 2006
Protoplanetary disk shapes, flipping life’s switch and Cassini at half-way mark
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Recent discoveries add yet more variety to the bewildering diversity of protoplanetary disk shapes - ranging from donuts to spirals - that astronomers are finding as they study the birthing grounds of planets around other stars. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2007mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - New technologies are enabling scientists to determine precisely the extent and causes of Earth's short-term wobbling. Like a spinning top, Earth wobbles as it rotates on its axis. In fact, it displays many different wobbling motions, ranging in period from a few minutes to billions of years. Some of these are well studied, like the Chandler wobble of 433 days and the annual wobble, which together can tilt Earth's axis up to 10 meters [30 feet] from its nominal center. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php
op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2005mode=thread&order
=0&thold=0.
g Life - Somewhere on Earth, close to 4 billion years ago, a set of molecular reactions flipped a switch and became life. Scientists try to imagine this animating event by simplifying the processes that characterize living things. New research suggests the simplification needs to go further. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060609_life_origin.html.
g Intelligence - Can Darwinism explain the birth and extinction of art movements, or the enduring appeal of Jane Austen? See http://
www.theage.com.au/news/arts/peacockstailfansourflames/2006/
06/21/1150845231655.html.
g Cosmicus - As the Cassini spacecraft reaches the halfway mark in its four-year tour of the Saturn system, discoveries made during the first half of the mission have scientists revved up to find out what's in store for the second act. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/28cassini/.
g Aftermath - Here’s an interesting book for some astrobiological reading: “After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life”by Albert A. Harrison. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/
product/customerreviews/0306456214/10426166182449525_encoding
=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=books for some reviews.
g Stars - Recent discoveries add yet more variety to the bewildering diversity of protoplanetary disk shapes - ranging from donuts to spirals - that astronomers are finding as they study the birthing grounds of planets around other stars. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2007mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - New technologies are enabling scientists to determine precisely the extent and causes of Earth's short-term wobbling. Like a spinning top, Earth wobbles as it rotates on its axis. In fact, it displays many different wobbling motions, ranging in period from a few minutes to billions of years. Some of these are well studied, like the Chandler wobble of 433 days and the annual wobble, which together can tilt Earth's axis up to 10 meters [30 feet] from its nominal center. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php
op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2005mode=thread&order
=0&thold=0.
g Life - Somewhere on Earth, close to 4 billion years ago, a set of molecular reactions flipped a switch and became life. Scientists try to imagine this animating event by simplifying the processes that characterize living things. New research suggests the simplification needs to go further. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060609_life_origin.html.
g Intelligence - Can Darwinism explain the birth and extinction of art movements, or the enduring appeal of Jane Austen? See http://
www.theage.com.au/news/arts/peacockstailfansourflames/2006/
06/21/1150845231655.html.
g Cosmicus - As the Cassini spacecraft reaches the halfway mark in its four-year tour of the Saturn system, discoveries made during the first half of the mission have scientists revved up to find out what's in store for the second act. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/28cassini/.
g Aftermath - Here’s an interesting book for some astrobiological reading: “After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life”by Albert A. Harrison. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/
product/customerreviews/0306456214/10426166182449525_encoding
=UTF8&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=books for some reviews.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Venus’ polar vortex, cradle of agriculture and faster than light travel
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - The most true-to-life computer simulation ever made of our Sun's multimillion-degree outer atmosphere, the corona, successfully predicted its actual appearance during the March 29, 2006, solar eclipse, scientists have announced. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626231813.htm.
g Abodes - ESA's Venus Express data undoubtedly confirm for the first time the presence of a huge '”double-eye” atmospheric vortex at the planet's south pole. This striking result comes from analysis of the data gathered by the spacecraft during the first orbit around the planet. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=2006mode=thread&order
=0&thold=0.
g Life - Researchers scouring swamps in the heart of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that can change its skin color, the conservation group WWF announced Tuesday. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ap_060627_snake_color.html.
g Intelligence - The southeastern Anatolian province of Þanlýurfa, considered to be the cradle of agriculture as well as hosting numerous examples of ancient architecture, promises new discoveries to shed light on the history of human evolution in the region. See http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=46755.
g Cosmicus - Within the framework of general relativity and without the introduction of wormholes, is it is possible to modify a space-time in a way that allows a spaceship to travel with an arbitrarily large speed, such as faster than light? One physicist thinks so. See www.members.shaw.ca/mike.anderton/WarpDrive.pdf.
g Learning - Here’s a neat lesson plan, “Extraterrestrials,” in which students learn that a digital radio message has been electronically transmitted into space by the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico and that the purpose of the message is to alert any intelligent life in space to the existence of intelligent life on Earth. See http://school.
discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/extraterrestrials/.
g Stars - The most true-to-life computer simulation ever made of our Sun's multimillion-degree outer atmosphere, the corona, successfully predicted its actual appearance during the March 29, 2006, solar eclipse, scientists have announced. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626231813.htm.
g Abodes - ESA's Venus Express data undoubtedly confirm for the first time the presence of a huge '”double-eye” atmospheric vortex at the planet's south pole. This striking result comes from analysis of the data gathered by the spacecraft during the first orbit around the planet. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=2006mode=thread&order
=0&thold=0.
g Life - Researchers scouring swamps in the heart of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that can change its skin color, the conservation group WWF announced Tuesday. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ap_060627_snake_color.html.
g Intelligence - The southeastern Anatolian province of Þanlýurfa, considered to be the cradle of agriculture as well as hosting numerous examples of ancient architecture, promises new discoveries to shed light on the history of human evolution in the region. See http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=46755.
g Cosmicus - Within the framework of general relativity and without the introduction of wormholes, is it is possible to modify a space-time in a way that allows a spaceship to travel with an arbitrarily large speed, such as faster than light? One physicist thinks so. See www.members.shaw.ca/mike.anderton/WarpDrive.pdf.
g Learning - Here’s a neat lesson plan, “Extraterrestrials,” in which students learn that a digital radio message has been electronically transmitted into space by the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico and that the purpose of the message is to alert any intelligent life in space to the existence of intelligent life on Earth. See http://school.
discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/extraterrestrials/.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Testing General Relativity, growing plants in microgravity and reacting to ET’s landing
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - A space telescope scheduled for launch in 2007 will be sensitive enough to detect theoretical miniature black holes lurking within our solar system, scientists say. By doing so, it could test an exotic five-dimensional theory of gravity that competes with Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. That is, of course, if the tiny black holes actually exist. See http://www.space.com/science
astronomy/060626_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - For the first time, glaciologists have combined and compared sets of ancient climate records trapped in ice cores from the South American Andes and the Asian Himalayas to paint a picture of how climate has changed – and is still changing – in the tropics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060627093233.htm.
g Life - When you think of bright coral and colorful fish, you might conjure images of Hawaii or the Caribbean. If so, a newfound bed of deep-sea corals and other animal life found off the coast of Washington state will likely surprise you. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060626_coral_photos.html.
g Intelligence - In the first article to examine bargaining behavior from a consumer perspective, researchers from the University of Maryland found that buyers gauge the success of a round of bargaining not by the final price, but by a seemingly innocuous non-verbal cue: how long the seller pauses before responding to the offer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060625122626.htm.
g Message - And after all those years, as the saying goes, UFOs remain a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Why so? For one, the field is fraught with hucksterism. It's also replete with blurry photos and awful video. But then there are also well-intentioned and puzzled witnesses.Scientifically speaking, are UFOs worth keeping an eye on? See http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/06/23/ufo.research/.
g Cosmicus - When shuttle Discovery next launches, it will carry the continuing research of botanist John Kiss to study if and how well plants can be grown in microgravity. Kiss' project is one of only two experiments launched on Discovery that will be performed on the International Space Station at this time. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2004mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning -A 2006 report by the National Science Foundation revealed that only about one-third of U.S. students in the fourth and eighth grades and less than one-fifth of 12th graders were proficient in math and science tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Scores for underrepresented minorities were significantly lower. See http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/8833.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 - A space telescope scheduled for launch in 2007 will be sensitive enough to detect theoretical miniature black holes lurking within our solar system, scientists say. By doing so, it could test an exotic five-dimensional theory of gravity that competes with Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. That is, of course, if the tiny black holes actually exist. See http://www.space.com/science
astronomy/060626_mystery_monday.html.
g Abodes - For the first time, glaciologists have combined and compared sets of ancient climate records trapped in ice cores from the South American Andes and the Asian Himalayas to paint a picture of how climate has changed – and is still changing – in the tropics. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060627093233.htm.
g Life - When you think of bright coral and colorful fish, you might conjure images of Hawaii or the Caribbean. If so, a newfound bed of deep-sea corals and other animal life found off the coast of Washington state will likely surprise you. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060626_coral_photos.html.
g Intelligence - In the first article to examine bargaining behavior from a consumer perspective, researchers from the University of Maryland found that buyers gauge the success of a round of bargaining not by the final price, but by a seemingly innocuous non-verbal cue: how long the seller pauses before responding to the offer. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060625122626.htm.
g Message - And after all those years, as the saying goes, UFOs remain a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Why so? For one, the field is fraught with hucksterism. It's also replete with blurry photos and awful video. But then there are also well-intentioned and puzzled witnesses.Scientifically speaking, are UFOs worth keeping an eye on? See http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/06/23/ufo.research/.
g Cosmicus - When shuttle Discovery next launches, it will carry the continuing research of botanist John Kiss to study if and how well plants can be grown in microgravity. Kiss' project is one of only two experiments launched on Discovery that will be performed on the International Space Station at this time. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=2004mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning -A 2006 report by the National Science Foundation revealed that only about one-third of U.S. students in the fourth and eighth grades and less than one-fifth of 12th graders were proficient in math and science tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Scores for underrepresented minorities were significantly lower. See http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/8833.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.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Matter-antimatter imbalance, ice age sloth and helping SETI discover aliens
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - B factory experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in the United States and at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan have reached a new milestone in the quest to understand the matter-antimatter imbalance in our universe. Scientists from around the world, including the United Kingdom, to probe such fundamental questions, use these experiments. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060624115839.htm.
g Abodes - New technologies are enabling scientists to determine precisely the extent and causes of Earth's short-term wobbling. Like a spinning top, Earth wobbles as it rotates on its axis. In fact, it displays many different wobbling motions, ranging in period from a few minutes to billions of years. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/26wobbles/.
g Life - For the past three years, students, staff and volunteers from the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, UI Department of Geoscience in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the State Archaeologist have been excavating, analyzing and carefully reconstructing the bones of an ice-age giant sloth from a site near Shenandoah, Iowa. Like detectives at a 12,000-year-old crime scene, the team has been attempting to piece together a life history of this extinct, furry, SUV-sized mammal. What did it eat? Why did it die? And why did sloths mysteriously become extinct along with over three-dozen other large ice age animals? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626123721.htm.
g Intelligence - In an exciting study that provides new understanding of how animals learn - and learn from each other - researchers have demonstrated that bats that use frog acoustic cues to find quality prey can rapidly learn these cues by observing other bats. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060627094205.htm.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free SETI at Home software. Using Internet-connected computers, the program downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your desktop when it is idle. The program has been so successful in plowing through data that other scientific researchers, especially in medicine, are adopting it to their fields. See http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ for the program.
g Cosmicus - As NASA sets its sights on returning to the Moon, the U.S. space agency wants to make sure the scientific research done there is no mere afterthought, but a well-conceived program developed in close consultation with the scientific community. See http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_060626.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “The Drake Equation.” Students estimate the number of civilizations in the galaxy by first estimating the number of craters on the Moon and then by performing estimates of multiple-variable systems culminating in the use of the Drake Equation. See http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/DrakeEquation/Drake.htm.
g Imagining - An impressive listing of “Star Trek” aliens exists at http://cage.p.tripod.com/. Of course, most “Star Trek” aliens either are just humanoid (an unlikely scenario, though the series did explain it away by saying a previous humanoid race “seeded” worlds with their DNA) are incorporeal. Still, the series did offer some intriguing species — most notably the horta, tribble and Species 8472 — merit attention.
g Aftermath - The next social science to be created might be "exopsychology" — the study of behavior, attitudes, personalities and thoughts of alien beings. Although necessarily speculative, exopsychology might eventually be a critical link between humans and aliens. In the meantime, such a study could also provide the additional benefit of informing us about earthbound prejudices. See http://www.parentsurf.com/p/articles/mi_m1175/is_n2_v22/ai_6306
697.
g Stars - B factory experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in the United States and at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan have reached a new milestone in the quest to understand the matter-antimatter imbalance in our universe. Scientists from around the world, including the United Kingdom, to probe such fundamental questions, use these experiments. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060624115839.htm.
g Abodes - New technologies are enabling scientists to determine precisely the extent and causes of Earth's short-term wobbling. Like a spinning top, Earth wobbles as it rotates on its axis. In fact, it displays many different wobbling motions, ranging in period from a few minutes to billions of years. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/26wobbles/.
g Life - For the past three years, students, staff and volunteers from the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, UI Department of Geoscience in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the State Archaeologist have been excavating, analyzing and carefully reconstructing the bones of an ice-age giant sloth from a site near Shenandoah, Iowa. Like detectives at a 12,000-year-old crime scene, the team has been attempting to piece together a life history of this extinct, furry, SUV-sized mammal. What did it eat? Why did it die? And why did sloths mysteriously become extinct along with over three-dozen other large ice age animals? See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626123721.htm.
g Intelligence - In an exciting study that provides new understanding of how animals learn - and learn from each other - researchers have demonstrated that bats that use frog acoustic cues to find quality prey can rapidly learn these cues by observing other bats. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060627094205.htm.
g Message - Want to help SETI discover alien life? If you haven’t already done so, download the free SETI at Home software. Using Internet-connected computers, the program downloads and analyzes radio telescope data on your desktop when it is idle. The program has been so successful in plowing through data that other scientific researchers, especially in medicine, are adopting it to their fields. See http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ for the program.
g Cosmicus - As NASA sets its sights on returning to the Moon, the U.S. space agency wants to make sure the scientific research done there is no mere afterthought, but a well-conceived program developed in close consultation with the scientific community. See http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_060626.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity, courtesy of NASA: “The Drake Equation.” Students estimate the number of civilizations in the galaxy by first estimating the number of craters on the Moon and then by performing estimates of multiple-variable systems culminating in the use of the Drake Equation. See http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/DrakeEquation/Drake.htm.
g Imagining - An impressive listing of “Star Trek” aliens exists at http://cage.p.tripod.com/. Of course, most “Star Trek” aliens either are just humanoid (an unlikely scenario, though the series did explain it away by saying a previous humanoid race “seeded” worlds with their DNA) are incorporeal. Still, the series did offer some intriguing species — most notably the horta, tribble and Species 8472 — merit attention.
g Aftermath - The next social science to be created might be "exopsychology" — the study of behavior, attitudes, personalities and thoughts of alien beings. Although necessarily speculative, exopsychology might eventually be a critical link between humans and aliens. In the meantime, such a study could also provide the additional benefit of informing us about earthbound prejudices. See http://www.parentsurf.com/p/articles/mi_m1175/is_n2_v22/ai_6306
697.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Huge cosmic paradox, Mars Science Laboratory and Big Questions of the Universe
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Scientists have cracked a huge cosmic paradox — how black holes can be the darkest objects known but also responsible for a quarter of all light and other radiation produced in the universe since the Big Bang. See http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer
pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article
pubid=968163964505&cid=1150970532767&call_page
=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath
=News/News.
g Abodes - NASA's next Mars rover will be the Mars Science Laboratory, due for launch in 2009. In hopes of hitting pay dirt once again, NASA has scientists scouting for landing sites that might extend the Martian water story beyond Opportunity's glimpse at Meridiani. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/
060622_exploring_mars.html.
g Life - The first field surveys of the Rubeho Mountains in Tanzania revealed over 160 animal species -including a new species of frog and 11 endemic species--according to an article published in the African Journal of Ecology this month. The findings elevate the importance of protecting this biologically rich wilderness area and the broader Eastern Arc Mountain range from destructive activities underway such as clear-cutting for agriculture, logging and poaching. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060624115041.htm.
g Intelligence - Researchers report that ADHD drugs primarily target the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain that is associated with attention, decision-making and an individual's expression of personality. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2006/06/060626091749.htm.
g Message - The question of whether we are alone in the universe is one of the biggest of the Big Questions of Existence. One way to settle the matter is to find some cosmic company. A direct approach to this problem is to scan the skies with radio telescopes in the hope of stumbling across a message from an alien civilization. See http://www.teampicard.net/forum/latest-intelligence/223-message-curious-please-phone-et/home.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - Astronomers at the University of New Mexico are developing an exciting new telescope with capabilities that are unrivaled in astronomy circles. The CCD/Transit Instrument with Innovative Instrumentation, or CTI-II, is a special-purpose telescope where accuracy and precision are the key components allowing for unprecedented research opportunities. See http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/001283.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Jeff Berkwits’ story "First Contact," which appeared in the August 1996 issue of “Keen!”
g Stars - Scientists have cracked a huge cosmic paradox — how black holes can be the darkest objects known but also responsible for a quarter of all light and other radiation produced in the universe since the Big Bang. See http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer
pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article
pubid=968163964505&cid=1150970532767&call_page
=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath
=News/News.
g Abodes - NASA's next Mars rover will be the Mars Science Laboratory, due for launch in 2009. In hopes of hitting pay dirt once again, NASA has scientists scouting for landing sites that might extend the Martian water story beyond Opportunity's glimpse at Meridiani. See http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/
060622_exploring_mars.html.
g Life - The first field surveys of the Rubeho Mountains in Tanzania revealed over 160 animal species -including a new species of frog and 11 endemic species--according to an article published in the African Journal of Ecology this month. The findings elevate the importance of protecting this biologically rich wilderness area and the broader Eastern Arc Mountain range from destructive activities underway such as clear-cutting for agriculture, logging and poaching. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060624115041.htm.
g Intelligence - Researchers report that ADHD drugs primarily target the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain that is associated with attention, decision-making and an individual's expression of personality. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2006/06/060626091749.htm.
g Message - The question of whether we are alone in the universe is one of the biggest of the Big Questions of Existence. One way to settle the matter is to find some cosmic company. A direct approach to this problem is to scan the skies with radio telescopes in the hope of stumbling across a message from an alien civilization. See http://www.teampicard.net/forum/latest-intelligence/223-message-curious-please-phone-et/home.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - Astronomers at the University of New Mexico are developing an exciting new telescope with capabilities that are unrivaled in astronomy circles. The CCD/Transit Instrument with Innovative Instrumentation, or CTI-II, is a special-purpose telescope where accuracy and precision are the key components allowing for unprecedented research opportunities. See http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/001283.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Jeff Berkwits’ story "First Contact," which appeared in the August 1996 issue of “Keen!”
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Our humdrum galaxy, Earth turning into Venus and ‘Worlds Without End’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - For those among us who like to think we are something special, things have gone downhill since Ptolemy. First, Copernicus’ theories suggested that the Earth was not the center of the universe after all. Then it turned out that the sun was a run-of-the-mill star. Eventually even the Milky Way was shown to be relatively humdrum. Well, it just got more humdrum. See http://thechronicleherald.ca/Science/512179.html.
g Abodes - Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking told Chinese students that Earth could become like Venus. See http://www.livescience.
com/environment/ap_060622_hawking_climate.html.
g Life - Scientists have found 136-million-year-old piece of amber encasing pieces of web and trapped insects that helps fill in the gaps of the origin of orb webs. The finding also indicates predatory spiders likely played a role in the evolution of flying insects. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060622_spider_webs.html.
g Intelligence - Learning to communicate and adapting our behavior to the information we receive has been fundamental to human evolution. Researchers have attempted to build robots or devices with the communication skills of a human adult. However, that is a shortcut that ignores the evolution of language and the skills gained from social interaction, thereby limiting the ability of artificial intelligence devices to react to stimuli to within a fixed set of parameters. See http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfmcit_
id=892769&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1.
g Message - Book alert: “Worlds Without End: the Historic Search for Extraterrestrial Life,” by R.A.S. Hennessey, offers the first complete history of Pluralism - from Plato to NATO. Is there life, intelligent or otherwise, on other worlds - or are we unique and alone in the Universe? This question, now assuming a leading role in science and contemporary culture, is of great antiquity. Its long history has embraced a vast range of interests - from the philosophers of classical Greece, medieval theologians and intellectuals of the Enlightenment down to today's cosmologists, UFO enthusiasts and fans of TV space-operas. Among the important contributors to this 2500-yearold debate are Plato, Aquinas, Newton, Kant, Tom Paine, H.G. Wells, Sir Fred Hoyle and Francis Crick. Worlds Without End is, however, the first full-length chronicle of the whole, long saga. As a result of this long perspective R.A.S. Hennessey is able to identify the major trends and developments in pluralist theories over the centuries. Surprisingly his study reveals that much of what is considered to be new turns out to be old and well-worn - showing how little is truly 'new under the Sun'. This well-illustrated and accessibly written work thus provides an invaluable background to one of the major debates of our time. It will be welcomed not only by those engaged in this debate - scientists, historians, theologians and science fiction readers - but anyone who has looked up at the night sky and wondered, as have others down the ages, "Is there anyone out there?" See http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/bgo/7791.shtml.
g Cosmicus - Northrop Grumman has delivered an important element of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Backplane Stability Test Article, to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for a series of tests designed to verify its readiness for use in space. See http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/23/1693723.htm.
g Learning - Here is a very thorough list of astrobiology-related journals, magazines and newsletters: http://aca.mq.edu.au/Links/AstrobiologyJournalList.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Marc Bilgrey’s "Random Acts," in the anthology “First Contact,” edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff (published by DAW in 1997).
g Stars - For those among us who like to think we are something special, things have gone downhill since Ptolemy. First, Copernicus’ theories suggested that the Earth was not the center of the universe after all. Then it turned out that the sun was a run-of-the-mill star. Eventually even the Milky Way was shown to be relatively humdrum. Well, it just got more humdrum. See http://thechronicleherald.ca/Science/512179.html.
g Abodes - Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking told Chinese students that Earth could become like Venus. See http://www.livescience.
com/environment/ap_060622_hawking_climate.html.
g Life - Scientists have found 136-million-year-old piece of amber encasing pieces of web and trapped insects that helps fill in the gaps of the origin of orb webs. The finding also indicates predatory spiders likely played a role in the evolution of flying insects. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060622_spider_webs.html.
g Intelligence - Learning to communicate and adapting our behavior to the information we receive has been fundamental to human evolution. Researchers have attempted to build robots or devices with the communication skills of a human adult. However, that is a shortcut that ignores the evolution of language and the skills gained from social interaction, thereby limiting the ability of artificial intelligence devices to react to stimuli to within a fixed set of parameters. See http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfmcit_
id=892769&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1.
g Message - Book alert: “Worlds Without End: the Historic Search for Extraterrestrial Life,” by R.A.S. Hennessey, offers the first complete history of Pluralism - from Plato to NATO. Is there life, intelligent or otherwise, on other worlds - or are we unique and alone in the Universe? This question, now assuming a leading role in science and contemporary culture, is of great antiquity. Its long history has embraced a vast range of interests - from the philosophers of classical Greece, medieval theologians and intellectuals of the Enlightenment down to today's cosmologists, UFO enthusiasts and fans of TV space-operas. Among the important contributors to this 2500-yearold debate are Plato, Aquinas, Newton, Kant, Tom Paine, H.G. Wells, Sir Fred Hoyle and Francis Crick. Worlds Without End is, however, the first full-length chronicle of the whole, long saga. As a result of this long perspective R.A.S. Hennessey is able to identify the major trends and developments in pluralist theories over the centuries. Surprisingly his study reveals that much of what is considered to be new turns out to be old and well-worn - showing how little is truly 'new under the Sun'. This well-illustrated and accessibly written work thus provides an invaluable background to one of the major debates of our time. It will be welcomed not only by those engaged in this debate - scientists, historians, theologians and science fiction readers - but anyone who has looked up at the night sky and wondered, as have others down the ages, "Is there anyone out there?" See http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/bgo/7791.shtml.
g Cosmicus - Northrop Grumman has delivered an important element of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Backplane Stability Test Article, to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for a series of tests designed to verify its readiness for use in space. See http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/23/1693723.htm.
g Learning - Here is a very thorough list of astrobiology-related journals, magazines and newsletters: http://aca.mq.edu.au/Links/AstrobiologyJournalList.html.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Marc Bilgrey’s "Random Acts," in the anthology “First Contact,” edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff (published by DAW in 1997).
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Fizzing space, hot Earth and can aliens find us?
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Space is fizzing. Above our heads, where the Earth's magnetic field meets the constant stream of gas from the Sun, thousands of bubbles of superheated gas are constantly growing and popping. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/24cluster/.
g Abodes - The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.'' See http://www.livescience.com/environment/ap_060622_earth_hot.html.
g Life - Astrobiology Magazine’s managing editor, Henry Bortman, is hanging out with a group of astrobiologists in the driest place on Earth, Chile’s Atacama Desert. Yungay, an abandoned mining settlement in the Atacama, was until recently thought to be completely devoid of life. But new evidence hints at the possibility that even here, where rainfall is an event that occurs once a decade, microbial life can eke out an existence. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid
=2002mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - The neurological basis for poor witness statements and hallucinations has been found by scientists at the University College London. In over a fifth of cases, people wrongly remembered whether they actually witnessed an event or just imagined it, according to a paper published in NeuroImage this week. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060623215216.htm.
g Message - Can aliens find us? With a really nice pair of binoculars, the Great Wall of China (not to mention less romantic constructions, such as interstate highways) does become visible from orbit. Any curious aliens that made it to within a few hundred miles of Earth would have no trouble seeing the artifacts of our civilization. They would know, without doubt, that technologically competent beings roamed our world. But how visible are we to aliens that are farther away? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_
aliens_031023.html. Here’s the follow-up to the article from 2003: http://
www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_seeing_031120.html.
g Cosmicus - The main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, which has revolutionized astronomy with its stunning pictures of the universe, has stopped working, engineers said today. See http://
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060625/NEWS
06/606250407/1012.
g Imagining - Scientifically speaking, are UFOs worth keeping an eye on? Not exactly. See http://www.space.com/news/060622_alien_encounters.html.
g Stars - Space is fizzing. Above our heads, where the Earth's magnetic field meets the constant stream of gas from the Sun, thousands of bubbles of superheated gas are constantly growing and popping. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/24cluster/.
g Abodes - The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.'' See http://www.livescience.com/environment/ap_060622_earth_hot.html.
g Life - Astrobiology Magazine’s managing editor, Henry Bortman, is hanging out with a group of astrobiologists in the driest place on Earth, Chile’s Atacama Desert. Yungay, an abandoned mining settlement in the Atacama, was until recently thought to be completely devoid of life. But new evidence hints at the possibility that even here, where rainfall is an event that occurs once a decade, microbial life can eke out an existence. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid
=2002mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - The neurological basis for poor witness statements and hallucinations has been found by scientists at the University College London. In over a fifth of cases, people wrongly remembered whether they actually witnessed an event or just imagined it, according to a paper published in NeuroImage this week. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060623215216.htm.
g Message - Can aliens find us? With a really nice pair of binoculars, the Great Wall of China (not to mention less romantic constructions, such as interstate highways) does become visible from orbit. Any curious aliens that made it to within a few hundred miles of Earth would have no trouble seeing the artifacts of our civilization. They would know, without doubt, that technologically competent beings roamed our world. But how visible are we to aliens that are farther away? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_
aliens_031023.html. Here’s the follow-up to the article from 2003: http://
www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_seeing_031120.html.
g Cosmicus - The main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope, which has revolutionized astronomy with its stunning pictures of the universe, has stopped working, engineers said today. See http://
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060625/NEWS
06/606250407/1012.
g Imagining - Scientifically speaking, are UFOs worth keeping an eye on? Not exactly. See http://www.space.com/news/060622_alien_encounters.html.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Glowing neutron stars, good odds at million-to-one and brain filters
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; Career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here’s today’s news:
g Stars - Dense stellar corpses doomed to roam through space alone can get a second "lease on life" by passing through clouds of gas in stellar nurseries, a controversial new analysis proposes. The research suggests the corpses – called neutron stars – begin to glow at X-ray wavelengths when gas falls onto them. See http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9397-mysterious-xray-sources-may-be-lone-neutron-stars.html.
g Abodes - The names Nix and Hydra have been approved for the two small satellites of Pluto discovered in May 2005. In mythology, Nix is the goddess of darkness and night, befitting a satellite orbiting distant Pluto, the god of the underworld. Hydra is the terrifying monster with the body of a serpent and nine heads, befitting the outermost moon of Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/22plutomoons/.
g Life - It may be a million-to-one shot that life exists elsewhere in the galaxy, but when you’re talking about astronomy, those may be good odds. See http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060623/BUSINESS/60622067/1122.
g Intelligence - The brain filters what we hear. It can do this in part because particular groups of neurons react to specific frequencies of sound. Neurobiologists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have now created a "frequency map" for numerous areas of the brain. They used magnetic resonance imaging to identify which neuronal fields are activated by single frequencies and by mixtures of frequencies. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060623215911.htm.
g Message - The Planetary Society has posted an update on SETI@home's Stellar Countdown reobservations from March. At that time, the Berkeley University based SETI@home chose the best candidates (166) from the millions of data packets analyzed by users' home computers. They traveled to Arecibo, where they had unprecedented full use of the resources of the giant dish to reobserve the areas that had hatched the chosen signals. See http://space.about.com/b/a/009811.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has already cut the size and duration of each orbit by more than half, just 11 weeks into a 23-week process of shrinking its orbit. By other indicators, the lion's share of the job lies ahead. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2000
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Aftermath - The discovery that alien life exists would mean that we are not the center of the universe. While most religions now recognize that the Earth is just a lump of rock, they still believe that we human beings are the most important thing in creation, that we occupy a special place in God's plan. The existence of aliens would seem to make this implausible especially if they are more advanced than we are (on all levels, intellectually, spiritually) This would mean that God has acted in the development of the aliens in a way he did not act in ours, which in turn would mean that we do not occupy the paramount role in God's creation, which as I said is a fundamental idea in religions. See http://www.philosophos.com/knowledge_base/
archives_10/philosophy_questions_1041.html.
g Stars - Dense stellar corpses doomed to roam through space alone can get a second "lease on life" by passing through clouds of gas in stellar nurseries, a controversial new analysis proposes. The research suggests the corpses – called neutron stars – begin to glow at X-ray wavelengths when gas falls onto them. See http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9397-mysterious-xray-sources-may-be-lone-neutron-stars.html.
g Abodes - The names Nix and Hydra have been approved for the two small satellites of Pluto discovered in May 2005. In mythology, Nix is the goddess of darkness and night, befitting a satellite orbiting distant Pluto, the god of the underworld. Hydra is the terrifying monster with the body of a serpent and nine heads, befitting the outermost moon of Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/22plutomoons/.
g Life - It may be a million-to-one shot that life exists elsewhere in the galaxy, but when you’re talking about astronomy, those may be good odds. See http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060623/BUSINESS/60622067/1122.
g Intelligence - The brain filters what we hear. It can do this in part because particular groups of neurons react to specific frequencies of sound. Neurobiologists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have now created a "frequency map" for numerous areas of the brain. They used magnetic resonance imaging to identify which neuronal fields are activated by single frequencies and by mixtures of frequencies. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060623215911.htm.
g Message - The Planetary Society has posted an update on SETI@home's Stellar Countdown reobservations from March. At that time, the Berkeley University based SETI@home chose the best candidates (166) from the millions of data packets analyzed by users' home computers. They traveled to Arecibo, where they had unprecedented full use of the resources of the giant dish to reobserve the areas that had hatched the chosen signals. See http://space.about.com/b/a/009811.htm.
g Cosmicus - NASA's newest spacecraft at Mars has already cut the size and duration of each orbit by more than half, just 11 weeks into a 23-week process of shrinking its orbit. By other indicators, the lion's share of the job lies ahead. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2000
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Aftermath - The discovery that alien life exists would mean that we are not the center of the universe. While most religions now recognize that the Earth is just a lump of rock, they still believe that we human beings are the most important thing in creation, that we occupy a special place in God's plan. The existence of aliens would seem to make this implausible especially if they are more advanced than we are (on all levels, intellectually, spiritually) This would mean that God has acted in the development of the aliens in a way he did not act in ours, which in turn would mean that we do not occupy the paramount role in God's creation, which as I said is a fundamental idea in religions. See http://www.philosophos.com/knowledge_base/
archives_10/philosophy_questions_1041.html.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Black hole light shows, recovering meteorites in Hammerfest and world’s first bling
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - A team of astronomers led by the University of Michigan may know how black holes are lighting up the Universe. New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show, for the first time, that powerful magnetic fields are the key to these brilliant and startling light shows. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/22blackholes/.
g Abodes - The city of Hammerfest lies at the northern tip of Norway, well above the Arctic Circle. If you board a ship heading north from there, just before you reach the polar ice cap you run into a group of islands known as the Svalbard archipelago. For the past two summers, a group of scientists has traveled to the largest of these islands to study an environment that sheds light on a notorious meteorite, discovered at the opposite end of the Earth, in Antarctica. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20168.
g Life - The Yungay region in Chile’s Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. It rains perhaps once every 10 years. It is so dry that not even microbial life can survive there. Almost as dry as Mars. That makes it an interesting place for astrobiologists to study. Later this month, Astrobiology Magazine will begin a series of field reports from Yungay. Join us as we accompany scientists who are heading to Yungay to explore the limits of life. See http://www.astrobio.net
/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1999
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Ancient beads that may represent the oldest attempt by people at self-decoration have been identified from sites in Algeria and Israel. See http://www.livescience.com/history/060622_ancient_jewelry.html.
g Message - Many common ideas about SETI just aren’t true, but that doesn't prevent them from popping up in popular articles, blogs, books, and even movies. Here are three of my favorite fallacies about SETI. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_three_myths_060622.html.
g Cosmicus - Geckos, snails and newts thrived on a Russian spacecraft that carried a Montana State University experiment last summer, but not bacteria, said an MSU microbiologist who is studying the long-term effects of space travel. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20167.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Samples of the Future.” In this exercise, which reinforces creative thinking and the scientific method, kids build their own toy spacecraft from assorted household materials. See http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/15aug01/corner.html.
g Imagining - Traditional science fiction has aliens who speak some form of English or resemble humans. The problem is, chances are slim that non-terrestrial life will have such earthling-like traits. Chemists at the University of Florida hope to overcome that obstacle by figuring out what alien life might look like. See http://www.napa.ufl.edu/98news/astrobio.htm. Note: This article is from 1998.
g Aftermath - Some of the best discussion of the consequences of alien contact occurs in science fiction. Here’s a novel that ranks among the most important in that dialogue: Arthur C. Clark’s “Songs of a Distant Earth.” Look for it at your library or local used book store.
g Stars - A team of astronomers led by the University of Michigan may know how black holes are lighting up the Universe. New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show, for the first time, that powerful magnetic fields are the key to these brilliant and startling light shows. See http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0606/22blackholes/.
g Abodes - The city of Hammerfest lies at the northern tip of Norway, well above the Arctic Circle. If you board a ship heading north from there, just before you reach the polar ice cap you run into a group of islands known as the Svalbard archipelago. For the past two summers, a group of scientists has traveled to the largest of these islands to study an environment that sheds light on a notorious meteorite, discovered at the opposite end of the Earth, in Antarctica. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20168.
g Life - The Yungay region in Chile’s Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. It rains perhaps once every 10 years. It is so dry that not even microbial life can survive there. Almost as dry as Mars. That makes it an interesting place for astrobiologists to study. Later this month, Astrobiology Magazine will begin a series of field reports from Yungay. Join us as we accompany scientists who are heading to Yungay to explore the limits of life. See http://www.astrobio.net
/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1999
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - Ancient beads that may represent the oldest attempt by people at self-decoration have been identified from sites in Algeria and Israel. See http://www.livescience.com/history/060622_ancient_jewelry.html.
g Message - Many common ideas about SETI just aren’t true, but that doesn't prevent them from popping up in popular articles, blogs, books, and even movies. Here are three of my favorite fallacies about SETI. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_three_myths_060622.html.
g Cosmicus - Geckos, snails and newts thrived on a Russian spacecraft that carried a Montana State University experiment last summer, but not bacteria, said an MSU microbiologist who is studying the long-term effects of space travel. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20167.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Samples of the Future.” In this exercise, which reinforces creative thinking and the scientific method, kids build their own toy spacecraft from assorted household materials. See http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/15aug01/corner.html.
g Imagining - Traditional science fiction has aliens who speak some form of English or resemble humans. The problem is, chances are slim that non-terrestrial life will have such earthling-like traits. Chemists at the University of Florida hope to overcome that obstacle by figuring out what alien life might look like. See http://www.napa.ufl.edu/98news/astrobio.htm. Note: This article is from 1998.
g Aftermath - Some of the best discussion of the consequences of alien contact occurs in science fiction. Here’s a novel that ranks among the most important in that dialogue: Arthur C. Clark’s “Songs of a Distant Earth.” Look for it at your library or local used book store.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Gliese 876’s planets, Pluto’s status and the Phoenix Lander
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 Gliese 876 / Ross 780. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/gl876.htm.
g Abodes - At its conference this August, the International Astronomical Union will make a decision that could see Pluto lose its status as a planet. See http://www.physorg.com/news70120085.html.
g Life - The population of an endangered species of dolphin living in Pakistan's Indus River has increased in recent years, but the animal remains at high risk of extinction, the scientist leading a conservation project said. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wpdyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060700976.html.
g Intelligence - New findings reported this week reveal that at least some primates can use their stored knowledge of recent weather as a tool for guiding their foraging behavior when searching for ripening fruit. The work potentially informs our understanding of how cognitive skills developed in humans and other primates. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1998mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Message - If we are not alone in the universe, why have we never picked up signals from an extraterrestrial civilization? Known as the Fermi paradox after physicist Enrico Fermi, who first posed the question, this long-standing puzzle remains one of the strongest arguments against the existence of intelligent aliens. But two physicists say they have come up with a solution. They suggest a way in which aliens could send messages to each other across space that not only disguises their locations but also makes it impossible for a casual observer to even distinguish the messages from background noise. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/seti-03c.html. Note: This article is from May 2003.
g Cosmicus - The Phoenix Lander will explore a polar site on Mars to uncover clues about the planet's history of water and potential for life. The computer "brain" of the spacecraft is now ready for action, and a team at the University of Arizona in Tucson has begun adding engineering models of science payload instruments to a mock lander that will be tested in the Payload Interoperability Testbed, or "PIT." See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=1997mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Here’s a neat new set of afterschool activities for elementary school students: “Astrobiology.” This new resource guide from the American Museum of Natural History brings astrobiology activities to the afterschool arena. As part of an 18-month project, AMNH collected NASA materials originally developed for the formal education setting, and adapted them for use in afterschool programs for participants aged 5-12. Members of NAI's NASA Ames Research Center Lead Team served as science advisors to the guide. See http://www.amnhafterschool.pdf/.
g Imagining - While science fiction has come a long way from the days of bug-eyed monsters, the genre still hasn't gone far enough in presenting well-conceived alien beings. As a derivative genre, role-playing games have an even poorer record. See http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/sfnov99.html.
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.
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 Gliese 876 / Ross 780. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/gl876.htm.
g Abodes - At its conference this August, the International Astronomical Union will make a decision that could see Pluto lose its status as a planet. See http://www.physorg.com/news70120085.html.
g Life - The population of an endangered species of dolphin living in Pakistan's Indus River has increased in recent years, but the animal remains at high risk of extinction, the scientist leading a conservation project said. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wpdyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060700976.html.
g Intelligence - New findings reported this week reveal that at least some primates can use their stored knowledge of recent weather as a tool for guiding their foraging behavior when searching for ripening fruit. The work potentially informs our understanding of how cognitive skills developed in humans and other primates. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1998mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Message - If we are not alone in the universe, why have we never picked up signals from an extraterrestrial civilization? Known as the Fermi paradox after physicist Enrico Fermi, who first posed the question, this long-standing puzzle remains one of the strongest arguments against the existence of intelligent aliens. But two physicists say they have come up with a solution. They suggest a way in which aliens could send messages to each other across space that not only disguises their locations but also makes it impossible for a casual observer to even distinguish the messages from background noise. See http://www.spacedaily.com/news/seti-03c.html. Note: This article is from May 2003.
g Cosmicus - The Phoenix Lander will explore a polar site on Mars to uncover clues about the planet's history of water and potential for life. The computer "brain" of the spacecraft is now ready for action, and a team at the University of Arizona in Tucson has begun adding engineering models of science payload instruments to a mock lander that will be tested in the Payload Interoperability Testbed, or "PIT." See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=1997mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Here’s a neat new set of afterschool activities for elementary school students: “Astrobiology.” This new resource guide from the American Museum of Natural History brings astrobiology activities to the afterschool arena. As part of an 18-month project, AMNH collected NASA materials originally developed for the formal education setting, and adapted them for use in afterschool programs for participants aged 5-12. Members of NAI's NASA Ames Research Center Lead Team served as science advisors to the guide. See http://www.amnhafterschool.pdf/.
g Imagining - While science fiction has come a long way from the days of bug-eyed monsters, the genre still hasn't gone far enough in presenting well-conceived alien beings. As a derivative genre, role-playing games have an even poorer record. See http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/sfnov99.html.
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
Dark matter measured, Mars’ mineral spheres and ‘Before the Dawn’
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.
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.
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.
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