Galaxy’s center, warming Mars and ‘Anvil of Stars’

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - A new infrared mosaic from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope offers a stunning view of the stellar hustle and bustle that takes place at our Milky Way galaxy's center. The picture shows throngs of mostly old stars, on the order of hundreds of thousands, amid fantastically detailed clouds of glowing dust lit up by younger, massive stars. See article.
g Abodes - Injecting synthetic "super" greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere could raise the planet's temperature enough to melt its polar ice caps and create conditions suitable for sustaining biological life. In fact, a team of researchers suggests that introducing global warming on the Red Planet may be the best approach for warming the planet's frozen landscape and turning it into a habitable world in the future. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Life - Paleontologists from the University of Bonn report on an intriguing diagnosis in the Dec. 16 issue of the journal Science. A dinosaur that they have examined was apparently able to vary the speed of its growth according the conditions obtaining in its environment. Although tortoises and crocodiles also do this, plateosaurus engelhardti seems to be unique among dinosaurs, leading experts to puzzle over whether the family history of the dinosaurs will need to be rewritten. See article.
g Intelligence - Newly discovered hieroglyphs show that the Maya were writing at a complex level 150 years earlier than previously thought. See article.
g Message - Just how does SETI work? Here’s a good primer for those looking to get a basic overview.
g Cosmicus - The U.S. Air Force has just put out a request for proposal for a "Gaming and Training Environment for Counter Space Operations." In other words, they're ready for “Ender's Game.” Or maybe Space Wars. See article. For related story, see “America’s new ray guns”.
g Learning - Here’s a neat set of lesson plans for seventh and eighth graders: “Science Fiction and the Future.” See article.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Greg Bear’s “Anvil of Stars,” published by Tor in 1992.
g Aftermath - While formal principles have been adopted for the eventuality of detecting intelligent life in our galaxy, no such guidelines exist for the discovery of non-intelligent extraterrestrial life within the solar system. Current scientifically based planetary protection policies for solar system exploration address how to undertake exploration, but do not provide clear guidance on what to do if and when life is detected. Considering that Martian life could be detected under several different robotic and human exploration scenarios in the coming decades, it is appropriate to anticipate how detection of non-intelligent, microbial life could impact future exploration missions and activities, especially on Mars. See article.

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