Thursday, March 27, 2008

Organic gases and water vapor in a possible planet-forming region around star and How SETI uses social sciences to decipher our thoughts on alien life

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 - Astronomers have discovered large amounts of organic gases and water vapor in a possible planet-forming region around a distant star. The findings provide a better view of early planet formation and could aid in the search for habitable extrasolar planets. See article.
g Message - The SETI Institute predicts that we'll detect an extraterrestrial transmission within 20 years. If that turns out to be true, it'll probably be the folks at UC Berkeley's Hat Creek radio observatory who will have heard the call. Note: This article is from 2004. See article.
g Learning - Evolution is fact, not "religion" or "theory" as understood in the vernacular sense of the word. Unfortunately, when obstructing science education in our schools, "intelligent" designers and creationists like to falsely claim that no evidence exists to show evolution is fact. For a variety of excellent papers outlining the case for evolution, click here.
g Aftermath - Here's an intriguing article: How SETI is using the social sciences to decipher our thoughts on alien life. Note: This article is from January 2002. See article.

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