Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Forget our traditional ideas of where a planetary system forms - new research led by a University of Toronto astronomer reveals that planetary nurseries can exist not only around stars but also around objects that are themselves not much heftier than Jupiter. It suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our sun. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=mod
load&name=News&file=article&sid=1987mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A new discovery suggests that ancient Earth was much colder than previously thought — a discovery that has broad implications for those studying the earth's climate. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15866. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Life - Since their discovery in the late 1970s, microorganisms known as archaea have fascinated scientists with their ability to thrive where no other life can - in conditions that are extremely hot, acidic or salty. Researchers from the University of Georgia and Harvard University have found evidence that low-temperature archaea might have evolved from a moderate-temperature environment rather than from their high-temperature counterparts - as most scientists had believed. See http://www.astrobio.net/news
/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1988
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - The evolutionary precursors of modern apes and people diverged from ancient monkeys between 29 million and 34.5 million years ago, a new genetic analysis concludes. This evolutionary parting of the ways had previously been placed at between 23 million and 25 million years ago. See http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=117352. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Is anyone out there? The chance of spotting signals from extraterrestrials is about to soar, say SETI Institute scientists, who, together with radio astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley have begun building the first telescope to look around the clock for life on other planets. See http://www.aip.org/pt/vol-53/iss-10/p71.html.
g Cosmicus - The year is 1947. Twelve-year-old Carl Sagan is standing outside a small house in the Eastern city of Brooklyn, New York. It is dark. He is looking up at the sky. After a few minutes, he finds the spot for which he has been searching. It is a light red color in the night sky. Carl is looking at the planet Mars. See http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2006-05-30-voa5.cfm.
g Learning - Here’s a neat new podcast program, “Radio Astrobiology.” In the first show, host Simon Mitton unveils the science behind astrobiology in Part I of an in-depth interview with David Southwood, Director of Science for the European Space Agency. In this segment of the interview, Southwood reveals Europe's plans for exploring the universe and expanding our knowledge of astrobiology. (Clicking on this link will launch you directly into the podcast program [9 MB, mp3]). See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1909
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 for more.
g Imagining - Will Star Trek’s carbon-based life forms be the norm for alien chemistry? See http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220889. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Aftermath - Scientists such as the SETI Institute’s John Billingham and Jill Tarter have taken the lead in planning for the day we might receive a signal from life beyond Earth. Working with diplomats and space lawyers, they have helped develop protocols that guide the activities of SETI scientists who think they may have detected extraterrestrial intelligence. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_protocols_010228.html. Note: This story is a couple of years old.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Interstellar dust factories, dwarf dinosaurs and O'Neill cylinder
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Massive star supernovae have been major "dust factories" ever since the first generations of stars formed several hundred million years after the Big Bang, according to an international study published in Science Express. See http://www.hindu.com/thehindu
/holnus/008200606100312.htm.
g Abodes - NASA is cancelling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth's changing climate and environment. See http://www.smh.com.
au/news/world/brassed-off-scientists-warning-on-nasa-cuts/2006/06/09/1149815315508.html.
g Life - Dwarf dinosaurs? It sounds like the old George Carlin joke about jumbo shrimp: two words that just don't go together. But fossils from northern Germany have revealed a dinosaur that evolved into a dwarf, ending up only about one-third the size of its closest known relatives, scientists report. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/pioneerpress/news/local/14765511.htm.
g Intelligence - To understand how intelligence develops, we have only one example to study: the development of human intelligence on Earth. Since intelligent life took a long time to develop on Earth, some believe it will take just as long on other worlds. The appearance of evolution seems aimed towards the development of intelligence, but what kinds and with what frequencies? See http://astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&thold=-1&mode=flat&order=0&sid=323. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Message - The chances are there's life out there, but any messages could be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtmlxml=
/connected/2005/10/05/ecfdisco05.xml&sSheet=/connected/2005/
10/05/ixconnrite.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - A key step to establishing humanity as a spacefaring race will be permanent space habitats. One possible design is the O'Neill cylinder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.
g Learning - American Indians and the Alaska Native population comprise 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The National Science Foundation cites this population group as only 0.3 percent of the U.S. science and engineering workforce. See http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060608005135&newsLang=en.
g Imagining - Here’s a neat Web site that lists a variety of quality science fiction books focusing on aliens and their encounters with humans at http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.html. Scroll to “START HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT SUBGENRE CATEGORY YOU LIKE” and click on ALIENS ON EARTH. The day-glow green background on this Web site is painful, but every book listed is a good read.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
g Stars - Massive star supernovae have been major "dust factories" ever since the first generations of stars formed several hundred million years after the Big Bang, according to an international study published in Science Express. See http://www.hindu.com/thehindu
/holnus/008200606100312.htm.
g Abodes - NASA is cancelling or delaying a number of satellites designed to give scientists critical information on the earth's changing climate and environment. See http://www.smh.com.
au/news/world/brassed-off-scientists-warning-on-nasa-cuts/2006/06/09/1149815315508.html.
g Life - Dwarf dinosaurs? It sounds like the old George Carlin joke about jumbo shrimp: two words that just don't go together. But fossils from northern Germany have revealed a dinosaur that evolved into a dwarf, ending up only about one-third the size of its closest known relatives, scientists report. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/pioneerpress/news/local/14765511.htm.
g Intelligence - To understand how intelligence develops, we have only one example to study: the development of human intelligence on Earth. Since intelligent life took a long time to develop on Earth, some believe it will take just as long on other worlds. The appearance of evolution seems aimed towards the development of intelligence, but what kinds and with what frequencies? See http://astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&thold=-1&mode=flat&order=0&sid=323. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Message - The chances are there's life out there, but any messages could be thousands of years old and indecipherable. See http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtmlxml=
/connected/2005/10/05/ecfdisco05.xml&sSheet=/connected/2005/
10/05/ixconnrite.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Cosmicus - A key step to establishing humanity as a spacefaring race will be permanent space habitats. One possible design is the O'Neill cylinder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.
g Learning - American Indians and the Alaska Native population comprise 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The National Science Foundation cites this population group as only 0.3 percent of the U.S. science and engineering workforce. See http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060608005135&newsLang=en.
g Imagining - Here’s a neat Web site that lists a variety of quality science fiction books focusing on aliens and their encounters with humans at http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/thisthat.html. Scroll to “START HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT SUBGENRE CATEGORY YOU LIKE” and click on ALIENS ON EARTH. The day-glow green background on this Web site is painful, but every book listed is a good read.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Brown dwarf genesis, red rain and virtual astrobiological field trip
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered that the large disks of gas and dust around young stars will fragment if two young stars pass close to each other and form smaller brown dwarfs stars with disks of their own. See http://www.physorg.com/news69083174.html.
g Abodes - No one knows when life first established a firm foothold on Earth. Ask around in the scientific community, though, and you'll probably hear that the surface of early Earth, before about 3.8 billion years ago, was too hostile an environment for even a lowly microbe to set up shop. The main problem, as the conventional argument goes, was that between around 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, comets and asteroids were constantly bombarding Earth. The disastrous effects of these impacts would have rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. Not necessarily so, say a team of astrobiologists who are studying the oldest known sedimentary rocks on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=68. Note: This article is from November 2000.
g Life - In 1968, a red-tinted rain dropped fine grit from the Sahara over southern England in 1968. It's not all that uncommon a phenomenon, and so in 2001, when red rain - as red as blood, in some cases - fell over the southwestern Indian state of Kerala sporadically from July 25 to Sept. 23, the first assumption was that the rainwater had been contaminated by dust. See http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/arts_life/story.html?id=c1627bd9-334a-428a-8d5f-a7c532c44ec2.
g Intelligence - First discovered 150 years ago, Neanderthals have been studied more widely than any other form of human. Thanks to a new interactive inventory and online catalogue developed in Europe, scientists worldwide can now probe the secrets of this primitive relative from the comfort of their computer. See http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/08/1674760.htm.
g Message - The earliest speculations about communication with extraterrestrial intelligence involved contact with the Moon and with other planets of our own solar system. In the 1800s, many astronomers thought that — at least theoretically — life might well exist throughout the solar system. But when people raised the question of whether we are really alone in the solar system, they began to imagine ways to find a very concrete answer. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179533.
g Cosmicus - When the space exploration initiative was announced, Congress asked the NRC to review the science NASA proposed to carryout under the initiative. It also asked the NRC to assess whether this program would provide balanced scientific research across the established disciplines supported by NASA in addition to supporting the new initiative. In 2005, the NRC released three studies focusing on a portion of that task, but changes at NASA forced the postponement of the last phase. This report presents that last phase with an assessment of the health of the NASA scientific disciplines under the budget requests imposed by the exploration initiative. The report also provides an analysis of whether the science budget appropriately reflects cross-disciplinary scientific priorities. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=20962.
g Learning - Join scientists in Australia via the "Virtual Field Trip" at NASA’s Quest website. The VFT is an immersive multimedia application developed to support student and user exploration of areas on Earth that have been identified as analog sites to regions on Mars. In their first education and public outreach collaboration, NASA and Macquarie University in Sydney, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, have created an innovative online field experience that combines the cool tools of the Internet with good scientific fieldwork at remote sites. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/0seti_outback_060608.html.
g Imagining - What about the invading aliens from the X-Files: Are they plausible? A book released a few years ago that addresses the topic is “The Science of the X-Files,” by Jeanne Cavelos. There’s a review of the book (look near the end for a discussion on the extraterrestrial biology) at http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/science-of-the-x-files/.
g Aftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered that the large disks of gas and dust around young stars will fragment if two young stars pass close to each other and form smaller brown dwarfs stars with disks of their own. See http://www.physorg.com/news69083174.html.
g Abodes - No one knows when life first established a firm foothold on Earth. Ask around in the scientific community, though, and you'll probably hear that the surface of early Earth, before about 3.8 billion years ago, was too hostile an environment for even a lowly microbe to set up shop. The main problem, as the conventional argument goes, was that between around 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago, comets and asteroids were constantly bombarding Earth. The disastrous effects of these impacts would have rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. Not necessarily so, say a team of astrobiologists who are studying the oldest known sedimentary rocks on Earth. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=68. Note: This article is from November 2000.
g Life - In 1968, a red-tinted rain dropped fine grit from the Sahara over southern England in 1968. It's not all that uncommon a phenomenon, and so in 2001, when red rain - as red as blood, in some cases - fell over the southwestern Indian state of Kerala sporadically from July 25 to Sept. 23, the first assumption was that the rainwater had been contaminated by dust. See http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/arts_life/story.html?id=c1627bd9-334a-428a-8d5f-a7c532c44ec2.
g Intelligence - First discovered 150 years ago, Neanderthals have been studied more widely than any other form of human. Thanks to a new interactive inventory and online catalogue developed in Europe, scientists worldwide can now probe the secrets of this primitive relative from the comfort of their computer. See http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/08/1674760.htm.
g Message - The earliest speculations about communication with extraterrestrial intelligence involved contact with the Moon and with other planets of our own solar system. In the 1800s, many astronomers thought that — at least theoretically — life might well exist throughout the solar system. But when people raised the question of whether we are really alone in the solar system, they began to imagine ways to find a very concrete answer. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179533.
g Cosmicus - When the space exploration initiative was announced, Congress asked the NRC to review the science NASA proposed to carryout under the initiative. It also asked the NRC to assess whether this program would provide balanced scientific research across the established disciplines supported by NASA in addition to supporting the new initiative. In 2005, the NRC released three studies focusing on a portion of that task, but changes at NASA forced the postponement of the last phase. This report presents that last phase with an assessment of the health of the NASA scientific disciplines under the budget requests imposed by the exploration initiative. The report also provides an analysis of whether the science budget appropriately reflects cross-disciplinary scientific priorities. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=20962.
g Learning - Join scientists in Australia via the "Virtual Field Trip" at NASA’s Quest website. The VFT is an immersive multimedia application developed to support student and user exploration of areas on Earth that have been identified as analog sites to regions on Mars. In their first education and public outreach collaboration, NASA and Macquarie University in Sydney, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, have created an innovative online field experience that combines the cool tools of the Internet with good scientific fieldwork at remote sites. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/0seti_outback_060608.html.
g Imagining - What about the invading aliens from the X-Files: Are they plausible? A book released a few years ago that addresses the topic is “The Science of the X-Files,” by Jeanne Cavelos. There’s a review of the book (look near the end for a discussion on the extraterrestrial biology) at http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/science-of-the-x-files/.
g Aftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_vakoch_history_030612.html. Note: This article is from 2003.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Beta Pictoris’ carbon-rich worlds, cosmic radiation’s effect on human evolution and space habitats
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Scientists using NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE, have discovered abundant amounts of carbon gas in a dusty disk surrounding a well-studied young star named Beta Pictoris. The star's planets could be exotic, carbon-rich worlds of graphite, diamond and methane. See http://www.astrobio.net
/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid
=1984mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A small, near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa is just a pile of floating rubble, probably created from the breakup of an ancient planet, according to a University of Michigan researcher that was part of the Japanese space mission Hayabusa. See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=
article&sid=1982mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Oregon researchers say organisms are adapting to altered seasons and not to direct effects of increasing temperatures. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20053.
g Intelligence - After decades of focusing their attentions skyward, a husband and wife team of astronomers – now in their 80s – are grappling with a question that seems, at first light, to be far, far away from astronomy. Namely: Why did modern humans and other species emerge some 40,000 years ago? Their answer: Cosmic radiation, which the Meinels will elaborate on June 20 in a noon public lecture at the University of San Diego, part of the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20060607-9999-lz1c07meinel.html.
g Message - In the search for life on other worlds, scientists can listen for radio transmissions from stellar neighborhoods where intelligent civilizations might lurk or they can try to actually spot planets like our own in habitable zones around nearby stars. Either approach is tricky and relies on choosing the right targets for scrutiny out of the many thousands of nearby stars in our galactic neighborhood. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1884.html.
g Cosmicus - For humanity to truly become a spacefaring race, we will need to construct permanent space habitats, a space station intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility. It would be a "city" in space, where people would live, work and raise families. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_habitat.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - Could the universe be populated by aggressive intelligent species, such as science fiction’s Alien and Predator? SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak offers some thoughts at http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220878.
g Aftermath - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1999/Jun-11-Fri-1999/news/11331065.html. Note: This article is from 1999.
g Stars - Scientists using NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE, have discovered abundant amounts of carbon gas in a dusty disk surrounding a well-studied young star named Beta Pictoris. The star's planets could be exotic, carbon-rich worlds of graphite, diamond and methane. See http://www.astrobio.net
/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid
=1984mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - A small, near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa is just a pile of floating rubble, probably created from the breakup of an ancient planet, according to a University of Michigan researcher that was part of the Japanese space mission Hayabusa. See http://www.astro
bio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=
article&sid=1982mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Oregon researchers say organisms are adapting to altered seasons and not to direct effects of increasing temperatures. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20053.
g Intelligence - After decades of focusing their attentions skyward, a husband and wife team of astronomers – now in their 80s – are grappling with a question that seems, at first light, to be far, far away from astronomy. Namely: Why did modern humans and other species emerge some 40,000 years ago? Their answer: Cosmic radiation, which the Meinels will elaborate on June 20 in a noon public lecture at the University of San Diego, part of the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. See http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20060607-9999-lz1c07meinel.html.
g Message - In the search for life on other worlds, scientists can listen for radio transmissions from stellar neighborhoods where intelligent civilizations might lurk or they can try to actually spot planets like our own in habitable zones around nearby stars. Either approach is tricky and relies on choosing the right targets for scrutiny out of the many thousands of nearby stars in our galactic neighborhood. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1884.html.
g Cosmicus - For humanity to truly become a spacefaring race, we will need to construct permanent space habitats, a space station intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility. It would be a "city" in space, where people would live, work and raise families. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_habitat.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site in which Monica Grady, head of petrology and meteoritics in the department of mineralogy at the Natural History Museum, presents a comprehensive introduction to astrobiology: http://www.fathom.com/course/10701047/index.html/.
g Imagining - Could the universe be populated by aggressive intelligent species, such as science fiction’s Alien and Predator? SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak offers some thoughts at http://www.seti.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=194993&ct=220878.
g Aftermath - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1999/Jun-11-Fri-1999/news/11331065.html. Note: This article is from 1999.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Galaxy arrangement, Snowball Earth and message beamed at M13
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Scientists at the University of Chicago have bolstered the case for a popular scenario of the big bang theory that neatly explains the arrangement of galaxies throughout the universe. Their supercomputer simulation shows how dark matter, an invisible material of unknown composition, herded luminous matter in the universe from its initial smooth state into the cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters that populate the universe. See http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/687002.html.
g Abodes - It has been 2.3 billion years since Earth's atmosphere became infused with enough oxygen to support life as we know it. About the same time, the planet became encased in ice that some scientists speculate was more than a half-mile deep. That raises questions about whether complex life could have existed before "Snowball Earth" and survived, or if it first evolved when the snowball began to melt. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20018.
g Life - A scientist at Washington State University says the first extraterrestrial life we find is likely to be single-celled organisms surviving on a moon of Saturn, or in the atmosphere of Venus. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002566731_
webspacelife17.html.
g Intelligence - The brain is a "time machine," assert two Duke neuroscientists — and understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051028142649.htm.
g Message - In 1974, the most powerful broadcast ever deliberately beamed into space was made from Puerto Rico. The broadcast formed part of the ceremonies held to mark a major upgrade to the Arecibo Radio Telescope. The transmission consisted of a simple, pictorial message, aimed at our putative cosmic companions in the globular star cluster M13. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179070.
g Cosmicus - Several Russian media reports, including some citing a high-ranking official in the country’s Federal Space Agency, have stated that an agreement is in hand with U.S. entrepreneur and X Prize sponsor Anousheh Ansari for a future trip to the International Space Station. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051011072450.htm.
g Learning - Looking for an overview of the astrobiological field? Try "Introduction to Exobiology" (http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiol
ogy/), which explores the field from a lay perspective and includes a self-test. It's part of the Cruising Chemistry project at Duke.
g Imagining - There are several species in the Star Trek universe that look exactly like humans. The unlikely fact that life on different planets has taken a similar, if not the same direction was sufficiently explained in The Next Generation episode "The Chase." In this key episode to the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's crew finds evidence that four billion years ago the first human civilization explored our galaxy, and they were disappointed because they found themselves alone. To preserve their heritage, they spread encoded DNA fragments across many Class-M planets throughout the galaxy, thereby triggering a development similar to their own. Aside from the evolution schedule the DNA fragments, correctly assembled, contain a message to their descendants, namely humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and all the other humanoid races of the galaxy that are in some way related to each other. As fascinating is this theory, a couple of problems remain. See http://www.exastrisscientia.org/inconsistencies1c.htm.
g Aftermath - What would be the affect on humanity following contact with alien life? Portions of a Brookings Institute report offer some insights. See http://www.humanunderground.com/Brookings.html for either the entire report or the relevant excerpts.
g Stars - Scientists at the University of Chicago have bolstered the case for a popular scenario of the big bang theory that neatly explains the arrangement of galaxies throughout the universe. Their supercomputer simulation shows how dark matter, an invisible material of unknown composition, herded luminous matter in the universe from its initial smooth state into the cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters that populate the universe. See http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/687002.html.
g Abodes - It has been 2.3 billion years since Earth's atmosphere became infused with enough oxygen to support life as we know it. About the same time, the planet became encased in ice that some scientists speculate was more than a half-mile deep. That raises questions about whether complex life could have existed before "Snowball Earth" and survived, or if it first evolved when the snowball began to melt. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20018.
g Life - A scientist at Washington State University says the first extraterrestrial life we find is likely to be single-celled organisms surviving on a moon of Saturn, or in the atmosphere of Venus. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002566731_
webspacelife17.html.
g Intelligence - The brain is a "time machine," assert two Duke neuroscientists — and understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051028142649.htm.
g Message - In 1974, the most powerful broadcast ever deliberately beamed into space was made from Puerto Rico. The broadcast formed part of the ceremonies held to mark a major upgrade to the Arecibo Radio Telescope. The transmission consisted of a simple, pictorial message, aimed at our putative cosmic companions in the globular star cluster M13. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179070.
g Cosmicus - Several Russian media reports, including some citing a high-ranking official in the country’s Federal Space Agency, have stated that an agreement is in hand with U.S. entrepreneur and X Prize sponsor Anousheh Ansari for a future trip to the International Space Station. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051011072450.htm.
g Learning - Looking for an overview of the astrobiological field? Try "Introduction to Exobiology" (http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiol
ogy/), which explores the field from a lay perspective and includes a self-test. It's part of the Cruising Chemistry project at Duke.
g Imagining - There are several species in the Star Trek universe that look exactly like humans. The unlikely fact that life on different planets has taken a similar, if not the same direction was sufficiently explained in The Next Generation episode "The Chase." In this key episode to the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's crew finds evidence that four billion years ago the first human civilization explored our galaxy, and they were disappointed because they found themselves alone. To preserve their heritage, they spread encoded DNA fragments across many Class-M planets throughout the galaxy, thereby triggering a development similar to their own. Aside from the evolution schedule the DNA fragments, correctly assembled, contain a message to their descendants, namely humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and all the other humanoid races of the galaxy that are in some way related to each other. As fascinating is this theory, a couple of problems remain. See http://www.exastrisscientia.org/inconsistencies1c.htm.
g Aftermath - What would be the affect on humanity following contact with alien life? Portions of a Brookings Institute report offer some insights. See http://www.humanunderground.com/Brookings.html for either the entire report or the relevant excerpts.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Extrasolar dead zone, miniature star systems and Neanderthal DNA
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario find that "dead zones"- which typically extend out to 13 astronomical units from the central star of an extrasolar planetary system - can significantly slow planetary migration so that planets are not lost to the systems. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1983
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Two new studies, based on observations made with ESO's telescopes, show that objects only a few times more massive than Jupiter are born with discs of dust and gas, the raw material for planet making. This suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our Sun. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20026.
g Life - The discovery of millions of ancient, ultra-tiny microbes 3,000 meters deep in a Greenland glacier suggests that similar hardy species may live in ice elsewhere in the solar system, researchers say. See http://www.rense.com/general53/alien.htm. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Intelligence - Scientists have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal that lived 100,000 years ago - the oldest human-type DNA so far. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5052414.stm.
g Message - Is it more likely for an advanced civilization to resort to some sophisticated encoding scheme than we would? See http://www.setiuniverse.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.aspa=178&z=10.
g Cosmicus - The news was mixed for NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View as the space agency announced the roles its 10 centers will play in missions designed to send humans to space more often and keep them there longer. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/twincities/business/technology/14753105.htm.
g Learning - What is an astrobiologist, and can you become one? See http://www.astrobiology.com/how.to.html.
g Imagining - Alien design bibliography: When science fiction writers set out to design a world, they usually take care that their physics and astronomy conforms to known science by reading a few physics and astronomy books. But when designing aliens, anything goes, it seems! The problem appears to be that the literature of biology is simply unknown in the SF world. Mention Freeman Dyson or Robert Forward, and most hard SF readers and writers will know whom you are talking about. But mention Steven Vogel or Colin Pennycuick, and you are likely to be rewarded with polite bafflement. Here’s a list of books that’ll give you a solid grounding in biology. See http://www.branta.demon.co.uk/alien-design/books.htm.
g Aftermath - Book Alert II: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. Jean Heidmann, Chief Astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book, “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation — all of it grounded in real science — is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521453402/104-9182723-7020748 for reviews.
g Stars - Astronomers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario find that "dead zones"- which typically extend out to 13 astronomical units from the central star of an extrasolar planetary system - can significantly slow planetary migration so that planets are not lost to the systems. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1983
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Abodes - Two new studies, based on observations made with ESO's telescopes, show that objects only a few times more massive than Jupiter are born with discs of dust and gas, the raw material for planet making. This suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our Sun. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=20026.
g Life - The discovery of millions of ancient, ultra-tiny microbes 3,000 meters deep in a Greenland glacier suggests that similar hardy species may live in ice elsewhere in the solar system, researchers say. See http://www.rense.com/general53/alien.htm. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Intelligence - Scientists have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal that lived 100,000 years ago - the oldest human-type DNA so far. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5052414.stm.
g Message - Is it more likely for an advanced civilization to resort to some sophisticated encoding scheme than we would? See http://www.setiuniverse.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.aspa=178&z=10.
g Cosmicus - The news was mixed for NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View as the space agency announced the roles its 10 centers will play in missions designed to send humans to space more often and keep them there longer. See http://www.twincities.com/
mld/twincities/business/technology/14753105.htm.
g Learning - What is an astrobiologist, and can you become one? See http://www.astrobiology.com/how.to.html.
g Imagining - Alien design bibliography: When science fiction writers set out to design a world, they usually take care that their physics and astronomy conforms to known science by reading a few physics and astronomy books. But when designing aliens, anything goes, it seems! The problem appears to be that the literature of biology is simply unknown in the SF world. Mention Freeman Dyson or Robert Forward, and most hard SF readers and writers will know whom you are talking about. But mention Steven Vogel or Colin Pennycuick, and you are likely to be rewarded with polite bafflement. Here’s a list of books that’ll give you a solid grounding in biology. See http://www.branta.demon.co.uk/alien-design/books.htm.
g Aftermath - Book Alert II: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. Jean Heidmann, Chief Astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book, “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation — all of it grounded in real science — is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521453402/104-9182723-7020748 for reviews.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Epsilon Eridani, looking for more than water and when humans starting wearing clothes
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Within 20 ly of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Epsilon Eridani. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/eps-erid.htm.
g Abodes - The great search for extraterrestrial life has focused on water at the expense of a crucial element, say geobiologists at the University of Southern California. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1951.
g Life - How does the Drake Equation fare across our solar system? An analysis shows that one of the main thrusts of solar system should be focused on the biomarkers of the eukaryotic stage of development for life. See http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~chelaf/TestingDrakeEq.html.
g Intelligence - If you're looking for insight into the 5 million years of human evolution, consider the lowly body louse, the species of lice that targets clothing. Presumably, the body louse didn't evolve before humans began to wear more than a fig leaf. How long ago was that? The louse's DNA might hold the answer. See http://www.wired.com/news/culture/reviews/0,70920-0.html?tw=wn_index_5.
g Message - Humankind has been unintentionally transmitting signals into space - primarily high-frequency radio, television, and radar - for more than fifty years. Our earliest TV broadcasts have reached several thousand nearby stars, although any alien viewers would have to build a very large antenna (thousands of acres in size) to detect them. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179534.
g Cosmicus - Martin Rees is Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and Britain’s Astronomer Royal. He is the author of numerous popular science books, including the best selling "Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe." Astrobiology Magazine caught up with Rees as he ponders the effect of interplanetary travel on human evolution. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1752mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Ken Bain knows a lot about teaching. He learned some of it from 41 years in the classroom, some from the research of fellow scholars - and some from an 18-month-old grandson who was savvy about cell phones. See http://www.casperstartribune.net/art
icles/2006/06/03/news/wyoming/cf0965b98d354e0c87257
181007ee97a.txt.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your bookstore for Andre Norton’s "The Last Planet" (1953), famous for the birdman or "The Beast Master" (1959), famous for the lizard men.
g Aftermath - If and when life is discovered beyond Earth, non-scientific dimensions may strongly influence decisions about the nature and scope of future missions and activities. It is appropriate to encourage international discussion and consideration of the issues prior to an event of such historical significance. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
g Stars - Within 20 ly of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Epsilon Eridani. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/eps-erid.htm.
g Abodes - The great search for extraterrestrial life has focused on water at the expense of a crucial element, say geobiologists at the University of Southern California. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1951.
g Life - How does the Drake Equation fare across our solar system? An analysis shows that one of the main thrusts of solar system should be focused on the biomarkers of the eukaryotic stage of development for life. See http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~chelaf/TestingDrakeEq.html.
g Intelligence - If you're looking for insight into the 5 million years of human evolution, consider the lowly body louse, the species of lice that targets clothing. Presumably, the body louse didn't evolve before humans began to wear more than a fig leaf. How long ago was that? The louse's DNA might hold the answer. See http://www.wired.com/news/culture/reviews/0,70920-0.html?tw=wn_index_5.
g Message - Humankind has been unintentionally transmitting signals into space - primarily high-frequency radio, television, and radar - for more than fifty years. Our earliest TV broadcasts have reached several thousand nearby stars, although any alien viewers would have to build a very large antenna (thousands of acres in size) to detect them. See http://www.seti.org/site/pp.aspc=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=179534.
g Cosmicus - Martin Rees is Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and Britain’s Astronomer Royal. He is the author of numerous popular science books, including the best selling "Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe." Astrobiology Magazine caught up with Rees as he ponders the effect of interplanetary travel on human evolution. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News
&file=article&sid=1752mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Ken Bain knows a lot about teaching. He learned some of it from 41 years in the classroom, some from the research of fellow scholars - and some from an 18-month-old grandson who was savvy about cell phones. See http://www.casperstartribune.net/art
icles/2006/06/03/news/wyoming/cf0965b98d354e0c87257
181007ee97a.txt.
g Imagining - Like stories about alien biologies and environments? Scour your bookstore for Andre Norton’s "The Last Planet" (1953), famous for the birdman or "The Beast Master" (1959), famous for the lizard men.
g Aftermath - If and when life is discovered beyond Earth, non-scientific dimensions may strongly influence decisions about the nature and scope of future missions and activities. It is appropriate to encourage international discussion and consideration of the issues prior to an event of such historical significance. See http://www.seti.org/atf/cf/{B0D4BC0E-D59B-4CD0-9E79-113953A58644}/m_race_guidelines.pdf.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Lalande 21185, titan’s dunes and Southern stargazing
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Within 20 light years of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Lalande 21185. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/la21185.htm.
g Abodes - Radar images taken when the Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan last October show dunes 330 feet high that run parallel to each other for hundreds of miles at Titan's equator. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1950.
g Life - Mammals, once tiny creatures scampering on the forest floor, grew larger as the amount of oxygen in the air increased over millions of years, a new study says. See http://www.livescience.
com/animalworld/ap_050929_oxygen_mammals.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Human evolution, Chicago researchers report, is still under way, in what has become our most important organ: the brain. In two related papers published in Science, they show that two genes linked to brain size are rapidly evolving in humans. The researchers looked at variations of microcephalin and ASPM within modern humans, and found for each gene one class of variants has arisen recently and has been spreading rapidly because it is favored by selection. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
09/050909221043.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - The Harvard SETI Group have conducted several searches for extraterrestrial life since 1978. For a history of those searches, see http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/setihist.html.
g Cosmicus - After years of quasi-colonial treatment from their European partners, local astronomers in Chile and South Africa are coming into their own. Dirk Steuerwald tracks the changing climate for the stargazers of the south. See http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060529/full/nj7093-662a.html.
g Learning - Tim Spuck made two discoveries recently. The first involved his high school science classroom in Oil City. The second involved a patch of stars some 800 light years away. Mr. Spuck made the first discovery because he's something of an iconoclast, at least when it comes to education. Want to really get him talking? Ask him if he sees any problems with how science is taught to teenagers. "Something is missing," he said. "The inspiration." See http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06155/695585-298.stm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting Web site about alien depictions in science fiction: “Life on Other Worlds” at http://davidszondy.com/future/otherworlds/life.htm.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See http://www.nidsci.org/news/roper/roperpressrelease.html.
g Stars - Within 20 light years of Sol, astronomers may have detected planets only in the Solar System and around three stars. One of them is Lalande 21185. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/la21185.htm.
g Abodes - Radar images taken when the Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan last October show dunes 330 feet high that run parallel to each other for hundreds of miles at Titan's equator. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1950.
g Life - Mammals, once tiny creatures scampering on the forest floor, grew larger as the amount of oxygen in the air increased over millions of years, a new study says. See http://www.livescience.
com/animalworld/ap_050929_oxygen_mammals.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Human evolution, Chicago researchers report, is still under way, in what has become our most important organ: the brain. In two related papers published in Science, they show that two genes linked to brain size are rapidly evolving in humans. The researchers looked at variations of microcephalin and ASPM within modern humans, and found for each gene one class of variants has arisen recently and has been spreading rapidly because it is favored by selection. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/
09/050909221043.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - The Harvard SETI Group have conducted several searches for extraterrestrial life since 1978. For a history of those searches, see http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/setihist.html.
g Cosmicus - After years of quasi-colonial treatment from their European partners, local astronomers in Chile and South Africa are coming into their own. Dirk Steuerwald tracks the changing climate for the stargazers of the south. See http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060529/full/nj7093-662a.html.
g Learning - Tim Spuck made two discoveries recently. The first involved his high school science classroom in Oil City. The second involved a patch of stars some 800 light years away. Mr. Spuck made the first discovery because he's something of an iconoclast, at least when it comes to education. Want to really get him talking? Ask him if he sees any problems with how science is taught to teenagers. "Something is missing," he said. "The inspiration." See http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06155/695585-298.stm.
g Imagining - Here’s an interesting Web site about alien depictions in science fiction: “Life on Other Worlds” at http://davidszondy.com/future/otherworlds/life.htm.
g Aftermath - How would humans react the day after ET landed? A nationwide survey by the Roper Organization in 1999 found that the following: “...one out of four Americans think most people would “totally freak out and panic” if such evidence were confirmed. See http://www.nidsci.org/news/roper/roperpressrelease.html.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Goldilocks Zone, messages beamed at Earth and the Thirty Meter Telescope
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Few Catholics and even fewer Americans are aware that Vatican priests man a telescope in Arizona or even that the Catholic Church engages in scientific research. But the priests see themselves bridging the gap between science and religion. In the process, they have emerged as a powerful voice against “creationism” and the theory of “intelligent design,” which holds that certain forms in nature are too complex to have evolved through natural selection and must have been created by a “designer” who might be called God. See http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.phpcontent_id
=129285.
g Abodes - Some day, scientists hope to find the Holy Grail of planetary astronomy - an Earth-like planet circling another star in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold region known as the "Goldilocks Zone." See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/balhs.earthshine02jun02
,0,684332.storycoll=bal-home-headlines.
g Life - Something about nature loves a helix, the ubiquitous spiral shape taken on by DNA and many other molecules found in the cells of living creatures. The shape is so useful that, while researching the means of creating self-assembling artificial helices, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania believe that they have come across a plausible mathematical reason for why the helical shape is so common. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223135535.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Nearly 3 million years ago, our ancestors had brains about as big as modern chimps. Since then the brain that would become human grew steadily, tripling in size. But this extra cranium capacity may not have resulted in smarter hominids. As far as tool making is concerned, there is little evidence of improvement over much of the period that the brain was growing. Then came the Big Bang of human brain growth. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050219_big_brains.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in, says one astrobiologist. See http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/
08/09/1092022404578.htmloneclick=true. Note: this article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The detailed design for the Thirty Meter Telescope developed by a U.S.-Canadian team is capable of delivering on the full promise of its enormous light-collecting area, according to the findings of an independent panel of experts. See http://www.physorg.com/news68475073.html.
g Learning - Our future depends on improved science education. See http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060604/OPINI
ON01/606040357/1002/OPINION.
g Imagining - There’s a set of interesting musings about “characterization and aliens” in science fiction at http://www.sfwriter.com/rmcharac.htm. The point made in the essay is apt: Too many alien species presented in sci-fi are monocultures and lack any individuality. We should presume that if not cultures then certainly individuals of extraterrestrial species will be as diverse as they are in humanity.
g Aftermath - Director, writer, and one of the most memorable fictional explorers of space - William Shatner's Captain Kirk - explains how to go where few have gone before: how extreme explorers might confront the limits of life both terrestrial or beyond. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/print.phpsid=739.
g Stars - Few Catholics and even fewer Americans are aware that Vatican priests man a telescope in Arizona or even that the Catholic Church engages in scientific research. But the priests see themselves bridging the gap between science and religion. In the process, they have emerged as a powerful voice against “creationism” and the theory of “intelligent design,” which holds that certain forms in nature are too complex to have evolved through natural selection and must have been created by a “designer” who might be called God. See http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.phpcontent_id
=129285.
g Abodes - Some day, scientists hope to find the Holy Grail of planetary astronomy - an Earth-like planet circling another star in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold region known as the "Goldilocks Zone." See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/balhs.earthshine02jun02
,0,684332.storycoll=bal-home-headlines.
g Life - Something about nature loves a helix, the ubiquitous spiral shape taken on by DNA and many other molecules found in the cells of living creatures. The shape is so useful that, while researching the means of creating self-assembling artificial helices, physicists at the University of Pennsylvania believe that they have come across a plausible mathematical reason for why the helical shape is so common. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223135535.htm. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Intelligence - Nearly 3 million years ago, our ancestors had brains about as big as modern chimps. Since then the brain that would become human grew steadily, tripling in size. But this extra cranium capacity may not have resulted in smarter hominids. As far as tool making is concerned, there is little evidence of improvement over much of the period that the brain was growing. Then came the Big Bang of human brain growth. See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050219_big_brains.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in, says one astrobiologist. See http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/
08/09/1092022404578.htmloneclick=true. Note: this article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - The detailed design for the Thirty Meter Telescope developed by a U.S.-Canadian team is capable of delivering on the full promise of its enormous light-collecting area, according to the findings of an independent panel of experts. See http://www.physorg.com/news68475073.html.
g Learning - Our future depends on improved science education. See http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060604/OPINI
ON01/606040357/1002/OPINION.
g Imagining - There’s a set of interesting musings about “characterization and aliens” in science fiction at http://www.sfwriter.com/rmcharac.htm. The point made in the essay is apt: Too many alien species presented in sci-fi are monocultures and lack any individuality. We should presume that if not cultures then certainly individuals of extraterrestrial species will be as diverse as they are in humanity.
g Aftermath - Director, writer, and one of the most memorable fictional explorers of space - William Shatner's Captain Kirk - explains how to go where few have gone before: how extreme explorers might confront the limits of life both terrestrial or beyond. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/print.phpsid=739.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Gravity waves, Pegasids and ‘Having a Ball on Mars’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In the past, astronomers could only see the sky in visible light, using their eyes as receptors. New technologies extended their vision into different spectra: infrared, ultraviolet, radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays. But what if you had gravity eyes? Einstein predicted that the most extreme objects and events in the Universe should generate gravity waves, and distort space around them. A new experiment called Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory could make the first detection of these gravity waves. See http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/podcast_gravity
_eyes.html?262006.
g Abodes - A team of European astronomers, led by T. Guillot (CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, France), will publish a new study of the physics of Pegasids (also known as hot Jupiters) in Astronomy & Astrophysics. They found that the amount of heavy elements in Pegasids is correlated to the metallicity of their parent stars. This is a first step in understanding the physical nature of the extrasolar planets. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.
phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1976&mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Interstellar dust clouds, comets and microorganisms are all part of Hoyle’s modern panspermia hypothesis. See http://www.stnews.org/News-2848.htm.
g Intelligence - Recent research suggested that ancient Neanderthals might have had an accelerated childhood compared to that of modern humans but that seems flawed, based on a new assessment by researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Newcastle. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050920080112.htm.
g Message - The next generation of big radio telescopes won't look anything like today's massive dishes. Instead of giant steel constructions towering into the sky, the future will belong to more economical arrays of many small antennas hugging the ground. And, in a historic role reversal, searchers for extraterrestrial intelligence are blazing a trail for conventional radio astronomy to follow. See http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/resources/seti/article_256.asp.
g Cosmicus - Taiwan and Japan plan to jointly construct the world's largest astronomical observatory ALMA which is being built in Chile. See http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1169174.
php/Taiwan_Japan_to_join_in_building_worlds_largest_observ
atory.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Having a Ball on Mars.” A funny accident in the Mojave Desert has inspired a new kind of Mars rover - a two-story high beach ball that can descend to the Martian surface and explore vast expanses of the Red Planet. In this lesson, which reinforces creative thinking and the scientific method, students design and test their own Mars Balls. See http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/28aug01/corner.html.
g Imagining - Could the legendary dragons of Pern from Anne McCaffrey’s famous science fiction novels actually exist? Welcome to the theoretical science of dracogenetics. See http://www.geocities.com/jenaith/DNA1.html.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
g Stars - In the past, astronomers could only see the sky in visible light, using their eyes as receptors. New technologies extended their vision into different spectra: infrared, ultraviolet, radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays. But what if you had gravity eyes? Einstein predicted that the most extreme objects and events in the Universe should generate gravity waves, and distort space around them. A new experiment called Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory could make the first detection of these gravity waves. See http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/podcast_gravity
_eyes.html?262006.
g Abodes - A team of European astronomers, led by T. Guillot (CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, France), will publish a new study of the physics of Pegasids (also known as hot Jupiters) in Astronomy & Astrophysics. They found that the amount of heavy elements in Pegasids is correlated to the metallicity of their parent stars. This is a first step in understanding the physical nature of the extrasolar planets. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.
phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1976&mode
=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Interstellar dust clouds, comets and microorganisms are all part of Hoyle’s modern panspermia hypothesis. See http://www.stnews.org/News-2848.htm.
g Intelligence - Recent research suggested that ancient Neanderthals might have had an accelerated childhood compared to that of modern humans but that seems flawed, based on a new assessment by researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Newcastle. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050920080112.htm.
g Message - The next generation of big radio telescopes won't look anything like today's massive dishes. Instead of giant steel constructions towering into the sky, the future will belong to more economical arrays of many small antennas hugging the ground. And, in a historic role reversal, searchers for extraterrestrial intelligence are blazing a trail for conventional radio astronomy to follow. See http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/resources/seti/article_256.asp.
g Cosmicus - Taiwan and Japan plan to jointly construct the world's largest astronomical observatory ALMA which is being built in Chile. See http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1169174.
php/Taiwan_Japan_to_join_in_building_worlds_largest_observ
atory.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Having a Ball on Mars.” A funny accident in the Mojave Desert has inspired a new kind of Mars rover - a two-story high beach ball that can descend to the Martian surface and explore vast expanses of the Red Planet. In this lesson, which reinforces creative thinking and the scientific method, students design and test their own Mars Balls. See http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/28aug01/corner.html.
g Imagining - Could the legendary dragons of Pern from Anne McCaffrey’s famous science fiction novels actually exist? Welcome to the theoretical science of dracogenetics. See http://www.geocities.com/jenaith/DNA1.html.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them at http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/arecibo/tools/vakoch.html.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Elusive subatomic particle, Hollywood aliens and SETI as religion
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - An elusive subatomic particle is being eyed as an answer to some of astronomy's largest questions. See http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews
/index.ssf?/base/news/114915339636230.xml
&coll=2.
g Abodes - The International Polar Foundation has unveiled the final plans for Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctic research station, to be built during the International Polar Year 2007-08. The station will enable Belgium, and other nations participating in its science program, to carry out important research on climate change and Antarctica's key role as part of the global climate system. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19972.
g Life - The hypothesis that life on Earth began elsewhere received support from an unlikely source: the Columbia tragedy. See http://www.stnews.org/News-2846.htm.
g Intelligence - A biology research team is using statistical tools from a field known as "information theory" to measure the complexity of different species’ communication systems and thus learn how much information individual animals can transfer between each other. This allows the scientists to draw inferences about the intelligence of the communicating species, which in turn gives researchers of the Drake Equation’s Fi (fraction of planets on which intelligence develops) a better understanding of intelligence as an evolutionary adaptation. See http://www.space.com/searchfor
life/seti_richards_doyle_040422.html. Note: This article is from April 2004.
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. See http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/1204/welch.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Science policy depends on the state of science itself, which evolves in response to new instrumentation, theoretical methods, and analytical tools. The growth of science and the course of science policy are undeniably progressive. See http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-59/iss-6/p38.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Alien Safari.” New from NASA PlanetQuest, Alien Safari can be used in your classrooms or informal education settings to help kids discover some of the most extreme organisms on our planet, and find out what they are telling astrobiologists about the search for life beyond Earth. See http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/AlienSafari_launch_page.html.
g Imagining - During the past several years, evolutionary biologists have proved that the disparate creatures of our planet are, at a fundamental genetic level, very similar to one another. The genes that differentiate the top and the bottom of a bug, for instance, are the same ones that differentiate our fronts from our backs. According to the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, this new understanding is among "the most stunning evolutionary discoveries of the decade," and is clearly "a dominant theme in evolution." The same law applies, it appears, to the extraterrestrial creatures that come out of Hollywood. See http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs
/popcult/handouts/alienorig/aliens.html. Note: This article is from 1997.
g Aftermath - Is SETI—the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence—a religion? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_religion_060601.html.
g Stars - An elusive subatomic particle is being eyed as an answer to some of astronomy's largest questions. See http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews
/index.ssf?/base/news/114915339636230.xml
&coll=2.
g Abodes - The International Polar Foundation has unveiled the final plans for Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctic research station, to be built during the International Polar Year 2007-08. The station will enable Belgium, and other nations participating in its science program, to carry out important research on climate change and Antarctica's key role as part of the global climate system. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19972.
g Life - The hypothesis that life on Earth began elsewhere received support from an unlikely source: the Columbia tragedy. See http://www.stnews.org/News-2846.htm.
g Intelligence - A biology research team is using statistical tools from a field known as "information theory" to measure the complexity of different species’ communication systems and thus learn how much information individual animals can transfer between each other. This allows the scientists to draw inferences about the intelligence of the communicating species, which in turn gives researchers of the Drake Equation’s Fi (fraction of planets on which intelligence develops) a better understanding of intelligence as an evolutionary adaptation. See http://www.space.com/searchfor
life/seti_richards_doyle_040422.html. Note: This article is from April 2004.
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. See http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/1204/welch.html. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - Science policy depends on the state of science itself, which evolves in response to new instrumentation, theoretical methods, and analytical tools. The growth of science and the course of science policy are undeniably progressive. See http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-59/iss-6/p38.html.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Alien Safari.” New from NASA PlanetQuest, Alien Safari can be used in your classrooms or informal education settings to help kids discover some of the most extreme organisms on our planet, and find out what they are telling astrobiologists about the search for life beyond Earth. See http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/AlienSafari_launch_page.html.
g Imagining - During the past several years, evolutionary biologists have proved that the disparate creatures of our planet are, at a fundamental genetic level, very similar to one another. The genes that differentiate the top and the bottom of a bug, for instance, are the same ones that differentiate our fronts from our backs. According to the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, this new understanding is among "the most stunning evolutionary discoveries of the decade," and is clearly "a dominant theme in evolution." The same law applies, it appears, to the extraterrestrial creatures that come out of Hollywood. See http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs
/popcult/handouts/alienorig/aliens.html. Note: This article is from 1997.
g Aftermath - Is SETI—the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence—a religion? See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_religion_060601.html.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Sol’s beneficial orbit, Fermi Paradox and ‘visions’ of space aliens
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - One of Sol's unusual features is its orbit around the center of the galaxy, which is significantly less elliptical ("eccentric") than those of other stars similar in age (and therefore metallicity) and type and is barely inclined relative to the Galactic plane. This circularity in Sol's orbit prevents it from plunging into the inner Galaxy where life-threatening supernovae are more common. Moreover, the small inclination to the galactic plane avoids abrupt crossings of the plane that would stir up Sol's Oort Cloud and bombard the Earth with life-threatening comets. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have created a computer simulation showing Earth's climate in unprecedented detail at the time of the greatest mass extinction in the planet's history. The work gives support to a theory that an abrupt and dramatic rise in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide triggered the massive die-off 251 million years ago. The research appears in the September issue of Geology. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&
sid=1692mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The ubiquitous bacteria E. coli rank among nature's most successful species for lots of reasons, to which biologists at the University of Southern California have added another: In a pinch, E. coli can feast on the DNA of their dead competitors. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=1975&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - A few simple but important steps that have led to the manufacture of radio telescopes. In human evolution, the development of facilities and fire was critical in the establishment of a metal technology. Adequate resources derived from agriculture were essential for the development of advanced technology. At all stages, the ratio of cost to reward had to be small and the technological development had to follow an appropriate cultural preadaptation. Play would unquestionably have been important in technological innovation. The history of toys has yet to be written, but it may be a key to an understanding of the progressive development of human technology. See http://history.nasa.gov/CP-2156/ch4.4.htm.
g Message - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox: http://shayol.bartol.udel.edu/~rhdt/diploma/lecture_12/.
g Cosmicus - Researchers in Switzerland have succeeded in breaking the cosmic speed limit by getting light to go faster than, well, light. See http://www.livescience.com/technology/050819_fastlight.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom resource courtesy of NASA: “Life on Earth … and Elsewhere?” This booklet contains five classroom activities for grades 5-10 spanning topics from "Defining Life," to "Determining the Chances of Extraterrestrial Life." See http://www.erg.pdf/.
g Imagining - Psychologist Frederick Malmstrom, currently a visiting scholar at the U.S. Air Force Academy, believes that “visions” of space aliens are actually the image of the prototypical female face that is hardwired into every baby human's brain. When Malmstrom altered a picture of a woman in a way consistent with the characteristics of a newborn's vision (astigmatism and a shallow focal plane), the result looked very much like a big-eyed alien. See article.
g Aftermath - Donald E. Tarter, a consultant in space policy and technology assessment, makes a persuasive case for developing the protocols and technology to reply to an extraterrestrial signal before news of the discovery is made public, in his article, “Advocating an Immediate Response.” Delay could be costly as technologically advanced fringe groups or ambitious nations could attempt to score a propaganda victory by being the first to reply, creating a mixed and perhaps embarrassing first message. This could be avoided by settling on a quick and simple message to let the extraterrestrial source know that we had received their message. See http://seti.planetary.org/Contact/ImmediateResponse.html. Note: This report is from 1996.
g Stars - One of Sol's unusual features is its orbit around the center of the galaxy, which is significantly less elliptical ("eccentric") than those of other stars similar in age (and therefore metallicity) and type and is barely inclined relative to the Galactic plane. This circularity in Sol's orbit prevents it from plunging into the inner Galaxy where life-threatening supernovae are more common. Moreover, the small inclination to the galactic plane avoids abrupt crossings of the plane that would stir up Sol's Oort Cloud and bombard the Earth with life-threatening comets. See article.
g Abodes - Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have created a computer simulation showing Earth's climate in unprecedented detail at the time of the greatest mass extinction in the planet's history. The work gives support to a theory that an abrupt and dramatic rise in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide triggered the massive die-off 251 million years ago. The research appears in the September issue of Geology. See http://www.astrobio.
net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&
sid=1692mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - The ubiquitous bacteria E. coli rank among nature's most successful species for lots of reasons, to which biologists at the University of Southern California have added another: In a pinch, E. coli can feast on the DNA of their dead competitors. See http://
www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&
file=article&sid=1975&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - A few simple but important steps that have led to the manufacture of radio telescopes. In human evolution, the development of facilities and fire was critical in the establishment of a metal technology. Adequate resources derived from agriculture were essential for the development of advanced technology. At all stages, the ratio of cost to reward had to be small and the technological development had to follow an appropriate cultural preadaptation. Play would unquestionably have been important in technological innovation. The history of toys has yet to be written, but it may be a key to an understanding of the progressive development of human technology. See http://history.nasa.gov/CP-2156/ch4.4.htm.
g Message - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox: http://shayol.bartol.udel.edu/~rhdt/diploma/lecture_12/.
g Cosmicus - Researchers in Switzerland have succeeded in breaking the cosmic speed limit by getting light to go faster than, well, light. See http://www.livescience.com/technology/050819_fastlight.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom resource courtesy of NASA: “Life on Earth … and Elsewhere?” This booklet contains five classroom activities for grades 5-10 spanning topics from "Defining Life," to "Determining the Chances of Extraterrestrial Life." See http://www.erg.pdf/.
g Imagining - Psychologist Frederick Malmstrom, currently a visiting scholar at the U.S. Air Force Academy, believes that “visions” of space aliens are actually the image of the prototypical female face that is hardwired into every baby human's brain. When Malmstrom altered a picture of a woman in a way consistent with the characteristics of a newborn's vision (astigmatism and a shallow focal plane), the result looked very much like a big-eyed alien. See article.
g Aftermath - Donald E. Tarter, a consultant in space policy and technology assessment, makes a persuasive case for developing the protocols and technology to reply to an extraterrestrial signal before news of the discovery is made public, in his article, “Advocating an Immediate Response.” Delay could be costly as technologically advanced fringe groups or ambitious nations could attempt to score a propaganda victory by being the first to reply, creating a mixed and perhaps embarrassing first message. This could be avoided by settling on a quick and simple message to let the extraterrestrial source know that we had received their message. See http://seti.planetary.org/Contact/ImmediateResponse.html. Note: This report is from 1996.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Guth’s calculation, expanding bubble of electromagnetic radiation and ‘Life on Other Planets’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Even now, almost 30 years later, Alan Guth can remember that night in his rented off-campus house in Menlo Park, Calif., when he first made the calculation that changed his life. See article.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/201594/how_oxy
gen_came_to_dominate_earths_atmosphere/index.html.
g Life - For many, computer networks are an indispensable infrastructure that interconnects people, places and organizations. But increasingly they are beginning to creak as their complexity grows. Biological systems through years of evolution can offer clues on how to cope, as a research project has demonstrated. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19962.
g Intelligence - Scientists have deciphered the DNA of the chimpanzee, the closest living relative of humankind, and made comprehensive comparisons with the human genetic blueprint. It's a step toward finding a biological answer to a key question: What makes us human? See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/0508
31_ap_chimp_dna.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - The Earth is at the center of an expanding bubble of electromagnetic radiation. The bubble, expanding at the speed of light, contains all of the man-made electromagnetic transmissions of the earth - radio, TV, radar and so on. In theory, an alien civilization could receive these signals, and form their opinion about the earth by analyzing them. To most people, it is quite discouraging to think that some alien civilization would form their opinion of Earth based upon our situation comedies. Upon a slightly deeper analysis, the conventional wisdom says, “Aliens might detect our TV signals, but at least they can't form their opinion of our civilization from our TV transmissions. Decoding the transmission is so much harder than detecting it that we don't need to worry about this.” But an editor of the book “SETI 2020” argues that this view considerably underestimates the technologies that aliens might employ. By looking at likely technical improvements - better receivers and feeds, bigger antenna, signal processing, and perhaps stellar focusing, any civilization that can detect our radiations might well be able to decode it as well. Thus aliens can form their impression of Earth from “I Love Lucy.” See http://contactincontext.org/cic/v2i1/lucy.pdf.
g Cosmicus - In recent years "teamwork" and "team-building" have been catchphrases of the workplace environment. For most people, however, worrying about getting along with their co-workers and working together for the common good may occupy only a small amount of their time. But what if you and your co-workers were confined to a small space, together for 24 hours a day in an inherently dangerous workplace, and unable to get away from each other because you were orbiting more than 350 kilometers above Earth? See http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/research_projects/
bioastronautics_12-2001_lite.html. Note: This article is fron 2001.
g Learning - Here’s a great resource for middle school science teachers; “Life on Other Planets in the Solar System.” See http://www.resa.net/nasa/xlife_intro.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “Rendezvous with Rama,” published by Harcourt Brace in 1973.
g Aftermath - If we establish communication with a civilization even as close as 100 light years from Earth, the round-trip time for a message and its reply is 200 years. What will be the psychology of a civilization that can engage in a meaningful conversation with this sort of delay? How is such a conversation to be established? What should the content of such a conversation be? These are the questions which motivate our title: "Minds and Millennia: The Psychology of Interstellar Communication." See http://web.archive.
/org/web/20010217051450/204.240.36.10/radobs/vol1no3/
minds.htm.
g Stars - Even now, almost 30 years later, Alan Guth can remember that night in his rented off-campus house in Menlo Park, Calif., when he first made the calculation that changed his life. See article.
g Abodes - A number of hypotheses have been used to explain how free oxygen first accumulated in Earth's atmosphere some 2.4 billion years ago, but a full understanding has proven elusive. Now a new model offers plausible scenarios for how oxygen came to dominate the atmosphere, and why it took at least 300 million years after bacterial photosynthesis started producing oxygen in large quantities. See http://www.rednova.com/news/science/201594/how_oxy
gen_came_to_dominate_earths_atmosphere/index.html.
g Life - For many, computer networks are an indispensable infrastructure that interconnects people, places and organizations. But increasingly they are beginning to creak as their complexity grows. Biological systems through years of evolution can offer clues on how to cope, as a research project has demonstrated. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19962.
g Intelligence - Scientists have deciphered the DNA of the chimpanzee, the closest living relative of humankind, and made comprehensive comparisons with the human genetic blueprint. It's a step toward finding a biological answer to a key question: What makes us human? See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/0508
31_ap_chimp_dna.html. Note: This article is from 2005.
g Message - The Earth is at the center of an expanding bubble of electromagnetic radiation. The bubble, expanding at the speed of light, contains all of the man-made electromagnetic transmissions of the earth - radio, TV, radar and so on. In theory, an alien civilization could receive these signals, and form their opinion about the earth by analyzing them. To most people, it is quite discouraging to think that some alien civilization would form their opinion of Earth based upon our situation comedies. Upon a slightly deeper analysis, the conventional wisdom says, “Aliens might detect our TV signals, but at least they can't form their opinion of our civilization from our TV transmissions. Decoding the transmission is so much harder than detecting it that we don't need to worry about this.” But an editor of the book “SETI 2020” argues that this view considerably underestimates the technologies that aliens might employ. By looking at likely technical improvements - better receivers and feeds, bigger antenna, signal processing, and perhaps stellar focusing, any civilization that can detect our radiations might well be able to decode it as well. Thus aliens can form their impression of Earth from “I Love Lucy.” See http://contactincontext.org/cic/v2i1/lucy.pdf.
g Cosmicus - In recent years "teamwork" and "team-building" have been catchphrases of the workplace environment. For most people, however, worrying about getting along with their co-workers and working together for the common good may occupy only a small amount of their time. But what if you and your co-workers were confined to a small space, together for 24 hours a day in an inherently dangerous workplace, and unable to get away from each other because you were orbiting more than 350 kilometers above Earth? See http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/research_projects/
bioastronautics_12-2001_lite.html. Note: This article is fron 2001.
g Learning - Here’s a great resource for middle school science teachers; “Life on Other Planets in the Solar System.” See http://www.resa.net/nasa/xlife_intro.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “Rendezvous with Rama,” published by Harcourt Brace in 1973.
g Aftermath - If we establish communication with a civilization even as close as 100 light years from Earth, the round-trip time for a message and its reply is 200 years. What will be the psychology of a civilization that can engage in a meaningful conversation with this sort of delay? How is such a conversation to be established? What should the content of such a conversation be? These are the questions which motivate our title: "Minds and Millennia: The Psychology of Interstellar Communication." See http://web.archive.
/org/web/20010217051450/204.240.36.10/radobs/vol1no3/
minds.htm.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Local Interstellar Cloud, our giant ape neighbor and space biology
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In recent millennia, the Sun has been passing through a Local Interstellar Cloud. See http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020210.html.
g Abodes - The hellish climate of Venus may have arisen far more recently than previously supposed, suggests new research. If so, pleasant Earth-like conditions probably persisted for 2 billion years after the planet's birth - plenty of time for life to have developed. See http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4136. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Life - When most people think of Louisiana as being unique, they think of Mardi Gras, crawfish and Cajun culture. Few realize that what lies beneath the Gulf of Mexico along Louisiana's coast is also unique, from the terrain and habitat to the animals living there. And two LSU researchers are diving down some 3,000 meters to explore it. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=1971&mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - A gigantic ape standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds lived alongside humans for over a million years, according to a new study. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/051107_giant_ape.html.
g Message - Several big hunts are seeking radio and laser emissions from other civilizations. From Project Phoenix to SETI@home, here's a complete rundown of all the searches now under way or recently conducted. See http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/seti/article_248_1.asp.
g Cosmicus - We all use plastic trash bags; they're so common that we hardly give them a second thought. So who would have guessed that a lowly trash bag might hold the key to sending humans to Mars? See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/220862/protecting_
astronauts_with_plastic_spaceships/index.html.
g Learning - There are some great teacher resources on space biology at http://www.spacebio.net/modules/index.html. The modules cover such topics as “Life in the Universe,” “Radiation Biology” and “Life in Space Environments.” Each module includes an introduction, readings and references, teaching resources and research and applications.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Murray Leinster’s short story "This Star Shall Be Free," anthologized in “Invaders of Earth” (edited by Groff Conklin and published in 1952).
g Aftermath - Book alert: Award-winning author Paul Davies, an eminent scientist who writes like a science fiction novelist, explores the ramifications of successful contact with alien life in his fascinating book, "Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life." "The discovery of a single extraterrestrial microbe," he writes, "would drastically alter our world view and change our society as profoundly as the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. It could truly be described as the greatest scientific discovery of all time." Though a decade old, the book still is a great read. See http://www.innovationwatch.com/books/bks_0465004180.htm.
g Stars - In recent millennia, the Sun has been passing through a Local Interstellar Cloud. See http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020210.html.
g Abodes - The hellish climate of Venus may have arisen far more recently than previously supposed, suggests new research. If so, pleasant Earth-like conditions probably persisted for 2 billion years after the planet's birth - plenty of time for life to have developed. See http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4136. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Life - When most people think of Louisiana as being unique, they think of Mardi Gras, crawfish and Cajun culture. Few realize that what lies beneath the Gulf of Mexico along Louisiana's coast is also unique, from the terrain and habitat to the animals living there. And two LSU researchers are diving down some 3,000 meters to explore it. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=1971&mode=thread
&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - A gigantic ape standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds lived alongside humans for over a million years, according to a new study. See http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/051107_giant_ape.html.
g Message - Several big hunts are seeking radio and laser emissions from other civilizations. From Project Phoenix to SETI@home, here's a complete rundown of all the searches now under way or recently conducted. See http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/seti/article_248_1.asp.
g Cosmicus - We all use plastic trash bags; they're so common that we hardly give them a second thought. So who would have guessed that a lowly trash bag might hold the key to sending humans to Mars? See http://www.rednova.com/news/space/220862/protecting_
astronauts_with_plastic_spaceships/index.html.
g Learning - There are some great teacher resources on space biology at http://www.spacebio.net/modules/index.html. The modules cover such topics as “Life in the Universe,” “Radiation Biology” and “Life in Space Environments.” Each module includes an introduction, readings and references, teaching resources and research and applications.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Murray Leinster’s short story "This Star Shall Be Free," anthologized in “Invaders of Earth” (edited by Groff Conklin and published in 1952).
g Aftermath - Book alert: Award-winning author Paul Davies, an eminent scientist who writes like a science fiction novelist, explores the ramifications of successful contact with alien life in his fascinating book, "Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life." "The discovery of a single extraterrestrial microbe," he writes, "would drastically alter our world view and change our society as profoundly as the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. It could truly be described as the greatest scientific discovery of all time." Though a decade old, the book still is a great read. See http://www.innovationwatch.com/books/bks_0465004180.htm.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Galactic habitable zone, deep-sea volcanic eruption and radio waves over lasers
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Only around 10 percent of the Milky Way's stars reside in one recent definition of a galactic habitable zone with chemical and environmental conditions suitable for the development of complex Earth-type life. See http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/GHZ/.
g Abodes - A NOAA-led team of ocean explorers returned this month with new and dramatic video and sound recordings of a long-term deep-sea volcanic eruption first discovered in 2004 on the Mariana Arc. The site, with red lava and spewing sulphur and rocks, has been seen erupting on three visits in two years and provides a unique opportunity for scientists to study underwater volcanic activity. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=
News&file=article&sid=1970&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - When single-celled organisms such as sperm crack their whip-like appendages called flagella, the beating sets them in motion. But in certain colonies of green algae, flagella also boost nutrient uptake, according to surprising new research. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=
News&file=article&sid=1973&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - In a major new development in human evolutionary studies, researchers from the University of Cambridge argue that the dispersal of modern humans from Africa to South Asia may have occurred as recently as 70,000 years ago. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051107080321.htm.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See http://www.coseti.org/tps_01.htm.
g Cosmicus - At a place known for space exploration, engineers have turned to a brave new world of ground transportation. See http://
www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060527/NEWS01/
605270316.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Orson Scott Card’s novel “Ender's Game,” published by Tor in 1985.
g Aftermath - Reactions to the announcement that scientists had found evidence for primitive life in a meteorite from Mars have been intense. Some concerned the scientific evidence, some the implications of extraterrestrial life, especially if intelligent. Underlying these reactions are assumptions, or beliefs, which often have a religious grounding. The two divergent beliefs, for and against the plurality of life in the universe, are examined historically and through religious traditions, particularly the Judeo-Christian. This examination guides the formulation of the right relation between science and religion as one that respects the autonomy of each discipline, yet allows for each to be open to the discoveries of the other. Based on this relationship, perspectives from scientific exploration are developed that can help individuals to respect and cope with the new phenomena that science brings, whether these imply that we might be alone in the universe or co-creatures of God with the ancient Martians. See http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/cosmos/perspectives/corbally.shtml.
g Stars - Only around 10 percent of the Milky Way's stars reside in one recent definition of a galactic habitable zone with chemical and environmental conditions suitable for the development of complex Earth-type life. See http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/GHZ/.
g Abodes - A NOAA-led team of ocean explorers returned this month with new and dramatic video and sound recordings of a long-term deep-sea volcanic eruption first discovered in 2004 on the Mariana Arc. The site, with red lava and spewing sulphur and rocks, has been seen erupting on three visits in two years and provides a unique opportunity for scientists to study underwater volcanic activity. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=
News&file=article&sid=1970&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - When single-celled organisms such as sperm crack their whip-like appendages called flagella, the beating sets them in motion. But in certain colonies of green algae, flagella also boost nutrient uptake, according to surprising new research. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload&name=
News&file=article&sid=1973&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Intelligence - In a major new development in human evolutionary studies, researchers from the University of Cambridge argue that the dispersal of modern humans from Africa to South Asia may have occurred as recently as 70,000 years ago. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051107080321.htm.
g Message - While advanced civilizations might be tempted to use optical means such as lasers to send information between the stars, there are some good reasons that nearly all the major Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence experiments are looking for radio waves instead. See http://www.coseti.org/tps_01.htm.
g Cosmicus - At a place known for space exploration, engineers have turned to a brave new world of ground transportation. See http://
www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20060527/NEWS01/
605270316.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Orson Scott Card’s novel “Ender's Game,” published by Tor in 1985.
g Aftermath - Reactions to the announcement that scientists had found evidence for primitive life in a meteorite from Mars have been intense. Some concerned the scientific evidence, some the implications of extraterrestrial life, especially if intelligent. Underlying these reactions are assumptions, or beliefs, which often have a religious grounding. The two divergent beliefs, for and against the plurality of life in the universe, are examined historically and through religious traditions, particularly the Judeo-Christian. This examination guides the formulation of the right relation between science and religion as one that respects the autonomy of each discipline, yet allows for each to be open to the discoveries of the other. Based on this relationship, perspectives from scientific exploration are developed that can help individuals to respect and cope with the new phenomena that science brings, whether these imply that we might be alone in the universe or co-creatures of God with the ancient Martians. See http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/cosmos/perspectives/corbally.shtml.
Friday, May 26, 2006
37 Geminorum’s habitability, Sun's effects on Earth and Mars, and how people will stay in touch in outer space
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is 37 Geminorum: http://www.solstation.com/stars2/37gem.htm.
g Abodes - An atmospheric study shows similarities in the Sun's effects on Earth and Mars. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19956.
g Life - Would life forms on other worlds have to possess eyes, ears and limbs like higher organisms on Earth? Would they have to have a similar genetic code? Or can life exist not as we know it? These questions may be unanswerable now, but astrobiologists are anxious to answer the underlying question: How do you define life? See http://www.msnbc.com/news/389080.asp?cp1=1. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Intelligence - An international team, led by researchers at the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, have extracted and sequenced protein from a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq dating to approximately 75,000 years old. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329133310.htm.
g Message - Most SETI programs scan the sky looking for strong radio signals. Any signals that are deemed interesting are put on a list for follow-up observations weeks, months — even years later. Long delays in verification of potential ET signals sometimes generate tantalizing, but ultimately frustrating, stories. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_backus_rhythm_030320.html. Note: This article is from March 2003.
g Cosmicus - Research based at The University of Queensland is taking journalism where it hasn't gone before by asking the question: How will people stay in touch in outer space? See http://www.physorg.com/news67839914.html.
g Learning - What are SETI scientists doing to foment the study and understanding of astrobiology in our schools? See http://space.com/searchforlife/seti_phspace_051117.html.
g Imagining - Here are 10 alleged alien encounters — those brushes with aliens (or supposed aliens) that have been definitively debunked over the years. See http://www.space.com/top10_alienencounters_debunked.html.
g Aftermath - In a cross-cultural study conducted several years ago, to scientists looked at the attitudes of college students towards the possibility that extraterrestrial life might exist, and if it does, what it might be like for people to learn that it exists. See http://publish.seti.org/general/articles.phpid=54. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Stars - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is 37 Geminorum: http://www.solstation.com/stars2/37gem.htm.
g Abodes - An atmospheric study shows similarities in the Sun's effects on Earth and Mars. See http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.htmlpid=19956.
g Life - Would life forms on other worlds have to possess eyes, ears and limbs like higher organisms on Earth? Would they have to have a similar genetic code? Or can life exist not as we know it? These questions may be unanswerable now, but astrobiologists are anxious to answer the underlying question: How do you define life? See http://www.msnbc.com/news/389080.asp?cp1=1. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Intelligence - An international team, led by researchers at the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, have extracted and sequenced protein from a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq dating to approximately 75,000 years old. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050329133310.htm.
g Message - Most SETI programs scan the sky looking for strong radio signals. Any signals that are deemed interesting are put on a list for follow-up observations weeks, months — even years later. Long delays in verification of potential ET signals sometimes generate tantalizing, but ultimately frustrating, stories. See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_backus_rhythm_030320.html. Note: This article is from March 2003.
g Cosmicus - Research based at The University of Queensland is taking journalism where it hasn't gone before by asking the question: How will people stay in touch in outer space? See http://www.physorg.com/news67839914.html.
g Learning - What are SETI scientists doing to foment the study and understanding of astrobiology in our schools? See http://space.com/searchforlife/seti_phspace_051117.html.
g Imagining - Here are 10 alleged alien encounters — those brushes with aliens (or supposed aliens) that have been definitively debunked over the years. See http://www.space.com/top10_alienencounters_debunked.html.
g Aftermath - In a cross-cultural study conducted several years ago, to scientists looked at the attitudes of college students towards the possibility that extraterrestrial life might exist, and if it does, what it might be like for people to learn that it exists. See http://publish.seti.org/general/articles.phpid=54. Note: This article is from 2002.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
18 Scorpii’s habitability, what we think about life and ‘Looking for Life’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is 18 Scorpii: http://www.solstation.com/stars2/18sco.htm.
g Abodes - Like pieces in a giant jigsaw puzzle, continents have split, drifted and merged again many times throughout Earth's history, but geologists haven't understood the mechanism behind the moves. A new study now offers evidence that continents sometimes break along preexisting lines of weakness created when small chunks of land attach to a larger continent. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1969&
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - What we think and what we don't know strongly affect our method of studying life in the universe — perhaps more than what we know. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article309.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Intelligence - How did ancient man make stone tools, such as a Clovis spear point? See http://students.kennesaw.edu/~bberger/page1.shtml.
g Message - When talk turns to SETI, there’s one question that’s as common as catfish: "We’re not broadcasting to the aliens; so what makes you think they’ll be broadcasting to us?" See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_transmit_060525.html.
g Cosmicus - Leading aerospace contractors are eagerly awaiting NASA’s multibillion-dollar decision on who’ll build the space agency’s follow-on to the space shuttle, now set for retirement in 2010. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12988843/.
g Learning - Is life on Earth unique? Are humans the only intelligent beings in the universe? These are some of the deepest and most ancient of questions. Now, for the first time, we have the tools and technology to begin probing for the answers. Scientists believe these answers lie untouched in some of the most exotic and dramatic sites on our home planet. A TV special, "Looking for Life," takes viewers to these distant locations for the most current reports on this exciting scientific frontier. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=20740.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s short story "Publicity Campaign," published in 1953.
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 - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is 18 Scorpii: http://www.solstation.com/stars2/18sco.htm.
g Abodes - Like pieces in a giant jigsaw puzzle, continents have split, drifted and merged again many times throughout Earth's history, but geologists haven't understood the mechanism behind the moves. A new study now offers evidence that continents sometimes break along preexisting lines of weakness created when small chunks of land attach to a larger continent. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/
modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1969&
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Life - What we think and what we don't know strongly affect our method of studying life in the universe — perhaps more than what we know. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/article309.html. Note: This article is from 2002.
g Intelligence - How did ancient man make stone tools, such as a Clovis spear point? See http://students.kennesaw.edu/~bberger/page1.shtml.
g Message - When talk turns to SETI, there’s one question that’s as common as catfish: "We’re not broadcasting to the aliens; so what makes you think they’ll be broadcasting to us?" See http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_transmit_060525.html.
g Cosmicus - Leading aerospace contractors are eagerly awaiting NASA’s multibillion-dollar decision on who’ll build the space agency’s follow-on to the space shuttle, now set for retirement in 2010. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12988843/.
g Learning - Is life on Earth unique? Are humans the only intelligent beings in the universe? These are some of the deepest and most ancient of questions. Now, for the first time, we have the tools and technology to begin probing for the answers. Scientists believe these answers lie untouched in some of the most exotic and dramatic sites on our home planet. A TV special, "Looking for Life," takes viewers to these distant locations for the most current reports on this exciting scientific frontier. See http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htmlpid=20740.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Arthur C. Clarke’s short story "Publicity Campaign," published in 1953.
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.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Chara’s habitability, space artists and ‘Consequences of Success in SETI’
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is Chara: http://www.solstation.com/stars/chara.htm.
g Abodes - The detection of methane on Mars has generated a lot of speculation about what could possibly be producing it. Is it coming out of active volcanoes? Maybe the methane results from some geologic or chemical process we don't yet understand. Or, since much of the methane on Earth is produced by biology, perhaps the faint whiffs of methane point to the existence of present-day life on Mars. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=148&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Two schools of thought exist on the question of what life (assuming there is any) will be like on other worlds. These fall under the headings of "divergionism" and "convergionism," or to use Harold Blum's terminology, "opportunism" and "determinism.” See http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/etlifevar.html.
g Intelligence - We may never agree on a universal definition of intelligence because it is an open-ended word, like consciousness. Intelligence and consciousness concern the high end of our mental life, but they are frequently confused with more elementary mental processes, such as ones we would use to recognize a friend or tie a shoelace. Of course, such simple neural mechanisms are probably the foundations from which our abilities to handle logic and metaphor evolved. But how did that occur? That's an evolutionary question and a neurophysiological one as well. Both kinds of answers are needed if we are to understand our own intelligence. They might even help us appreciate how an artificial or an exotic intelligence could evolve. See http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/Hawking/early_proto/
calvin.html.
g Message - Should we modify the Drake Equation to account for civilizations which actually engage in deliberate interstellar transmission? See http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/articles/DrakeEquation.htm.
g Cosmicus - From a cramped garage in Long Beach, astronomical artist Don Dixon has conjured the cosmos — geysers of liquid methane on Titan, Martian moonrises, a supernova in deep space. He's taken people to places they could barely imagine through his illustrations, which have appeared over two decades in Scientific American, Omni and other magazines. Then came the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Rovers and other robotic explorers that have poured out amazing images. Even space artists, who have spent their careers imagining the universe, reel at the photos of boulders on Saturn's moon Titan or star clusters 270 million light-years from Earth. See http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_3979469.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Harry Turtledove’s novel “A World of Difference,” published by Del Rey in 1990.
g Aftermath - Here’s another “old” piece worth reading: “Consequences of Success in SETI: Lessons from the History of Science,” given during a Bioastronomy Symposium in 1993. See http://www.nidsci.org/articles/steve_dick.php.
g Stars - In September 2003, astrobiologist Maggie Turnbull from the University of Arizona in Tucson identified a shortlist of 30 stars that were screened from around 5,000 that have been estimated to be located 100 ly of Earth, as the best nearby candidates for hosting complex Earth-type life. One of them is Chara: http://www.solstation.com/stars/chara.htm.
g Abodes - The detection of methane on Mars has generated a lot of speculation about what could possibly be producing it. Is it coming out of active volcanoes? Maybe the methane results from some geologic or chemical process we don't yet understand. Or, since much of the methane on Earth is produced by biology, perhaps the faint whiffs of methane point to the existence of present-day life on Mars. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop=modload
&name=News&file=article&sid=148&mode=thread&
order=0&thold=0.
g Life - Two schools of thought exist on the question of what life (assuming there is any) will be like on other worlds. These fall under the headings of "divergionism" and "convergionism," or to use Harold Blum's terminology, "opportunism" and "determinism.” See http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/etlifevar.html.
g Intelligence - We may never agree on a universal definition of intelligence because it is an open-ended word, like consciousness. Intelligence and consciousness concern the high end of our mental life, but they are frequently confused with more elementary mental processes, such as ones we would use to recognize a friend or tie a shoelace. Of course, such simple neural mechanisms are probably the foundations from which our abilities to handle logic and metaphor evolved. But how did that occur? That's an evolutionary question and a neurophysiological one as well. Both kinds of answers are needed if we are to understand our own intelligence. They might even help us appreciate how an artificial or an exotic intelligence could evolve. See http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/Hawking/early_proto/
calvin.html.
g Message - Should we modify the Drake Equation to account for civilizations which actually engage in deliberate interstellar transmission? See http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/SETI/koi/articles/DrakeEquation.htm.
g Cosmicus - From a cramped garage in Long Beach, astronomical artist Don Dixon has conjured the cosmos — geysers of liquid methane on Titan, Martian moonrises, a supernova in deep space. He's taken people to places they could barely imagine through his illustrations, which have appeared over two decades in Scientific American, Omni and other magazines. Then came the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Rovers and other robotic explorers that have poured out amazing images. Even space artists, who have spent their careers imagining the universe, reel at the photos of boulders on Saturn's moon Titan or star clusters 270 million light-years from Earth. See http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_3979469.
g Learning - Here’s a neat interactive Web site for kids: “Are Humans All Alone in the Universe?” In the program, kids get to search for ET — and learn some principles of science along the way. See http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/universe/et_e/index_e.htm.
g Imagining - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Harry Turtledove’s novel “A World of Difference,” published by Del Rey in 1990.
g Aftermath - Here’s another “old” piece worth reading: “Consequences of Success in SETI: Lessons from the History of Science,” given during a Bioastronomy Symposium in 1993. See http://www.nidsci.org/articles/steve_dick.php.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Cool methane brown dwarf, meteors’ organic particles and ‘After Contact’
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 using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope announced the detection of a cool methane brown dwarf in orbit around the recently discovered, red dwarf star SCR 1845-6357. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/new-obj.htm.
g Abodes - Like an interplanetary spaceship carrying passengers, meteorites have long been suspected of ferrying relatively young ingredients of life to our planet. Using new techniques, scientists have discovered that meteorites can carry other, much older passengers as well - primitive, organic particles that originated billions of years ago. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.
phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1953.
g Life - Sex is an expensive and risky business. It steals time and drains precious nutrient resources. And each act of reproduction runs the risk of messing up carefully crafted genetic blueprints. So why do we do it? See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050330_sex_good.html.
g Intelligence - Could a technologically oriented intelligence as likely arise from a predatory species as a non-predatory one? An anthropologist explores the possibilities at http://holtz.org/Library/Natural%20Science/Predator%20Prey%20Models%20&%20Contact%20Consids.htm.
g Message - A number of searches for extraterrestrial intelligence actually have occurred, are ongoing and are planned. Here’s one of the more famous ones: Project BETA, at Harvard University. See http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/beta.html.
g Cosmicus - In this interview, Charles Cockell talks about studying microbes in the harsh conditions of outer space. He also explains why in the future, humans must expand our horizons outwards into that final frontier. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop
=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1955&
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity courtesy of DiscoverSchool.com: “Extraterrestrials.” In the activity, a digital radio message, intended to alert any intelligent life in space to the existence of intelligent life on Earth, has been electronically transmitted into space by the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico. Students must ensure the message is effective by showing that the senders (humans from Earth) are capable of advanced thinking — but it must not depend on the ability of extraterrestrials to understand any Earth language. See http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/
programs/extraterrestrials/extraterrestrials.rtf.
g Imagining - Watch any science fiction film or series, and all the aliens are humanoid. Of course they are, the actors under the costumes are all human. But is this realistic? Surely any number of exotic and bizarre shapes and sizes are possibly, just look at the myriad of invertebrates that inhabit this world. See http://members.lycos.co.uk/thepixie/sfrpg/sf-essay.htm.
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 - A team of astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope announced the detection of a cool methane brown dwarf in orbit around the recently discovered, red dwarf star SCR 1845-6357. See http://www.solstation.com/stars/new-obj.htm.
g Abodes - Like an interplanetary spaceship carrying passengers, meteorites have long been suspected of ferrying relatively young ingredients of life to our planet. Using new techniques, scientists have discovered that meteorites can carry other, much older passengers as well - primitive, organic particles that originated billions of years ago. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.
phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1953.
g Life - Sex is an expensive and risky business. It steals time and drains precious nutrient resources. And each act of reproduction runs the risk of messing up carefully crafted genetic blueprints. So why do we do it? See http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050330_sex_good.html.
g Intelligence - Could a technologically oriented intelligence as likely arise from a predatory species as a non-predatory one? An anthropologist explores the possibilities at http://holtz.org/Library/Natural%20Science/Predator%20Prey%20Models%20&%20Contact%20Consids.htm.
g Message - A number of searches for extraterrestrial intelligence actually have occurred, are ongoing and are planned. Here’s one of the more famous ones: Project BETA, at Harvard University. See http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/beta.html.
g Cosmicus - In this interview, Charles Cockell talks about studying microbes in the harsh conditions of outer space. He also explains why in the future, humans must expand our horizons outwards into that final frontier. See http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.phpop
=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1955&
mode=thread&order=0&thold=0.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity courtesy of DiscoverSchool.com: “Extraterrestrials.” In the activity, a digital radio message, intended to alert any intelligent life in space to the existence of intelligent life on Earth, has been electronically transmitted into space by the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico. Students must ensure the message is effective by showing that the senders (humans from Earth) are capable of advanced thinking — but it must not depend on the ability of extraterrestrials to understand any Earth language. See http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/
programs/extraterrestrials/extraterrestrials.rtf.
g Imagining - Watch any science fiction film or series, and all the aliens are humanoid. Of course they are, the actors under the costumes are all human. But is this realistic? Surely any number of exotic and bizarre shapes and sizes are possibly, just look at the myriad of invertebrates that inhabit this world. See http://members.lycos.co.uk/thepixie/sfrpg/sf-essay.htm.
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.
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