Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g STARS - SETI scientists are taking notice of the latest discovery of a "Super-Earth" beyond the solar system as they fine-tune their list of stars to target in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence. With the recent announcement of a planet seven to eight times the Earth's mass circling an M dwarf star, the chances for habitable worlds seem greater than ever. "It may well be that there are far more habitable planets orbiting M dwarfs than orbiting all other types of stars combined," explained Frank Drake, the Director of the SETI Institute's Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. See article.
g ABODES - Hidden deep inside the Earth are rare pockets of exotic materials, the likes of which scientists have detected only once. These materials may be "roots" that anchor mantle plumes - narrow pipes that bridge the gap between the Earth's crust and its super hot core. They may also be responsible for forming volcanic islands like Hawaii. See article.
g LIFE - Scientists have discovered giant sinking mucus "houses" that double the amount of food on the sea floor. Tadpole-like animals not much bigger than your index finger produce the mucus houses, or "sinkers." As sinkers drop to the sea floor, small sea critters and other food particles get stuck to the mucus and end up on the bottom of the ocean. See article.
g INTELLIGENCE - Our brains hold many of the mysteries of who we are and why we do what we do. Unlocking the mystery of how exposure to violent media affects our brains is the focus of Indiana University School of Medicine research published in the May/June issue of the Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography. See article.
g MESSAGE - A while back, the BBC interviewed Ian Morison, coordinator of the Jodrell Bank SETI observations - whose job is to search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligent life. Read his interview.
g COSMICUS - "I propose to assert that near some star rather like our sun there now exists a civilization with scientific interests and with technical possibilities much greater than those now available to us." So began astronomer and SETI founder Philip Morrison's famous speech, "Interstellar Communication," before the Philosophical Society of Washington. Read the speech's full text.
g LEARNING - Here's a great book for fourth- through sixth-grade kids: "Is Anybody Out There?" by Heather Couper, Nigel Henbest and Luciano Corbella. Of the book, one reviewer wrote: "Does intelligent life exist beyond our planet? This visually exciting examination looks at both the myth and the science related to the question. The authors, both British science writers, describe what alien lifeforms might look like, how we might communicate with them, and the impact the discovery of extrasolar planets has had on the development of scientific equipment. The book is organized into 17 appealing photo-spreads, comprising color photographs, detailed captions and boxed insets that contain information about a scientist or about a historic scientific event, or suggested activities for would-be scientists. The inclusion of a "count the alien civilizations" foldout board game is a bonus." See article.
g IMAGINING - If alien lifeforms did arrive on Earth, what might they look like? Contemporary images of alien lifeforms differ significantly from previous ones. See article.
g AFTERMATH - Would dutiful American citizens trust the government to handle first contact with extraterrestrials and rush to get information to the public? See article. Note: This article is from 1999.
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Who should be in charge of First Contact? Should it be the U.S. government? Another nation? The United Nations? Clearly there is an important role for all of those entities. Depending on how First Contact occurs, though, perhaps it would be best handled by scientists? This is the argument in the SETI post-detection protocol. It is a well-developed set of guidelines for how to handle First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization.
A science based approach in a SETI communications scenario makes sense: the event would be essentially a scientific discovery. Scientists across the planet are actively engaged in a search of the universe for extraterrestrial communication signals of all sorts. The SETI Institute itself has more than 150 people working on the endeavor. It is the most organized and reputable scientific investigation of extraterrestrial life. The hard work of SETI scientists had led to a well developed response to the discovery of an extraterrestrial signal. There is an organized method of confirmation and disclosure that answers many questions that would be raised by such a discovery. Who should be notified first? How should the announcement be made to the public?
This is the first part of the SETI post-detection protocol provided here thanks to the folks at the Planetary Society:
Any individual, public or private research institution or governmental agency that believes it has detected a signal from or other evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence (the discoverer) should seek to verify that the most plausible explanation for the evidence is the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence rather than some other natural phenomenon or anthropogenic phenomenon before making any public announcement. If the evidence cannot be confirmed as indicating the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence, the discoverer may disseminate the information as appropriate to the discovery of any unknown phenomenon.
Prior to making a public announcement that evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence has been detected, the discoverer should promptly inform all other observers or research organizations that are parties to this declaration, so that those other parties may seek to confirm the discovery by independent observations at other sites and so that a network can be established to enable continuous monitoring of the signal or phenomenon. Parties to this declaration should not make any public announcement of this information until it is determined whether this information is or is not credible evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. The discoverer should inform his/her or its relevant national authorities.
After concluding that the discovery appears to be credible evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, and after informing other parties to this declaration, the discoverer should inform observers throughout the world through the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams of the International Astronomical Union, and should inform the Secretary General of the United Nations in accordance with Article XI of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Bodies. Because of their demonstrated interest in and expertise concerning the question of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence, the discoverer should simultaneously inform the following international institutions of the discovery and should provide them with all pertinent data and recorded information concerning the evidence: the International Telecommunication Union, the Committee on Space Research, of the International Council of Scientific Unions, the International Astronautical Federation, the International Academy of Astronautics, the International Institute of Space Law, Commission 51 of the International Astronomical Union, and Commission J of the International Radio Science Union.
A confirmed detection of extraterrestrial intelligence should be disseminated promptly, openly, and widely through scientific channels and public media, observing the procedures in this declaration. The discoverer should have the privilege of making the first public announcement.
Dr. Albert Harrison talks about the protocol, and the role the news media will play in such an announcement, in his book "After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life." Most of us will receive news of a SETI based First Contact from the media. Harrison observes that the news media has some serious differences from science based communication. There is often a loss of detail in reporting, due to the need to make the information understandable to a general audience, but also to make it engaging and interesting. That process can lead to a loss of context and an exaggeration of some facts, while leaving others out entirely.
The SETI protocol is controlled by scientists and scientific organizations. But the United Nations is not the first stop in the process. The discoverer is supposed to notify the appropriate government authorities for his or her nation. Of course most governments don't even take the more formalized and organized SETI suggestions seriously. The SETI folks have had limited success with the United Nations.
All of this makes complete sense for a SETI, signal based, First Contact scenario. How about Direct First Contact? Would any of these steps apply?
Direct First Contact is a challenge, because it could happen in a multitude of ways. That's why I am proposing a relatively simple approach. Use a dramatic First Contact event, such as an extraterrestrial craft flying over a city, to leverage the news media and use the world-wide communication system to spread the word. Within minutes in some locations, and hours in others, most of the world population could watch or listen to coverage of First Contact. This would provide a direct introduction to the entire planet. A SETI based approach would not work with a Direct First Contact scenario. All of the bureaucracy that supports scientists would prove cumbersome and ineffective in Direct First Contact.
There needs to be a clear path and a simple process in a Direct First contact event. It needs to operate entirely outside the system of government and science at first, and then bring those entities into the process soon thereafter. In essence the extraterrestrial visitors need to control First Contact. If not the process becomes tarnished by government self-interest and subject to all sorts of outside influence. We have a robust media and communications sharing network on this planet that can allow an extraterrestrial group to speak to the world directly. It would only require a simple, one-day, process to put it to work and make that big introduction.
First Contact Extraterrestrial Proposal Idea Hello First Contact Alien Introduction Space Visitors
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. You may notice that this and future entries are shorter than usual; career, family and book deal commitments have forced me to cut back some of my projects. Now, here's today's news:g STARS - What is the habitable zone for the nearby star Gliese 674?g ABODES -A new study of Martian soil suggests there was once enough water in Mars' atmosphere for a light drizzle to reach the ground. The finding has important implications in understanding the potential for past life on Mars. See article.g MESSAGE - During the early 1980s, David Brin offered an explanation for Fermi's Paradox, which asked why if extraterrestrial life existed it wasn't on Earth. Brin's answer: The Zoo Hypothesis. Here's a copy of that groundbreaking paper, "The 'Great Silence': The Controversy Concerning Extraterrestrial Life." See article.g COSMICUS -A new study offers a simplified technique for detecting biological molecules in Martian rock. The equipment is too large to be put on a rover, but it could be used to analyze samples brought back from Mars. See article.g LEARNING -What is an astrobiologist - and how do I become one? See article.g AFTERMATH - What affect would the discovery of alien life have on the story-telling genre that inspires the search for it - science fiction? See article.
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This blog occupies a small slice of territory in the consideration of extraterrestrial intelligence. I don't believe in alien conspiracies or that First Contact has already occurred. I do believe that First Contact is a distinct possibility in the future, in one form or another, and that we should have a sober and wide-reaching conversation about how it would impact humans and our civilization. This isn't an easy conversation. I alienate (no pun intended) those who believe in extraterrestrial conspiracies. Folks on the other end of the spectrum think that consideration of extraterrestrial intelligence is a silly waste of time. They may very well be right. If there are no alien civilizations out there for us to contact, this is simply an amusing train of thought. However, if we do ever make First Contact our lack of serious consideration and preparation will be a major problem. So, a little proactive conversation on the subject seems worthwhile.
This "giggle factor" in the consideration of extraterrestrial intelligence was brought up by Dr. Mazlan Othman, the astrophysicist who directs the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). She is well acquainted with the "giggle factor". A few years ago Othman prepared a paper for the Royal Society in London. The Royal Society is one of a few respected scientific bodies to take up the issue of extraterrestrial intelligence (the International Astronomical Union is another key supporter). The media got wind of the Othman paper, which proposed planning in the United Nations for extraterrestrial contact. The media twisted it around and the headline became a United Nations director announces herself to be the primary diplomatic contact for extraterrestrials. The coverage was harsh. Dr. Othman immediately backed away from the insinuations. If you read her paper there is no such proposal, it is merely a call for serious consideration of extraterrestrial contact at the international level.
The media had great fun with the story. A few months later the UN attempted to repair the damage by posting a thoughtful and interesting interview with Othman in the United Nations News Centre. Dr. Othman brings up an interesting point:
"...extraterrestrial life must take root as a scientific discussion. Once it takes root and people throw away the idea of it being frivolous or the work of charlatans, people will start seeing it for what it really is."
This has been the work of the SETI Institute for many years now. Jill Tarter and Seth Shostak have championed a scientific, research based, approach in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. They have worked hard to make SETI part of the astrophysics community. That means distancing themselves from the conspiracy theorists and UFO buffs. The approach makes sense. But one wonders how long it might take. First Contact may be decades or even hundreds of years off. It could also occur tomorrow. Our lack of serious consideration leaves us ill-prepared to handle such an occurrence. There is not even agreement on what group might lead such a diplomatic effort.
We waste so much time and energy on the frivolous in our society that calling the consideration of extraterrestrial contact a folly is ridiculous. Let us spend one percent of the time, energy and money that we spend talking about Justin Bieber and the Kardashians. That alone would give us a solid foundation to move forward.
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Credit: dark-shadowy-line.blogspot.com
In the role of Saturn and its satellites orbiting well outside the habitable zone, the begin of life is incredible precursors are not irrelevant. Accomplished, nonetheless the low temperatures for the cosmochemistry very enthralling events on this moon to suspect, almost certainly unequivocal a benevolent of precursors for chemical headway. Due to the finale be of the opinion of nitrogen and gullible compounds it is an expressive research deliver of exobiology, to the same degree these expressions were the self-same on the fresh earth could. A prebiotic headway towards life, approximating to the earth, would halt the thin covering temperatures, although.
Steven Benner of the University of Florida believes that life could form in lakes of deplete hydrocarbons such as methane or ethane, to the same degree these are also correct as solvents for chemical reactions that exceed in existence organisms. The chemical sternness of these hydrocarbons was also disregard than that of water. This would repellent giant molecules such as DNA, concrete.
Maintains a participant of researchers from France, it's within reach that could use the methane lakes painstaking organisms, the dynamism is released in the role of hydrogen and ethyne (acetylene) responded.
The discovery of the Cassini space plunge that acetylene and hydrogen contented of the be of the opinion is very low, researchersassume that these gases are hooked by or at the thin covering. As a progress to boot chemical processes would also questioned creatures who live by these substances and amend it in vogue methane
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Sympathy for the Have another look at of Space Right mind (CSETI) is a nonprofit organization deep-seated to the keen of extraterrestrial intelligence. Founded in 1990 by Dr. Steven M. Greer, who is as a consequence the Transnational Elder of the organization. CSETI is a international dance that focuses on the situation of research teams in the area someplace UFOs are producing overall projection activity and deem research along with electronic target equipment at dependable locations in restraint to kick off epistle along with extraterrestrial intelligence. Murder protocols include the use of strong-tasting, light signals and telepathy (creature). The creature or telepathy is the summit means hand-me-down by the research teams skillful to kick off contact along with extraterrestrial (alien) intelligence.lunar truthmoon landingExternalaliensnibiruend of the worlddoomsdayjudgement day
Origin: ufos-and-aliens.blogspot.com
NUCLEAR PHYSICIST AND UFOLOGIST STANTON FRIEDMAN IS ANGERED BY THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENTISTS WHO USE RADIO AND OPTICAL TELESCOPES TO SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL EXISTENCE, INCLUDING PEOPLE AT THE SETI INSTITUTE IN CALIFORNIA. SETI IS AN ACRONYM FOR SEARCH FOR EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE. THE PRIVATE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION'S MEMBERS CLAIM THEIR PURPOSE IS TO SCIENTIFICALLY DISCOVER THE BEGINNING, CHARACTER AND FREQUENCY OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE. FRIEDMAN IS DISTURBED BY THE FACT THAT THEY DON'T REFERENCE ANY EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE EXISTENCE OF UFOS.
THEY IGNORE THE FACTS AND TREAT FIRST HAND WITNESSES AS IF THEY WERE KOOKS.
STANTON FRIEDMAN IS THE ORIGINAL CIVILIAN INVESTIGATOR OF THE ROSWELL INCIDENT. HE STUDIED PHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOR SEVERAL LARGE COMPANIES. STANTON FRIEDMAN IN MY OPINION IS ONE OF THE VERY BEST UFO RESEARCHERS IN THE FIELD TODAY. HE IS HIGHLY RESPECTED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. WHEN STANTON SPEAKS, HE PERKS UP A LOT OF EARS.
BY L.O.W.F.I.This Major OF ITS Reassuring Discussion desire totally all current knowledge and nominate swear modish the fast-growing, nominal exploration of external space. As the crow flies the perimeter of cosmology, astrobiology, sociology and hurtful straightforwardness physics, we desire sign out the search for earth-like exoplanets and extraterrestrial life; the license implications of contact; and technologies which might exist modish civilizations thousands or millions of days at an earlier time of us. We desire afterward plan a unadorned and questioning oversimplification of the UFO challenge, as it hardship be unspoken modish a nominal, earlier period context. Our plan is to undergo these many unified areas together for the first time, as untaken track by elder, credentialed professionals, and to mount a oral communication modish an delayed nominal background about the search for secret code of life in the nature and its implications. Speakers... GEORGE KNAPP JEFFREY BENNETT JOHN ALEXANDER LEE SPEIGEL LESLIE KEAN RON WESTRUM TED PETERS WILFRIED DE BROUWER amid promote on the way, as well...Great Exploration: Science, UFOs and the Delve for Extraterrestrial SparkLAS VEGAS, NEVADA. OCTOBER 5 - 7, 2012
Reference: unexplored-earth.blogspot.com
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today's news:
g STARS - A new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a burning hot galaxy whose fiery stars appear to be blowing out giant billows of smoky dust. See article.
g ABODES - Rocky planets such as Earth and Mars are born when small particles smash together to form larger, planet-sized clusters in a planet-forming disk, but researchers are less sure about how gas-giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn form. See article.
g LIFE - New research reveals that songbirds add style to their songs using the same mechanism as humans. See article.
g INTELLIGENCE - Too old to learn new skills? By golly, think again. New research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that training re-ignites key areas of the brain, offsetting some age-related declines and boosting performance. See article.
g MESSAGE - Looking for life elsewhere is a tough task for human or robot. The good news is that the scientific skill and tools to search for, detect and inspect extraterrestrial life are advancing rapidly. See article.
g COSMICUS - NASA's investment in enabling technologies for space exploration has been scaled back dramatically in the past year and focused on areas deemed critical to fielding the Crew Exploration Vehicle and conducting the first human lunar sorties since the Apollo program. See article.
g LEARNING - What are university students learning about astrobiology? Check out "An Introduction to Astrobiology." Compiled by a team of experts, this textbook has been designed for elementary university courses in astrobiology. It begins with an examination of how life may have arisen on Earth and then reviews the evidence for possible life on Mars, Europa and Titan. The potential for life in exoplanetary systems and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are also discussed. The text contains numerous useful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. It is also supported by a Web site hosting further teaching materials. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, this book is suitable for self-study and will appeal to amateur enthusiasts as well as undergraduate students. It contains numerous helpful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. The book is also supported by a Website hosting further teaching materials. See reviews.
g IMAGINING - Like first contact stories? Then be sure to read Kristine Katherine Rusch's "Fit to Print," anthologized in "First Contact" (edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff, published by DAW in 1997).
g AFTERMATH - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life - even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See article.
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Remove this adThere are as many as four-hundred billion stars in our galaxy: the Milky Way. And there are more than one-hundred-and-seventy billion galaxies in the observable Universe. Most of those stars have planets, and many of those planets have got to contain useful minerals and fall within their star's habitable zone where liquid water is present.
The conditions for life are probably everywhere.
But where are all the aliens?
COMMENT BY OLIVIERO MANNUCCI: WHERE ARE ALL THE ALIENS?! UNDER OUR NOSES EVERY DAY. BUT MANY MEN DO NOT WANT TO ACCEPT THEIR EXISTENCE JUST AS IN THE PAST IT WAS CONSIDERED CRAZY WHO WANTED TO GO BEYOND THE PILLARS OF HERCULES, BECAUSE THE "SCIENCE" THEN STATED THAT BEYOND THIS BOUNDARY COULD NOT BE OTHER FORMS OF LIFE, BECAUSE THE EARTH WAS FLAT AND THEN FELL BELOW. FORTUNATELY, NOT ALL SCIENTISTS ARE DEAF TO THIS TOPIC. IN SEPTEMBER 2008, AT THE UNESCO PALACE IN PARIS, DURING THE COURSE OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SETI, ASTROPHYSICIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ORSAY DR.LAB`eQUE, REMEMBERED A FAMOUS UFO SIGHTING MADE BY SIX OFFICERS OF THE USAF IN 1957. THEY WERE DOING A ROUTINE FLIGHT OVER THE U.S. ABOARD A RB47. SUDDENLY, A UFO APPEARED NEAR THEM AND FOLLOWED THE PLANE FOR 700 MILES. THE SIX SOLDIERS, USING THE SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES WHICH HAD ON BOARD, GOT A SIGNAL ON A FREQUENCY OF 3 GHZ FROM THE UFO, WHICH WAS COMMUNICATING WITH SOMEONE, MAYBE HIS MOTHER SHIP. AFTER THE STORY OF THIS QUALIFIED WITNESS SAID: Dear colleagues go ahead and look for extraterrestrial life with radio telescopes, but be careful because something is here!
And think about this.
The Universe has been around for 13.8 billion years. Human beings originated 200,000 years ago, so we've only been around for 0.01% of the age of the Universe. An intelligent species could arise on any one of those countless worlds, and broadcast their existence to the entire galaxy.
Once a species developed interstellar travel, they could completely colonize our galaxy within a few tens of millions of years; just a heartbeat in the age of the Universe.
So where are they?
As far as we know, Earth is the only place in the Universe where life has arisen, let alone developed an intelligent civilization.
This baffling contradiction is known as the Fermi Paradox, first described in 1950 by the physicist Enrico Fermi.
COMMENT BY OLIVIERO MANNUCCI: WHEN QUOTING THE FERMI PARADOX, WE MUST REMEMBER IN WHAT CONTEXT IT WAS SAID. IN 1950 IN THE U.S. AND WORLDWIDE OCCURRED THOUSANDS OF UFO SIGHTINGS EVERY DAY. FERMI WHEN HE SAID THESE WORDS, HE DID NOT SAY THIS IN A NEGATIVE SENSE, BUT IN A GOOD WAY. HIS CALCULATIONS SHOWED THAT MILLIONS OF INTELLIGENT ALIEN CIVILIZATION HAD TO BE PRESENT IN SPACE, AND THEREFORE MUST HAVE COME ON EARTH. THIS HAPPENS EVERY DAY, BUT MAN PRETENDS NOT TO SEE THIS. SOMEONE SAID: THE BRAIN IS LIKE A PARACHUTE, IT ONLY WORKS WHEN IT IS OPEN.
Scientists have been trying to resolve this mystery for decades, listening for radio signals from other worlds. We've only sampled a fraction of the radio spectrum, and so far, we haven't detected anything that could be a signal from an intelligent species.
How can we explain this?
Maybe we really are the only planet in the entire Universe to develop life. Maybe we're the first civilization to reach this level of advancement in the entire galaxy. But with so many worlds out there, that really seems unlikely.
Artist impression of an asteroid impact on early Earth (credit: NASA)
Maybe civilizations destroy themselves when they reach a certain point. Nuclear weapons, global warming, killer epidemics, and overpopulation could all end humanity. Asteroids could strike the planet and wipe us out. But would this happen to every single civilization? one-hundred-percent of them? Even if ninety-nine-percent of civilizations destroy themselves, we'd still have a couple that made it through and fully colonized the galaxy. Maybe they're just too far away, and our signals can't reach each other. But then, self-replicating probes could traverse those distances and leave a local artifact in every single star system.
Maybe we can't understand their signals or recognize their artifacts. Maybe, but if aliens constructed a series of artifacts on Earth, I think we'd notice them. The aliens would have experience creating obvious structures.
COMMENT BY OLIVIERO MANNUCCI: THE PROBLEM ARE NOT THEM, ARE US. MOST SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE UNIVERSE QUICKLY. THE SCIENTISTS STILL BELIEVE THEY CAN FIND EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS WITH THE PRIMITIVE RADIO WAVES. SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT WE ARE THE ONLY TECHNOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION OF THE UNIVERSE. MOST SCIENTISTS DO NOT BELIEVE IN UFO SIGHTINGS. YET UFOS WERE SPOTTED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE ALSO PREPARED, SUCH AS FIGHTER PILOTS, CIVILIAN PILOTS, ASTRONAUTS AND MILITARY. NOT ONLY BY ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO EXCHANGES VENUS FOR A UFO. AS I SAID BEFORE, SOMEONE SAID, THE BRAIN IS LIKE A PARACHUTE, IT ONLY WORKS WHEN IT IS OPEN. SCIENTISTS SKEPTICAL NEED ONLY OPEN THEIR BRAINS, THIS IS THE REAL PROBLEM.
Maybe they're just too alien and we just can't understand them. Maybe we're too insignificant, and they don't think we're even worth talking to. We don't need to talk to them to know they exist. If they flew through our Solar System, ignoring us, we'd still know they're around.
Maybe they're not talking to us on purpose, and we're really in some kind of galactic zoo. Or aliens have a Prime Directive, and they're not allowed to talk to us. Again, all the aliens? Not a single one has gotten through and snuck us some evidence?
Milky Way. Image credit: NASA
There are many other potential solutions to the Fermi Paradox, but I personally find them all insufficient. The Universe is big, and old, and if extraterrestrial life is anything like us, it wants to multiply and spread out. Perhaps the most unsettling thought is that something happens to 100% of intelligent civilizations that prevents them from exploring and settling the galaxy. Maybe something good, like the discovery of a transportation system to another Universe. Or maybe something bad, like a destructive technology that has destroyed every single civilization before us.
How do you feel about the Fermi Paradox? How do you resolve the contradictions? Whatever the solution, it's really fun to think about.
We've recorded a couple of episodes of Astronomy Cast about the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox, and we did a sequel episode called, Solutions to the Fermi Paradox.
COMMENT BY OLIVIERO MANNUCCI: THE ONLY REAL SOLUTION TO THE FERMI PARADOX IS : OPEN YOUR MIND. THERE IS NO OTHER SOLUTION. THE SCIENCE CHALLENGES TO RELIGION TO BASE THEIR BELIEFS ON DOGMAS, BUT THEN THE SCIENCE BEHAVES IN THE SAME WAY. THE DOGMAS DO NOT SERVE THE PROGRESS OF HUMANITY. I still remember what the doctor said about the Lab`eque ET: Something is here! This is the only true fact.
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Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g ABODES - In the early days of the solar system, our sun would not have been hot enough to keep the Earth from freezing. However, liquid water was present on the early Earth. Now, scientists believe that greenhouse gasses may have played a role in keeping Earth's oceans from freezing over completely. See article.
g MESSAGE - Although the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has yet to detect a signal, the efforts continue because so little of the possible parameter space has been searched so far. See article.
g AFTERMATH - Almost no serious study seems to have been made of the psychology of extraterrestrial communication - presumably on the basis that xenopsychology, xenoanthropology or xenolinguistics (terms seemingly used only by science fiction enthusiasts and game designers) need some cases to work on before anything useful can be written. Although it might be argued that the theoretical challenges for communication are clear enough to commence such work. See article.
Get your SF book manuscript edited
A fresh look at NASA data suggests that a robotic mission uncovered microbial life on Mars-more than 30 years ago.
In 1976 NASA sent two space probes, Vikings 1 and 2, to Mars to determine whether life exists on the red planet. The probes carried three experiments specially designed for the task, one of which was called the Labeled Release (LR) apparatus.
The LR experiment worked by scooping up a bit of Martian soil and mixing it with a drop of water that contained nutrients and radioactive carbon atoms.
(Related: "Mars Soil Resembles Veggie-Garden Dirt, Lander Finds.")
The idea was that if the soil contained microbes, the life-forms would metabolize the nutrients and release either radioactive carbon dioxide or methane gas, which could be measured by a radiation detector on the probe.
A number of control experiments were also performed, including heating some Mars soil samples to different temperatures and isolating other samples in the dark for months-conditions that would kill microbes that are photosynthetic or that rely on photosynthetic organisms for survival. These control samples were also mixed with the nutrient solution.
To the delight of many biologists at the time, the LR experiment came out positive for life, and the control experiments came out negative.
"The minute the nutrients were mixed with the soil sample, you got something like 10,000 counts" of radioactive molecules-a huge spike from the 50 or 60 counts that constituted the natural background radiation on Mars, said study team member Joseph Miller, a neurobiologist at the University of Southern California and a former NASA space shuttle project director.
Unfortunately, the LR experiment results were not backed up by the probes' other two experiments, both of which came out negative for life, so the space agency dismissed the possibility.
(Related: "Viking Mission May Have Missed Mars Life, Study Finds.")
Now, after running Viking's LR data through a mathematical test designed to separate biological signals from nonbiological signals, Miller's team believes that the LR experiments did indeed find signs of microbial life in Martian soil.
"It's very possible that if you have microbes, they're living a couple of inches beneath the soil, close to water ice," he said.
Clustering Viking's Mars Data
For the study, Miller and mathematician Giorgio Bianciardi, of Italy's University of Siena, used a technique called cluster analysis, which groups together similar-looking data sets.
"We just plugged all the [Viking experimental and control] data in and said, Let the cluster analysis sort it," Miller said. "What happened was, we found two clusters: One cluster constituted the two active experiments on Viking and the other cluster was the five control experiments."
To bolster their case, the team also compared the Viking data to measurements collected from confirmed biological sources on Earth-for example, temperature readings from a rat-and from purely physical, nonbiological sources.
"It turned out that all the biological experiments from Earth sorted with the active experiments from Viking, and all the nonbiological data series sorted with the control experiments," Miller said. "It was an extremely clear-cut phenomenon."
(Related: "Life on Mars? 'Missing Mineral' Find Boosts Chances.")
The team concedes, however, that this finding by itself isn't enough to prove that there's life on Mars.
"It just says there's a big difference between the active experiments and the controls, and that Viking's active experiments sorted with terrestrial biology and the controls sorted with nonbiological phenomena," Miller said.
Evidence for Martian Rhythm
Still, the new findings are consistent with a previous study published by Miller, in which his team found signs of a Martian circadian rhythm in the Viking LR experiment results.
Circadian rhythms are internal clocks found in every known life-form-including microbes-that help control biological processes, such as waking, sleeping, and temperature regulation. (See "Sleep Preferences Predict Baseball Success, Study Says.")
On Earth this clock is set to a 24-hour cycle, but on Mars it would be about 24.7 hours-the length of a Martian day.
In his previous work, Miller noticed that the LR experiment's radiation measurements varied with the time of day on Mars.
"If you look closely, you could see that the [radioactive-gas measurement] was going up during the day and coming down at night.... The oscillations had a period of 24.66 hours just about on the nose," Miller said.
"That is basically a circadian rhythm, and we think circadian rhythms are a good signal for life."
Waiting for the Video
Despite his own conviction that the Viking mission detected life on Mars, Miller said he doesn't expect most people will be convinced until they can look at a video of Martian bacteria sitting in a petri dish.
"But for some reason, NASA has never flown a microscope that would let you do something like that," he said. "If they can fly a microscope for the geologists, they should be able to fly one for the biologists."
NASA's next Martian mission-the Mars Science Laboratory, aka Curiosity-will arrive on the red planet later this year. Although it's not carrying such a microscope, Miller thinks the lander could find supporting evidence for his team's theory.
(Related: "Next Mars Rover Landing Site Named: Gale Crater.")
"It won't test the hypothesis [for life on Mars] directly, but I think they'll be able to detect methane," Miller said. "And if they see a circadian rhythm in the methane release into the atmosphere, it would be very consistent with what we saw."
The new Mars-life research is detailed online in the International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences.
Source: National Geographic.com
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g ABODES - Daniel P. Glavin, an astrobiologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, says the possibility of extraterrestrial life in our solar system is not limited to Mars; other "habitable" worlds might exist including the icy Moons of Jupiter and Saturn, known as Europa and Enceladus. Here's a Webcast of his presentation.
g MESSAGE - The modern Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is based on the premise that a systematic search of the cosmos may reveal artificial signals, transmitted either intentionally or, somewhat like the leakage of TV and radio signals from Earth today, as electromagnetic noise. But will these signals, if we ever detect them, be more than simple beacons telling us that we are not alone? What if the signals bear messages from an alien civilization, attempting to describe the universe from the perspective of an intelligent species evolved completely independently of humankind? See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
g LEARNING - Scientists and students interested in astrobiology will want to make an odyssey to two conferences this year: AbSciCon and AbGradCon. See article.
g AFTERMATH - Planetary protection applies to biological cross-contamination of planets during space missions. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 requires space exploration be done in ways that avoid forward contamination (transporting hitchhiker microorganisms from Earth on outbound spacecraft) and back contamination (bringing something back that could be biohazardous to Earth). See article.
Get your SF book or manuscript edited
Current are various countryside, confident scientists included, who embrace confidently that our customs as we blab it was converted by ancient encounters as well as extraterrestrial life. In 1966 a book entitled "Positive Liveliness in the Pause" was published. It was on paper by two astrophysicists named I.S. Shklovski and Carl Sagan. It distinct that "scientists and historians have to thoughtfully presume the feasibility that extraterrestrial contact occurred hip recorded history. The scientists argued that "sub-light speed interstellar move by extraterrestrial life was a devotion in imitation of in imitation of technologies that were normal or hands-on in the late '60s that consequential instances of extraterrestrial visitation to Catch were reasonably" This of course, sparked extreme movement.Whichever dispute that evidence of this ancient episode is dressed in front wall of our faces, in the form of The Huge Pyramids, The Nazca Defiance, Stonehenge and Addition. Claims are that confident of these structures might not glib be reproduced today and that these cultures were by a long shot toothless of constructing these comrade. In add-on, most of these wondrous structures sound to be openly fluky as well as astronomy and the outlook of stars, planets etc. Load of these structures and images associate clear similarities, whilst they were being fashioned at odd locations on the planet, anywhere drop a line to in the midst of the odd builders would command been difficult. It is to boot tempting to actual out that the Huge Pyramid of Giza id built at the plead center of all landmass on Catch. Could they command all been stirred by the exceptionally thing? Did Entitlement Outlandish theater group or Aged Astronauts pleasant to standard our civilization? Bottom is a video program open-minded day tribes in isolation and their reactions in imitation of confronted as well as a scientifically refined customs and unlike program various examples of what are thought to be ancient representations of extraterrestrial life. Anyhow tempting grit.Aged Astronauts - Aliens, Extraterrestrials -
Source: umad-mysteries.blogspot.com
Here's physicist David Tyler's view of the current announcement about methane on Mars:The quest for life on Mars is unabated. There is a hunger for news: even finding water is heralded as a major find - it is a though water is half-way to finding living things! Today, The Sun newspaper published a story with the headline: "Nasa reveals life on Mars" and the tagline: "ALIEN bugs are responsible for strong plumes of methane gas detected on Mars, it was claimed tonight." This story would be big news, if it were true. However, the journalism exhibited here does not convey the research findings at all well.For several years, it has been known that methane is a component of the Martian atmosphere, and it is also known that this situation is not stable. There are various mechanisms for removing the methane and so there must be a mechanism for renewing the gas. The research paper reports on observed releases of methane, confirming that these occur and also carrying the implication that oxidising agents in the crustal materials is a bif factor in methane degradation.The research does not reveal the source of this methane. This is left open in the research paper: it could be linked to microbial life, but it could be geochemical. "Thus, the presence of significant methane would require recent release from sub-surface reservoirs; the ultimate origin of this methane is uncertain, but it could be abiotic or biotic." and: "Both geochemical and biological origins have been explored, but no consensus has emerged". Go here for more.
THE Carefulness THAT WE ARE Unconnectedly IN THE Foundation IS Ridiculous
"The Outer space Reserve"
"The sway that we are the in simple terms cheerful creatures in a conception of a hundred billion galaxies is so silly that existing are very few astronomers today who would take it unmanageably. It is safest to sense consequently, that they are out existing and to manage the aerate in which this may influence upon human weapon."
Arthur C. Clarke, physicist and writer of 2001: A Drop Odyssey
One of the uttermost accepting and professional challenges that at this point confronts people is the unsolved scrutinize of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
The Fermi paradox is the obvious defiance with high estimates of the unintended of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for or contact along with such civilizations.
The 14-billion-year age of the universe and its 130 billion galaxies and a Smooth Way Galaxy along with a few 400 billion stars bring that if the Planet is definitive, be required to be lead. Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi, discussing this vision along with generation over lunch in 1950, asked, logically: "Where are they?" Why, if pompous extraterrestrial civilizations exist in our Smooth Way galaxy, hasn't evidence such as probes, spacecraft, or radio transmissions been found?
As our technologies engender a feeling of consistently outstanding knowing and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence continues to pause, the "Full-size Reserve" becomes louder than consistently. The supposedly expel conception is screaming out to us that something is amiss. Or is it?
Using a computer enthusiasm of our own galaxy, the Smooth Way, Rasmus Bjork, a physicist at the Niels Bohr The populace in Copenhagen, anticipated an solution to the Fermi Paradox. Bjork anticipated that an alien ethnicity faculty come intergalactic probes and ascertain them on missions to search for life.
He found, thus far, that homogeneous if the alien ships can lay the blame on all through space at a tenth of the speed of light, or 30,000km a blaze, - NASA's current Cassini chore to Saturn is gliding the length of at 32km a blaze - it would take 10 billion vivacity, voice partial the age of the universe, to detangle a tarn four percent of the galaxy.
Like humans, alien civilizations can reduce the time to urge extra-terrestrials by scale up barrier and radio broadcasts that faculty leak from populated planets. "Absolute afterward," he reported, "unless they can develop an remarkable form of step that gets them agilely the galaxy in two weeks it's still separation to take millions of vivacity to urge us. Hand over are so patronize stars in the galaxy that apparently life can exist shown, but chutzpah we consistently get in contact along with them? Not in our natural life."
TO Explain THE Satisfied Tale Click At hand
If an extraterrestrial civilization designed intelligent machines to roam the universe those machines would likely have an important characteristic: the ability to adapt. Learning is part of intelligence. The ability to adapt would be combined with the learning process for active endeavors to overcome challenges and respond to new problems as they occur.
Machine extraterrestrial intelligence is a topic worth pursuing. Considering that humans send probes into space to explore, it seems possible that extraterrestrial civilizations might do the same. Paul Davies and Seth Shostak have talked about this idea for years now.
There would be possible benefits and many issues in such an extraterrestrial First Contact.
What would the adaptability of intelligent machines mean for us? It could take away many of the barriers in terms of communication and cultural understanding if extraterrestrial machines were to visit our solar system. Why? If they wished to make contact, they would learn and adapt to do so. An intelligent machine wanting to make contact would likely spend some time learning about us- our languages, our cultures and our technology. This would make sense for any intelligent extraterrestrial visitor. It's probably what we would do if we discovered an extraterrestrial civilization in our travels. There would not be much to gain by charging in without knowing languages or understanding the cultures of the beings on the planet you wished to contact. Alien machines would want to learn human languages, they would be interested in how we might react and, perhaps most importantly, they would have a game plan, a process for undertaking an introduction.
Could alien machines be better able to adapt than biological visitors? They probably wouldn't be hung up with the prejudice of biology and culture, perhaps making them less judgmental and more open to other ways of being. However, their programming and base intelligence would probably be very different from ours. Sorting that out could be difficult for us. Also, our conception of machine intelligence might be very different from the type of advanced technology we might encounter. Our machines serve us. Alien machines could be self aware and have their own agenda, different over time even from their creators.
There is certainly plenty of fun science fiction on this topic. And all of this imaginative speculation would have positive and negative impacts if a real situation was to develop some day. There could be fear of machines on our part, thanks to the Terminator movies, the TV show Battlestar Galactica and other popular fiction that features computers taking over the world. This alone would force adaptive alien machines to consider human public relations and carefully study how we interact and how we would best respond.
It all comes back to motives. Intelligent machines, just like biological extraterrestrials, would have a reason for coming to our solar system. Perhaps they are designed to explore, much like our probes? Perhaps they are designed to make contact? We could hope that would be the case, because then the need to understand human culture could be built into the machine programming. Any help we could get in First Contact would be a good thing. If the machines were not designed to adapt or even care about human interaction it could be a mysterious alien encounter that we would never fully understand. And that could be the most frustrating scenario of all.
What do you think? Join the conversation on the Alien FirstContact Facebook page.
Reference: outer-space-guests.blogspot.com
NASA scientists last night unveiled compelling evidence of life on Mars.
A special mission to the Red Planet has revealed the likely presence of a form of pond scum - the building blocks of life as we know it.
NASA unveiled the results of the recent Opportunity and Spirit probes sent millions of miles through the solar system to discover signs of extraterrestrial life.
The results are so promising boffins have already planned a host of other missions to discover whether there is extraterrestrial life in the universe.
The recent missions have gathered evidence of sulphates on Mars, a strong indication there is water on the planet and therefore life.
Previous missions to Mars have concluded there is probably water on the planet.
But the NASA boffins said the recent missions have gone further than any others in proving there is life on Mars.
They were particularly excited about the discovery of a sulphate called gypsum which, it has emerged recently, is found in large quantities among fossils in the Mediterranean.
Jack Farmer, researcher at the Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona, said he was "optimistic" there was - or had been - life on Mars.
Another of the scientists Bill Schopf, researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles, added: "One, thanks to Opportunity and the rovers and orbital imaging it is clear that there are literally vast areas of Mars that are carpeted with various sorts of sulphates, including gypsum.
"Two, it turns out on earth there just hasn't been hardly any work done at all to show whether gypsum ever includes within it preserved evidence of former life.
"The age doesn't matter. We just didn't know that fossils and organic matter and things like that were well preserved within gypsum.
"So, three, it turns out that now we have made that first step we are going to find out how widespread it is in other sulphate deposits on earth.
"And those lines of evidence will then give us a way to justify going to Mars and looking at gypsum because it looks as though based on these findings that is going to turn out to be a really excellent place to find evidence of ancient life, regardless of age, if in fact it is there."
Five experts took part in last night's press conference to celebrate 50 years of astrobiology research.
Dr Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, said the only way of being sure there is life on Mars was to bring back a sample of Mars rock.
He also said that the detection of methane in the martian atmosphere - as revealed exclusively by The Sun - raised the possibility that there was still life on Mars today.
"Methane is a molecule that should go away very quickly. We need to send a mission to find out if the source is biological.
"We also need to send a mission to return samples from Mars. That would enable scientists to find out whether Mars might ever have harboured life.
"If we are ever going to show if there was ever life on Mars, I think we're going to have to study samples back on Earth."
Almost 30 other NASA missions to discover life in space - including one to bring back rocks from Mars - have already been planned.
There are also plans to visit Jupiter's moon Europa to explore its deep underground ocean and a moon of Saturn, Enceladus, which spouted ice volcanoes.
Future missions would also visit comets.
NASA scientists have been searching for extraterrestrial life on other planets for some time.
Last November the space organisation launched the Kepler space telescope to look for Earth-size planets in this galaxy.
The telescope is on a three-and-a-half-year mission to find planets.
NASA has so far been able to download data - but many believe there are aliens out there.
British physicist Stephen Hawking said this week aliens might be traveling through the cosmos right now - but he warned they might have evil intentions.
Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2951855/Nasa-Evidence-of-life-on-mars.html#ixzz0mRxZTzsO
