* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Alien life

Blobrana · L

For centuries, speculation about the existence of life elsewhere in the universe was the preserve of philosophers and theologians. Then, 50 years ago last month, the question entered the scientific sphere when a young American astronomer named Frank Drake began sweeping the skies with a radio telescope in hopes of picking up a signal from an extraterrestrial civilisation. Initially, his quest was considered somewhat eccentric. But now the pendulum of scientific opinion has swung to the point where even a scientist of the stature of Stephen Hawking is speculating that aliens exist in other parts of our galaxy.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is predicated on the assumption, widely held today, that life would emerge readily on Earth-like planets. Given that there could be upward of a billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy alone, this assumption suggests that the universe should be teeming with life.
But the notion of life as a cosmic imperative is not backed up by hard evidence. In fact, the mechanism of lifes origin remains shrouded in mystery. So how can we test the idea that the transition from nonlife to life is simple enough to happen repeatedly? The most obvious and straightforward way is to search for a second form of life on Earth. No planet is more Earth-like than Earth itself, so if the path to life is easy, then life should have started up many times over right here.

Read more

Blobrana · L

Scientists weigh in on Hawking's alien warning

The Journal of Cosmology compiled responses from a dozen scientists and has published them online. Some criticised Hawking's use of human behaviour to predict what aliens would do, but others said that human behaviour was a reasonable yardstick. Few, however, questioned the premise of Hawking's statements - that alien life forms probably exist and we are likely someday to encounter them.
Read more

Blobrana · L

NASA Announces Wednesday Media Teleconference About Search For Extraterrestrial Life

NASA will hold a news media teleconference at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, April 28, to discuss the status of agency-sponsored astrobiology research, including the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life and the study of how life began on Earth. Topics also will include the quest for evidence of life on Mars, the habitability of other celestial bodies, and future technology research.
Source

Blobrana · L

Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens

Aliens almost certainly exist but humans should avoid making contact, Professor Stephen Hawking has warned.
In a series for the Discovery Channel the renowned astrophysicist said it was "perfectly rational" to assume intelligent life exists elsewhere.
But he warned that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources, then move on.
Read more

Blobrana · L

British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says aliens are out there, but it could be too dangerous for humans to interact with extraterrestrial life.
Hawking claims in a new documentary that intelligent alien lifeforms almost certainly exist, but warns that communicating with them could be "too risky."
Read more

Blobrana · L

Extraterrestrial life may exist, but if it's not an amoeba, it'll be far too clever to bother with us, argues this provocative cosmic tour

The epigraph to Paul Davies's mind-stretching book is a quote from Arthur C Clarke: "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering." This neatly encapsulates the whole business of the search for extraterrestrial life. Whatever the truth turns out to be, it will be awe-inspiring.
Read more

Blobrana · L

Can Life Exist in Alternate Universes?

Scientists from MIT -- obviously not content with searching for life within our own cosmos -- have shown that alternate universes could nurture life even if the fundamental nature of these universes is totally different from our own.
Professor Robert Jaffe and his team at MIT recently had their work published on the front cover of Scientific American after they reached this intriguing conclusion. By slightly altering the masses of the fundamental particles that make up the matter in our universe, Jaffe et al. have shown that although the characteristics of the elements may change, organic chemistry should still be possible in the multiverse.
Read more

Blobrana · L

MIT physicists explore the possibility of life in universes with laws different from our own.

Whether life exists elsewhere in our universe is a longstanding mystery. But for some scientists, theres another interesting question: could there be life in a universe significantly different from our own?
A definitive answer is impossible, since we have no way of directly studying other universes. But cosmologists speculate that a multitude of other universes exist, each with its own laws of physics. Recently physicists at MIT have shown that in theory, alternate universes could be quite congenial to life, even if their physical laws are very different from our own.
Read more

Blobrana · L

The iguanas of the Galapagos Islands have evolved many unique characteristics due to their isolation from mainland iguanas. Because they can't swim long distances, biologists believe that the first Galapagos iguanas arrived on natural rafts made from vegetation.
The same thing may have happened across the ocean of space. Some researchers speculate that life on Mars - if there is any - may be composed of "island species" that were carried away from Earth on interplanetary meteorites.
Or perhaps both planets were seeded by life from an even more distant "mainland."
Read more