Microscopic Organisms That Might Survive In Space And Looking For Powerful Light Pulses From Other Star Systems

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 Lacaille 9352?

g ABODES - Scientists have developed a new way of determining the size and frequency of meteorites that have collided with Earth in the past. Their work has provided new information about the impact that may have caused the demise of the dinosaurs. See article.

g LIFE - Microscopic organisms thrive in polar-ice 'brine channels' whose conditions mirror some of those found in space. See article.

g MESSAGE - In 2001, California astronomers broadened the search for extraterrestrial intelligence with a new experiment to look for powerful light pulses beamed our way from other star systems. Scientists from the University of California's Lick Observatory, the SETI Institute, UC-Santa Cruz, and UC-Berkeley used the Lick Observatory's 40-inch Nickel Telescope with a new pulse-detection system capable of finding laser beacons from civilizations many light-years distant. Unlike other optical SETI searches, this new experiment is largely immune to false alarms that slow the reconnaissance of target stars. See article.

g AFTERMATH - Book alert: You may have to really scour used book stores for this one: 1976's "ETI: The First Encounter" considers the consequences to man's view of himself and his world of the first proven contact - when it comes - with beings from another planet. Edited by James L. Christian, this book led the way in reflecting on the next stage in man's gradual self-discovery. See article.