Astrobiology

In late August, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute revealed that they had detected a strange signal that was 94 light years away from Earth. During the time of the signal’s discovery, senior astronomer for SETI, Seth Shostak, could only describe the signal as “interesting”. However, he rhetorically asks, “Could it be another society sending a signal our way?” Shostak, like many other scientists who had heard about the mysterious SETI signal, had hoped for signs of intelligent life beyond Earth and its atmosphere. As it turned out, the signal was nothing more than interference from a military satellite. While the signal turned out to be a false alarm, it brings into question whether the benefits of an interaction with intelligent, extraterrestrial life outweigh the negative implications that come with meeting a vastly different group of individuals. The debate about whether there should be an active attempt to communicate with intelligent extraterrestrials is popular. However, I hope to introduce the discussion about why “differences” between two species would prevent the two communities from interacting. To add some context to my question, the interactions possible between Earth and an extraterrestrial colony can be compared to two different countries meeting together for the first time. In a good scenario, the two countries each have information that they can exchange, and that will benefit the other country. One country will learn how to grow…

Droplets of spittle land on your skin. Out of these spittle spaceships emerge aliens. These alien invaders are bent on conquering the large body that is you. These aliens enter you through your nose, more specifically through your mucus membranes, commonly known as “mucus”. You inhale deeply, and these aliens are breathed into your lungs. Then they start infecting you, till you are taken down with malady. You might be wondering who these aliens are. These alien invaders are none other than…

Aaminah Azhar Astrobiology Spring 2015 Test 1 1. Name and describe five important steps in the formation of planets based on our current scientific understanding. a) Star and planet formation starts inside a collapsing cloud of gas and dust inside a bigger cloud called a nebula. Because of gravity pulling materials in the collapsing cloud closer together, the center of the cloud gets increasingly more compressed and because of this get hotter. The dense hot core of this collapsing cloud becomes…

Edward M. Goolish is an astrobiologist and the Deputy Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, which is a position that he has held for many years ever since 2006. He has served N.A.I. (NASA Astrobiology Institute) or about six years, and he has been the Assistant director for research from February 1, 2013 to August 11, 2014. In 1994, Goolish came to Ames Research Center to conduct research on how the small forces within space can change aquatic organisms, vertebrates and behaviors. He…

There is a common belief that aliens likely do exist but if they did then they would only be bacteria, a microorganism. Geologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee both said that it is improbable that any life other than a microbe is somewhere else in the universe. They state that the earth is a rare case and that intelligent life somewhere else is close to impossible. Even microbes, they said, would be the greatest discovery in the history of science because it suggests a "universal…

The article “ When Did Photosynthesis Emerge on Earth?” was written by the principal investigator of the Ames Research Center team of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, David Des Marais. His experience has led him to publish more than 160 technical articles and chapters on many research topics such as the biogeochemical carbon cycle and the early evolution of the Earth and its biosphere. In this particular article, Des Marais establishes that life dates back to 3800 years ago and that not only…

Mars otherwise known as the “red planet” because of the iron oxide surface on the planet that gives it a red color coat, is one point five hundred and twenty four astronomical units away from the sun. That’s one hundred and forty one point six million miles from the sun making it the fourth planet from the sun. It can easily be seen from Earth because of its red color. According to Nasa, “Mars is named for the ancient Roman god of war”. The Romans chose the name God Of War because it “resembles…

“Exoplanet Habitability”, Seager discussed her search for exoplanets, and the supplemental search for habitable planets. This search for habitable planets, largely involves the classification of exoplanets, including the mass, orbit, habitable zone, atmosphere, and more. These classifications are even more important when considering the fact that planets may be habitable even with slightly different characteristics than Earth. One is to look for biosignature gases which would indicate…

Harvard has multiple departments including paleoentomology, analytical paleontology, geobiology, and astrobiology. The University of Chicago paleontology science it is one of the most important classes one year they went on a field trip to discover and study new fossil digging site and rock samples. The class have the chance to have a hands on education a fossil is just not the finding of dinosaur bones, it’s the study of different history of different things. Everything we thought we know about…

Klahr Hubert, Brandner Wolfgang, Jakosky Bruce. These three people are positively expert of Astronomy, especially Jakosky Bruce, the leader of the University of Colorado at Boulder team within the NASA Astrobiology institute, has authority to define the planet and his book the extremely high credibility. In this powerful resource, we can find some really interesting facts of the dwarf planet: The dwarf planets are usually less massive than planets, with an irregular orbit around the star. This…