Daily Archives: April 28, 2015

Thoughts

Posted on April 28, 2015 by alephnulluniverse

People said that the current generation is born too early to explore space, yet born too late to explore Earth. I do not believe that to be true. Humans are learning and exploring space everyday through space probes, telescopes, and other instruments. While, the current generation will probably not be able to explore space physically, […] Continue reading →

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Human Expansion

Posted on April 28, 2015 by dillonkoval

The future is a terrifying, exhilarating venture regardless of the scope. As the human population on Earth grows, it is quite possible that we begin to set hungry eyes on extraterrestrial real estate (assuming technological advances that make it possible/profitable). The moon, being only a short hop away, would likely be the first extraterrestrial human […] Continue reading →

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Thanks for a Wonderful Semester!

Posted on April 28, 2015 by abbeyrstephens

This has been an absolute whirlwind of a semester! There was not a class that went by in which I didn’t learn anything (and most of the time I learned multiple things)! And even though I feel like I understand solar systems and the universe a little better now, I can definitely say that the […] Continue reading →

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Let’s Talk About Extremophiles

Posted on April 28, 2015 by dillonkoval

Extremophiles are organisms that can live in environments that are considered ‘extreme’ due to conditions that make ‘normal’ life basically impossible. These conditions could be extremely hot, reaching temperatures of 240 degrees Fahrenheit, or and environment with very little to no oxygen. There are many different kinds of extremophiles grouped into categories depending on the […] Continue reading →

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Astronomy, we need it!

Posted on April 28, 2015 by matthewrbirnbaum

Throughout two semesters of astronomy I have always been torn about its importance. On one hand the problems we face on Earth seem to trump anything that can happen is space, but on the other hand the more knowledge we obtain the more we are able to understand. What I started to realize towards the […] Continue reading →

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Is the Drake Equation Useful?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by matthewrbirnbaum

The idea behind the Drake equation is perfectly logically. Take the variables that most likely determine whether or not life exists, assign a value to those variables and calculate the number of civilizations. And to put the Drake equation in perspective I will quote the one, the only, Drake “I’ve never been reckless – always calculated.” That […] Continue reading →

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Extremophiles

Posted on April 28, 2015 by alephnulluniverse

Life outside of Earth can be hard to find. It was thought that life could not survive in our solar system outside of Earth. It would be too harsh for any living creature to survive. It is; except for extremophiles. Lichens showed promising results under Martian conditions. Escherichia coli and Paracoccus denitrificans not only survived, but […] Continue reading →

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New Horizon’s Approaches Pluto: So What?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by agiantchicken

NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft is only three months approaching Pluto, and for the first time, we have a true color picture of the Pluto/Charon dwarf planet system. As I sit here typing this, I say, “so what?” Well, it turns out that this is the first time that any spacecraft has traveled so long and […] Continue reading →

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The Solar System: My Changed Perspective

Posted on April 28, 2015 by ctogrye

Hey Guys! This will be my last post for Astro 201. As I look back on this semester’s teaching, I realize how insular my perspective was. I had always heard about the vastness of the universe and how small we were in comparison, but I never realized how small exactly. This first struck me when […] Continue reading →

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Fermi Paradox: Where is Everyone?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by ctogrye

Hey Listeners! Today, because we have recently been discussing life, I’m going to discuss one of the arguments against there being other intelligent civilizations in our galaxy (or the universe). This argument is called the Fermi Paradox. It consists of a number of primary points. One is that the Sun is a relatively typical star […] Continue reading →

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