Monthly Archives: April 2015

Terraforming Mars

Everyone seems so caught up on finding extraterrestrial life. I think rather than focus on finding others, carving out our own “space footprint” seems so much more exciting. If you’ve seen the 2013 Superman reboot Man of Steel, you would have been introduced to the concept of terraforming. The remnants of the Kryptonian race wish […] Continue reading

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Stellar classification

The stellar classification classifies stars based on their spectral characteristics. When passing through a prism, light from a star will be split into a spectrum displaying rainbow of colors interspersed with absorption lines. The strength of each line indicates the abundance of a specific ion. The abundance of different ions varies with the temperature of… Continue reading

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Silicon based life

The silicon atom has been discussed as the basis for an alternative biochemistry system, since silicon is in the same group of periodical table as carbon and shares many chemical properties with carbon. As silicone-based chemicals are much more stable than equivalent hydrocarbons in a sulfuric-acid-rich environment that is found in many locations in the… Continue reading

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What Will We Find?

I am most interested in two things: finding another planet that we can exist on, and finding life. I am aware that neither of these two events may happen in my life time but after taking ASTR 201 at Vanderbilt I am very excited to read about the advances that our world makes in these… Continue reading

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Alien Contact

The first time I heard about alien contact was actually from Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders. I don’t know if anyone remembers that movie but there was a site in the movie where there were a ton of satellite dishes and they were receiving signals from “the great unknown.” I have always wondered what… Continue reading

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Are There Aliens Around Us?

Have you ever imagined that maybe there are other kind of life forms that living around you every moment but only you are unable to perceive them? The nature has shaped all life on Earth in its distinct way. It offers us vision, olfactory, tactility and so on. However, there might be other kind of … Continue reading Are There Aliens Around Us? Continue reading

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Are Aliens Kind or Brutal?

British famous physicist Steven Hawking made an announcement in 2010 that it is not wise to seek for extraterrestrial intelligent life spontaneously. Already described in many science fictions that aliens with high technology have used up their own native planet and wanders in the space for new planet to live. Aliens who can receive and … Continue reading Are Aliens Kind or Brutal? Continue reading

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Europa Report

This past weekend, I watched a movie on Netflix called Europa Report. The movie was a detailed the gripping journey of six people on their trip Europa with the sole mission of confirming or denying the existence of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Not only was this a great, well done film, but it also touched on […] Continue reading

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My New Outlook on Space

Space has always been a fascinating thing to me. In the past, I would often find myself getting lost on Wikipedia reading articles about the Big Bang or the future of the Sun. When I was a kid, I had a recurring dream of traveling through space on a spaceship. Taking this course allowed me […] Continue reading

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Is Anybody Out There?

While eating lunch with some colleagues in 1950, Enrico Fermi made an innocent yet profound comment about life in the universe. As a well-known physicist, Fermi knew that the universe was old enough to possibly have other life present, especially within the Milky Way. If this was the case, there was an obvious question –… Continue reading Is Anybody Out There? Continue reading

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