Category Archives: Aliens

What are we even looking for?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by juliamac17

So recently we’ve been looking at different planets. Some of the planets that we tend to find most interesting are those that we think could possibly support life. But instead of tackling the life question from an excited human standpoint, I’m looking at it in a slightly wary, totally suspicious one. What are we looking for? […] Continue reading →

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Weird Life on Titan?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by joshkphilips

Image Source People are fascinated by the Universe for a variety of reasons. Some are intrigued by black holes, while others may be obsessed with the formation of stars and planets. But one thing is for sure, the possibility of life elsewhere is definitely an exciting topic no matter what you’re interested in. When we […] Continue reading →

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Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology is Indistinguishable from Awesome: Dyson Sphere!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Sam Chance

In honor of Freeman Dyson’s upcoming visit, I thought we could talk about Dyson Spheres. A Dyson Sphere is a structure which surround a solar system and collects all of the energy which is given off by the star.  Dyson published this idea in his 1960 paper “Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infared Radiation“. … Continue reading Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology is Indistinguishable from Awesome: Dyson Sphere! → Continue reading →

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The Probability of Life “Out There”

Posted on March 16, 2014 by paanvaannd

  Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Mathematically speaking, there’s almost got to be some. In fact, it would be quite surprising to find out that there aren’t other intelligent life forms, let alone simple life. Life as we know it can exist in a plethora of places and environments on Earth itself, … Continue reading The Probability of Life “Out There” → Continue reading →

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Origins Of Life

Posted on April 29, 2013 by jacksonlangham

Two scientists, Alexei Sharov and Richard Gordon, have plotted the genome size of different kinds of organisms against their presumed date of origin. They only had five data points, but […] Continue reading →

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Silentium Universi

Posted on April 29, 2013 by burnspress

Fermi’s paradox, Fermi’s question, the Great Silence, and Silentium Universi are all names ascribed to one of the most fundamental questions of astronomy: “Where is everybody?” It is a question based in rationality, because in the search for extraterrestrial life the numbers just don’t seem to add up. With enough probes and some decent rocket technology, it is […] Continue reading →

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The Golden Record

Posted on April 29, 2013 by mirandaskunz

In the early 1970s, plaques containing information about humans and Earth were sent out on plaques on the Pioneer spacecraft. By the late 1970s, these plaques were upgraded to golden records on the Voyager probes. These phonographic records, designed to inform aliens who might discover the probes about humans, included 115 images, greetings in 55 […] Continue reading →

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The Drake Equation – A Scientific Shot in the Dark

Posted on April 28, 2013 by marknshirleyvu

The Drake Equation is an incredibly interesting topic of discussion.  Obviously, determining the number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy is a monumental task.  Because of the sheer size of the problem, the fact that a simple equation can bring us anywhere close to a reasonable guess is in itself very impressive.  As impressive as […] Continue reading →

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Optimistic Astronomy

Posted on April 28, 2013 by juliettealper

I have always been interested in Astronomy and the concept that Earth is only a very small part of the rest of the Universe. After learning all of the in depth detail about planet formation, moon cycles, the physics behind it all, and the rest of the topics we covered in class- I have gotten […] Continue reading →

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My Favorite Parts of the Semester

Posted on April 28, 2013 by AlanL

I learned a lot about the universe in this class, but what really stuck out at me throughout the semester was how principles that I had previously learned in physics are used to discover new planets or what they’re made of. For example, I learned about the Doppler Effect in my 7th grade science class […] Continue reading →

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