Tag Archives: blog7

Immortal Water Bears?

by Science News So what is a water bear and how is it immortal? Water bears, also known as Tardigrades, are eight-legged micro animals that can survive extreme conditions. Their size is typically 0.05mm-1.2mm. Water bears can survive in space, radioactive environments, near volcanoes, and even at the bottom of the ocean. Animals that can […] Continue reading

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Light Has Momentum?

How is that possible – And how can we take advantage? We know that light has no mass. And, according to classical mechanics, momentum is given by 1/2mv^2; in other words, according to classical mechanics, light cannot have momentum. But, as we know, light is different — and oh so interesting! By virtue of energy […] Continue reading

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Blog 7: Space Propulsion

Though designing and building a rocket is a very complex endeavor, most people have a pretty good idea of what makes them fly: Burn a whole lot of fuel to produce thrust. This method does a great job of getting a rocket up to a high speed, relative to our planet and the solar system. […] Continue reading

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Goldilocks Planet

Looking for another habitable planet outside of Earth has drawn the attention of scientists for years. Initially scientists believed that as long as a planet orbits a star in a habitable zone that the could be a potential planet for humans to colonize on. However, over the years that list has gotten more extensive. So, […] Continue reading

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Strain 121: Surviving Beyond Boiling

Image of Strain 121 For my blog post I wanted to learn more about extremophiles. One extremophile I found particularly interesting was Strain 121. This single-celled organism is considered a hyperthermophile. Strain 121 can survive and reproduce at temperatures as high as 121 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit), which is where it gets its name. […] Continue reading

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Blog 7: The Fermi Paradox

Pictured Above: ET from the movie ET The universe is almost infinitely large, and there are many planets that appear habitable in our astronomical observations. These worlds are commonly a comparable distance from their parent star, replete with suitable levels of specific elements, and in many ways are indistinguishable from Earth. Despite all of this, […] Continue reading

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The Drake Equation

Have you ever wondered if aliens exist or how many there are? I sure have and so have many scientists. In 1961, Frank Drake created an equation to estimate the number of intelligent alien civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. This equation is called the Drake Equation. The Drake Equation Formula The terms of […] Continue reading

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The Ultimate Thrillseekers

Extremophiles, as their names insinuate, are capable of withstanding extreme conditions that would kill any other organism. The tardigrade, informally known as the “water bear”, is the most well known of these and can comfortably reside in ludicrous environments despite barely being any bigger than a millimeter. So how does this pertain to astronomy? Well, […] Continue reading

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Fermi Paradox

Paradoxes are always interesting to contemplate, and the Fermi paradox is no different. First proposed by Enrico Fermi (above) the Fermi paradox in a nutshell is if the scale and probability of our universe favors intelligent life developing elsewhere, then why have we not found any evidence of that life. This paradox sparked Frank Drake […] Continue reading

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Drake vs Seager Equation

The Drake Equation is The Seager Equation is Dr. Drake formulated his equation a century ago (in 1951) whereas Seager formulated hers approximately a decade (the interview was taken in 2013). As we can see, there are wild differences between the two equations. Seager’s equation only deals with all the stars that we’ve observed, which […] Continue reading

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