Tag Archives: blog9

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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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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Possible Messages from Aliens?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by abbeyrstephens

Recently, the search for alien life has become more and more prevalent in astronomy during this past century. New fields, such as astrobiology, have formed. Theories and formulas focused on the search for alien life, such as the Fermi Paradox and the Drake Equation, have become widely known. Messages for possible intelligent life have been […] Continue reading →

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NASA’s NExSS Project to Lead the Way for the Search for Alien Life

Posted on April 28, 2015 by agiantchicken

NASA is currently assembling a group that it plans to call the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), which will be a group of specialists from various scientific fields in hopes to study the nature of exoplanets and figure out if some might be suitable for life. Currently the project has garnered support among planetary and […] Continue reading →

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Necessities of life

Posted on April 28, 2015 by bryancm1

In looking at what planets can sustain life, one requirement always includes liquid water. From this we can narrow down our searches to a solar system’s habitable zone, which is the region surrounding a star capable of supporting liquid water. But are we limiting ourselves too much in our searches? What if life was capable […] Continue reading →

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Silicon based life

Posted on April 27, 2015 by newbeelity

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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Alien Contact

Posted on April 27, 2015 by lukegchapman

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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Europa Report

Posted on April 27, 2015 by conorastr201

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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Is Anybody Out There?

Posted on April 27, 2015 by michellelei

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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