Using Very Long Baseline Interferometry For SETI
This paper describes the first-ever application of the technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Solar System is Oxygen-Rich Compared to Surroundings
One of the most important elements for complex life on Earth is oxygen. In a recent publicity video, NASA explained how its IBEX Mission found that the solar system is oxygen-rich compared to its surroundings. The original press release is here, and the results were published in a series of six articles in the Astrophysical Journal – you (or your institution) need a subscription to see the ApJ article.The IBEX Mission measured the ratio of neon to oxygen in neutral atoms that slipped through our Solar System’s protective heliosphere (neutral particles are not affected by its magnetic field, so they pass right through) and determined that there is more oxygen for each neon atom inside our Solar System than outside. The Mission scientists posit two theories to explain the relative over-abundance of oxygen in our solar system: (1) the sun originally formed in a part of the galaxy with an oxygen abundance different from that of our current location, or (2) much of the oxygen of the interstellar medium (the space between stars) is trapped in grains of ice and dust, and was thus not detected by the IBEX Mission. Either explanation could have important implications for astrobiology, and for understanding the formation of our solar system and...Searching for Past Life
On Saturday November 26th NASA launched its newest rover toward Mars. Its key goal is to search for evidence that the planet may once have held microscopic life and to look at the possibility of once again holding life. Presented here are the details concerning the mission and the rover itself.
On the Habitability of the Kepler 16 System
George Lucas dreamed of a planet with two suns. Now that Kepler scientists have found such a planet, the question arises: can it support life?
The Radio Activity-Rotation Relation of Ultracool Dwarfs
McLean et al. observe a new sample of late-M and L dwarfs with the Very large Array to search for a relation between rotation rate and radio activity for ultracool dwarfs.
Searching for Pandora
Habitable exomoons appear all over science fiction, but could they exist in real life? Could we detect them if they did?