by Laila Linke | Mar 25, 2020 | Daily Paper Summaries
Interstellar travel is difficult with traditional fuel-powered rockets. Today’s paper explores how we could instead use sailing space ships, propelled by photons and particles from astrophysical sources. Spoiler alert: Sailing ships could almost reach the speed of light!
by Anthony Maue | Mar 12, 2020 | Daily Paper Summaries
Lifeforms like trees cast unique shadows on the Earth’s surface. Understanding this effect may enable remote detection of life on exoplanets.
by Jamila Pegues | Oct 23, 2017 | Daily Paper Summaries
For life as we know it, atmospheric composition plays a huge part in planetary habitability. Today we explore a theoretical framework for characterizing and predicting planetary atmospheres, and how that framework can help in the search for Earth-like life on planets beyond our own.
by Zephyr Penoyre | Apr 1, 2016 | Daily Paper Summaries
Using a laser we can carefully edit the telltale signs of the Earth’s presence, hiding ourselves away or announcing our presence to other life in the universe. But doing so may be fraught with unknowable consequences that we can never undo. Maybe it’s best to just stay behind the galactic sofa.
by Joseph Schmitt | Mar 22, 2016 | Daily Paper Summaries
Can life hop from planet to planet like a virus in an epidemic? Can we even detect whether this has happened?
by Christopher Lovell | Mar 15, 2016 | Guides
It’s been 50 years since Nikolai Kardashev proposed his eponymous scale for ranking hypothetical civilisations based on their energy consumption. We take a look at its theoretical and practical impact, and how it’s still influencing SETI today