Earlier this month a team of researchers made headlines by not finding any signs of alien life in 100,000 galaxies. Their search was based on the theories put forward by physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960. Freeman Dyson theorized that advanced technological cultures would be limited by an ever growing demand for energy. This is the…
It’s looking less and less likely that there is, or ever was, life on Mars
The video below illustrates some of the many, many problems that must be overcome before humans can actually live on Mars. At the same time it illustrates some of the problems that indigenous life on Mars would have had to overcome. It’s become pretty clear that life, as we know it, does not exist on…
How to Make Life in a Bottle
There are people out there who think that the creation of life has something to do with divinity (of one kind or another) but the reality is that it’s not all that complicated. Ok, it’s a little complicated and you probably don’t have the equipment at home but the University of Chicago’s Stanley Miller demonstrated…
On Overview of Life Out There in Fact and Fiction: “Once Upon a Planet” [podcast]
The CBC’s Idea’s podcast with Paul Kennedy recently took a one hour look at our search for extraterrestrial life. The podcast features views from: Ray Jayawardhana, Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics at University of Toronto. Robert J. Sawyer, science fiction novelist. Jack Cohen, biologist, science writer and science fiction author. Gregory Benford, Professor of…
Did Life on Earth Begin on Mars?
It is no secret that Mars was once rich with water and could have supported life. Now new evidence, at least to some, that Mars may once have been more hospitable to life than the Earth was. The suggestion is not that complex, highly developed life evolved on Mars and then deliberately travelled to Earth.…
Chances Are Aliens Will Never Invade Earth
In 2010, Stephen Hawking caused a bit of a stir by revealing that he believes in aliens and that the Earth could be in danger of invasion by aliens seeking resources. Recent discoveries however make that increasingly unlikely. In a recent blog post, NBC News science editor Alan Boyle pretty much destroys that idea. NASA’s…
Suggested Reading: The Great Exoplanet Debate
Astronomers are discovering new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) on a weekly basis now. If you are interested in the possibility of life beyond Earth you should read Astrobiology Magazine’s “The Great Exoplanet Debate” to learn more about what astronomers and astrobiologists are looking for when they describe “habitable” and “Earth like” planets. The article is…