Topics: Applied Physics, Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Civilization, Climate Change, Existentialism, Exoplanets, SETI, Thermodynamics Well, this firmly puts a kink in the “Fermi Paradox.” The Industrial Revolution started in Britain around 1760 – 1840, and there was a colloquial saying that “the sun did not set on the British Empire.” The former colony, America, cranked up itsContinue reading “Wages of the Thermal Budget…”
Category Archives: SETI
The Secret Life of the Universe…
Topics: Astrobiology, Biology, Instrumentation, James Webb Space Telescope, Research, SETI “The Secret Life of the Universe” by Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, the SETI Institute’s chief scientist and Director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, is coming out this week, both in the US (August 13, 2024) and in the UK (August 15, 2024).Continue reading “The Secret Life of the Universe…”
AI and the Great Filter…
Two researchers have revised the Drake equation, a mathematical formula for the probability of finding life or advanced civilizations in the universe. University of Rochester. Are We Alone in the Universe? Revisiting the Drake Equation, NASA Topics: Astrobiology, Astrophysics, Artificial Intelligence, Civilization, SETI See: Britannica.com/The-Fermi-Paradox/Where-Are-All-The-Aliens AbstractThis study examines the hypothesis that the rapid development ofContinue reading “AI and the Great Filter…”
Oxymoron…
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists shifted the Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds to midnight at a news conference in January 2023. From left, Siegfried Hecker, Daniel Holz, Sharon Squassoni, Mary Robinson and Elbegdorj Tsakhia (Photo credit: Patrick Semansky). Topics: Astrobiology, Civilization, Existentialism, Science Fiction, SETI, Space Exploration A few weeks ago, I posted “Wine of Consciousness”Continue reading “Oxymoron…”
Reimagining ET…
Life on other planets might not look like any beings we’re used to on Earth. It may even be unrecognizable at first to scientists searching for it. Credit: William Hand Topics: Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Planetary Science, SETI, Space Exploration Sarah Stewart Johnson was a college sophomore when she first stood atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano. ItsContinue reading “Reimagining ET…”
Studying UAPs…
Topics: Astrophysics, NASA, SETI I was startled, to say the least, that this story appears in Scientific American, and that NASA and theoretical astrophysicist Avi Loeb is interested in it. The nut job “giggle factor” has given way to curiosity about things humans cannot explain, and that bothers us as a species. My concern isContinue reading “Studying UAPs…”
Dyson Sphere Feedback…
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Dyson Sphere, SETI Although the so-called Dysonian SETI has been much in the air in recent times, its origins date back to the birth of SETI itself. It was in 1960 – the same year that Frank Drake used the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia to study EpsilonContinue reading “Dyson Sphere Feedback…”
From Redshift to Enlightenment…
Topics: Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Carl Sagan, James Webb Space Telescope, SETI The relief was as deep as the stakes were high. At 7:20 A.M. (ET), the rocket carrying the largest, most ambitious space telescope in history cleared the launchpad in French Guiana, and the members of mission control at the Space Telescope Science Institute inContinue reading “From Redshift to Enlightenment…”
Life As We Don’t Know It…
Topics: Astrobiology, Philosophy, SETI, Space Exploration In my freshman seminar at Harvard last semester, I mentioned that the nearest star to the sun, Proxima Centauri, emits mostly infrared radiation and has a planet, Proxima b, in the habitable zone around it. As a challenge to the students, I asked: “Suppose there are creatures crawling on the surfaceContinue reading “Life As We Don’t Know It…”
Roaming Goldilocks…
Topics: Astrophysics, Planetary Science, SETI, Space Exploration Even as a child, before he devoted his life to the search for extraterrestrial life, Frank Drake wondered whether Earth was alone in its ability to harbor life. He wasn’t the first or the only one to wonder. There’s a reason so many are fascinated by the question:Continue reading “Roaming Goldilocks…”
Physics and Nano 