Unsorted8
Father Gill and the Night Visitors
Loy Lawhon, About.com
According to J. Allen Hynek, during the years 1958 - 1959 there were over 60 UFO sightings reported in the Papua New Guinea area, with many of these sightings occurring in the area of Mount Pudi, near the mission station at Boianai. R
Posted on 7/6/2005 11:47:49 PM

GovernmentStudies
Project Grudge
Loy Lawhon, About.com
Brief overview of U.S. Air Force Project Grudge. R
Posted on 7/6/2005 11:45:24 PM

TrindadeIsland
The Controversial Trindade Island Incident
Alexandre de Carvalho Borges, Brazilian UFO Magazine
The photographs of a UFO over Trindade Island, on January 16, 1958, are considered a landmark in Ufology worldwide and a very strong evidence of extraterrestrial life existence. However, they still arouse controversy and new criticism. R
Posted on 7/6/2005 11:42:08 PM

lifeintheuniverse
Skepticism With Wonder
Carol Oliver, Australian Centre for Astrobiology, interview in Astrobiology Magazine
The challenge to communicate both the breadth and depth of astrobiology is discussed by Carol Oliver, of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology. As a researcher in communicating science, she considers how best to tell a busy public what it means to explore other worlds for signs of life elsewhere. R
Posted on 7/6/2005 11:37:37 PM

lifeintheuniverse
The Unexplored Cosmos
Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, interview in Astrobiology Magazine
Cosmos collaborators, Ann Druyan (widow of Carl Sagan) and astrophysicist Steven Soter, talk about the possiblities for finding life elsewhere and the implications for understanding humanity's own place in the universe. R
Posted on 7/6/2005 11:34:54 PM

lifeintheuniverse
The Galactic Civilizations: Part V
Astrobiology Magazine
This is the fifth and final part of a series of presentations given at a public forum sponsored by the NASA exobiology branch. The forum, held in Palo Alto, CA, on Tuesday, August 26, 2003, was entitled, "The Drake Equation Revisited." This installment addresses the evolution of machine intelligence and the potential for civilizations that span the galaxy. R
Posted on 7/4/2005 10:14:50 AM

SETI
Mysteries of Wow
Seth Shostak, SETI Institute, Astrobiology Magazine
In August 1977, a sky survey conducted with Ohio State University's "Big Ear" radio telescope found what has become known as the 'Wow' signal. Registering an enormous signal strength, the shape of the signal had the characteristic rise and fall expected for its short 72 second lifetime. But a hitch remains: the signal has not been retrieved from other sky surveys, making it more anomaly than confirmable cosmic source. R
Posted on 7/4/2005 10:10:49 AM

lifeintheuniverse
Time Enough for Life
Peter Backus, SETI Institute, on Space.com, 16 October 2003
In our hectic world, we seldom have time enough for life: time for family, time for friends, or time for the pleasures of life. In studying the universe, Astrobiologists face a different problem: which stars might provide time enough for life? The answer depends on the life of the star. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 7:13:31 PM

lifeintheuniverse
Signs of Life: On the Lookout for Extraterrestrial Sweet Spots
Leonard David, SPACE.com, 03 January 2002
Looking for life elsewhere is a tough task for human or robot. The good news is that the scientific skill and tools to search for, detect and inspect extraterrestrial life are advancing rapidly. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 7:11:45 PM

Unsorted8
Panspermia Q and A: Leading Proponent Chandra Wickramasinghe
SPACE.com, 27 October 2000
Astronomer Chandra Wickramasinghe is director of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology. He is a former student of Fred Hoyle, with whom he co-developed the modern theory of panspermia. Wickramasinghe, who proposed in 1974 that dust in interstellar space and in comets was largely organic, is currently developing methods for detecting life processes in space. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 7:10:02 PM

ExtrasolarPlanets
The Search for the Extrasolar Planets: A Brief History of the Search, the Findings and the Future Implications
George H. Bell, Arizona State University
This paper is an attempt to provide a review of humankind's quest for the discovery of planets outside our Solar System.
Posted on 5/27/2005 7:05:20 PM

ExtrasolarPlanets
Atmosphere of an Extrasolar Planet Detected for the First Time
Leslie Mullen, NASA Astrobiology Institute, December 5, 2001
Astronomers have made the first direct detection and chemical analysis of an atmosphere of a planet that exists outside our solar system. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 7:02:24 PM

MarsMicrobes
Evidence of Martian life dealt critical blow
NASA Astrobiology Institute, November 23, 2001
There may have once been (and perhaps still is) life on Mars, but the evidence for it is barely stirring. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 7:01:11 PM

MarsMicrobes
Why Microbes Matter
David M. Warmflash, NASA Astrobiology Institute
Research of possible microbial life on Mars can lead to advances in biotechnology and medicine while, at the same time, bringing us closer to understanding our origins. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 6:58:50 PM

Unsorted8
The Three Domains of Life
Leslie Mullen, NASA Astrobiology Institute, 2001
When scientists first started to classify life, everything was designated as either an animal or a plant. But as new forms of life were discovered and our knowledge of life on Earth grew, the original classification was not sufficient enough to organize the diversity and complexity of life. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 6:57:30 PM

ExtrasolarPlanets
Finding Distant Worlds
Leslie Mullen, NASA Astriobiology Institute
We know that there are at least 75 planets outside our own solar system, orbiting their distant stars. Although we have never seen any of these planets with our own eyes, several different techniques exist to detect these extrasolar planets. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 6:56:14 PM

SETI
Scientists Hunt For Light Flashes From Extraterrestrial Civilizations
Adapted from a SETI Institute press release
Astronomers are broadening the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) by looking for powerful light pulses coming from other star systems. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 6:55:22 PM

lifeintheuniverse
Advances in our Understanding of Life
Jack D. Farmer, NASA, 2001
Over the past two decades, advances in a number of scientific disciplines have helped us better understand the nature and evolution of life on Earth. These scientific developments also have helped lay the foundation for astrobiology, opening up new possibilities for the existence of life in the Solar System and beyond. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 6:53:40 PM

SETI
The Search for Life in the Universe
Neil deGrasse Tyson, to the House Subcommitee on Space and Aeronautics
Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the search for life in the Universe. Are we alone? R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:18:32 PM

lifeintheuniverse
The Meaning of Life
Lee Siegel, NASA Astrobiology Institute, July 6, 2001
Sitting beneath a dark night sky, looking up at the vast array of stars, what human has not wondered, "Are we alone?" R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:16:43 PM

lifeintheuniverse
Galactic Habitable Zones
Leslie Mullen, Science Communications, NASA Astrobiology Institute, May 18, 2001
Our Milky Way Galaxy is unusual in that it is one of the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe. Our Solar System also seems to have qualities that make it rather unique. According to Guillermo Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington, these qualities make the Sun one of the few stars in the Galaxy capable of supporting complex life. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:15:26 PM

ExtrasolarPlanets
A Shortage of Planets
NASA Astrobiology Institute, March 5, 2001
When they turned the Hubble Space Telescope on a distant globular cluster of stars, astronomers expected to find fifteen or twenty planets. They found zero. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:14:05 PM

Unsorted8
Scientists Find Clues That Life Began in Deep Space
NASA Ames Research Center, January 30, 2001
Duplicating the harsh conditions of space in their laboratory, NASA scientists have created primitive cells with membrane-like structures. These chemical compounds may have played a part in the origin of life. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:13:13 PM

Unsorted8
Astrobiologists Find Evidence of Early Life on Land
NASA/Ames press release, January 18, 2001
Scientists with NASA's Astrobiology Institute have discovered evidence that microbial life emerged on land between 2.6 billion and 2.7 billion years ago, much earlier than previously thought. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:12:08 PM

Unsorted8
Shining Light on Life's Origin
Leslie Mullen, Astrobiology Magazine
When ultraviolet radiation was more intense than today, and the early Earth had a mix of nitrogen-rich molecules, how did this primordial soup get cooked? And how did it not burn? This kitchen chemistry lesson has a new recipe, according to recent research from Osnabrueck University, Germany and the National Institute of Health, USA. Scientists are asking the question: How did the fittest biomolecules survive, before life itself began? R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:11:19 PM

Unsorted8
What is Life?
Johan H Koeslag, Medical Physiology, University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)
We consider an egg as alive, but regard the Aurora Borealis as a non-living physical phenomenon. Textbooks of Biology and Physiology offer no explanation. This is strange. No textbook on jet engines would neglect to define a jet engine, nor would a reference work on Mammals fail to remind us what distinguishes a mammal from other creatures.
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:05:03 PM

ExtrasolarPlanets
Extrasolar Planets with Earth-like Orbits
Leslie Mullen, NASA Astrobiology Institute, August 8, 2001
Scientists are discovering extrasolar planets with Earth-like orbits. Could it be possible for Earth-like orbiting planets to habor life just like Earth? R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:03:41 PM

lifeintheuniverse
Exotic Earths
David Lamb, NASA Astrobiology Institute
New astronomical techniques are vastly increasing what we know about extrasolar planets. Scientists have already found a large number of Jupiter sized bodies, but what about Earth-like planets in other solar systems? R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:02:01 PM

lifeintheuniverse
Defining Life
By Leslie Mullen, Astrobiology Magazine, Jun 19, 2002
What is life, exactly? This is a question that keeps biologists up at night. The science of biology is the study of life, yet scientists can't agree on an absolute definition. What about a computer program that learns and evolves? Can a wild fire - which feeds, grows, and reproduces - be considered a living entity? R
Posted on 5/27/2005 3:00:36 PM

MarsMicrobes
Scientists Find Evidence of Ancient Microbial Life on Mars
NASA Astrobiology Institute, February 28, 2001
An international team of researchers has discovered compelling evidence that magnetite crystals in the Martian meteorite ALH84001 are of biological origin. R
Posted on 5/27/2005 2:58:09 PM