g STARS - Astronomy is traditionally seen as a science run in isolated observatories, usually associated with universities: the image of the lonely stargazer, silhouetted against the starry sky as sitting behind the telescope peering into the finder, is a familiar one. And yet nowadays nothing could be further from daily reality of an observatory. As the quest to observe fainter, more distant objects with ever increasing resolution continues, so does the complexity of the instrumentation and the size of the telescopes. See article.
g ABODES - NASA researchers recently discovered the largest solid core ever found in an extrasolar planet, and their discovery confirms a planet formation theory. See article.
g LIFE - Speculations on the size, shape, intelligence, and friendliness of alien beings have done more to illuminate how we perceive ourselves and our world. Still, how would we recognize a non-terrestrial life form, things a lot smaller than Jabba the Hut? Scientists with the NASA Astrobiology Institute are developing techniques for using special microscopes and computer programs to sift through soil samples in search of microbes, the first extraterrestrials we are likely to encounter. See article. Note: This article is from 1998.
g INTELLIGENCE - Men and women differ in how they decide which strangers they can trust, according to new research. See article.
g MESSAGE - SPACE.com posed a handful of tough questions to three leading astrobiology experts, each of them in the thick of the debate over where and how best to conduct the hunt for extraterrestrial life. See article. Note: This article is from March 2001.
g COSMICUS - Think "Star Trek": You are here. You want to go there. It's just a matter of teleportation. Thanks to lab experiments, there is growth in the number of "beam me up" believers, but there is an equal amount of disbelief, too. See article.
g LEARNING - More than half a century of U.S. dominance in science and engineering may be slipping as America's share of graduates in these fields falls relative to Europe and developing nations such as China and India, a study released on Friday says. See article.
g IMAGINING - Like stories about alien biologies/environments? Be sure then to read Olaf Stapeldon's classic novel "Star Maker" (1937). See article.
g AFTERMATH - Book alert: What happens if SETI succeeds? Several dozen experts from the fields of sociology, technology and education consider the social consequences of finding a signal in "Social Implications of the Detection of Extraterrestrial Civilizations," by John Billingham, Roger Heyns, David Milne and Seth Shostak (editors). Based on workshops held in 1991 and 1992, this is the definitive opus on the likely impact of an extraterrestrial signal. Don't believe all you see on TV, nor what you read in the chat groups: here is reasoned prognostication on what could be the biggest event in human history. See article.
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