Earlier this summer, Natalie Cabrol, the director of the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute, described a new direction for her organization in Astrobiology Magazine, and I wrote a Many World column about the changes to come. Cabrol's Alien Mindscapes – Perspective on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" laid out a plan for the new …
Continue reading "SETI Reconceived and Broadened; A Call for Community Proposals"
Of all the possible life-beyond-Earth questions hanging fire, few are quite so intriguing as those surrounding the now famous plumes of the moon Enceladus: what telltale molecules are in the constantly escaping jets of water vapor, and what dynamics inside the moon are pushing them out? Seldom, if ever before, have scientists been given such …
Of all the possible life-beyond-Earth questions hanging fire, few are quite so intriguing as those surrounding the now famous plumes of the moon Enceladus: what telltale molecules are in the constantly escaping jets of water vapor, and what dynamics inside the moon are pushing them out? Seldom, if ever before, have scientists been given such …
Recent word that the giant mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope is essentially complete is a cause for celebration, a milestone in the long march toward launching what will be the most powerful astronomical instrument ever. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden made the announcement at the Goddard Space Flight Center, with senior project scientist John …
Recent word that the giant mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope is essentially complete is a cause for celebration, a milestone in the long march toward launching what will be the most powerful astronomical instrument ever. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden made the announcement at the Goddard Space Flight Center, with senior project scientist John …
Though on holiday, I wanted to share these images and a bit of the Juno at Jupiter news. Because telescopes have never been able to see clearly down through the thick clouds of Jupiters-- the ones that together form the planet's glorious stripes-- it has remained a mystery how deep they may be. Based on …
Continue reading "Jupiter’s Stripes Run Deep, But Hopefully Juno’s Problems Do Not"
Though on holiday, I wanted to share these images and a bit of the Juno at Jupiter news. Because telescopes have never been able to see clearly down through the thick clouds of Jupiters-- the ones that together form the planet's glorious stipes-- it has remained a mystery how deep they may be. Based on …
Continue reading "Jupiter's Stripes Run Deep, But Hopefully Juno's Problems Do Not"
Understanding the make-up and dynamics of atmospheric clouds is crucial to our interpretations of how weather and climate behave on Earth, and so it should come as no surprise that clouds are similarly essential to learning the nature and behavior of exoplanets. On many exoplanets, thick clouds and related, though different, hazes have been …
Understanding the make-up and dynamics of atmospheric clouds is crucial to our interpretations of how weather and climate behave on Earth, and so it should come as no surprise that clouds are similarly essential to learning the nature and behavior of exoplanets. On many exoplanets, thick clouds and related, though different, hazes have been impediments …
Before the Curiosity rover landed on Mars, NASA's "follow the water"maxim had already delivered results that suggested a watery past and just maybe some water not far below the surface today that would periodically break through on sun-facing slopes. While tantalizing -- after all, the potential presence of liquid water on a exoplanet's surface is …
Many Worlds 