Posts Tagged ‘search’
May 3rd, 2013 | 
Author: Image credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, ESA/Hubble, NASA
Astrobiologists typically target Earth-like planets in the search for extraterrestrial life. But one scientist is encouraging a broader search.
Professor Sara Seager. (Credit: MIT)
MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager believes the narrow search by researchers will bypass many potentially habitable worlds. Space.com explains Seager’s point that, “While it may seem natural to zero in on ‘alien Earths,’ such a narrow focus would exclude many potentially life-supporting exoplanets, whose diversity continues to astound astronomers.” Most of the current efforts looking for alien life seek out Earth-like planets because those worlds are more likely to support life as we know it. But as Seager explains to Space.com, “The number of planets that we’re going to be able to see in our lifetime — and look at their atmospheres for signs of life — is so small that we’re forced to be open-minded.”
Cover of the special Exoplanets issue of Science. (Credit: Science)
Seager believes that a more open-minded approach, paired with a better understanding of exoplanet habitability is essential to the search for extraterrestrial life. Studying atmospheres of potentially habitable worlds is crucial in the effort to gain a better understanding of exoplanets. And fortunately, NASA is launching a new tool designed to do just that. The James Webb Space Telescope is launching in 2018, and it will be able to analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets and search for signs of life.
Seager’s ideas about exoplanet habitability were just published in an article in a special exoplanet issue of the journal Science. And her hope is that this article “gets people to realize that so many types of worlds could be habitable, and that our chance of finding one is higher when we accept that.”
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Tags: Broader, encourages, extraterrestrial, life, scientist, search | 
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 Open Minds UFO News |
Tech startup aiding SETI's search for aliens
Open Minds UFO News Reviewing massive volumes of data has been challenging for the SETI Institute. This organization has a constant stream of incoming data from radio telescope arrays searching for signals from intelligent extraterrestrials. And, until now, only a small … This Guy's Data Startup Is Helping Scientists Find Space Aliens Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning Help Skytree Land M Skytree Gets M Push from UPS, Scott McNealy Et Al |
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A data company that launched in 2012 is helping the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute search for extraterrestrials.
According to Business Insider Australia, the San Jose, California based Skytree has “quietly amassed the biggest, brightest minds in the computer science ‘machine learning’ industry.” In a relatively short period of time, the company has attracted top talent. As Business Insider Australia explains:
[The company's] tech advisory board reads like a who’s who in machine learning, too: UC Berkeley professor Michael Jordan world famous in the field; Dave Patterson who invented the RISC processor and RAID storage technology; Pat Hanrahan, cofounder of Tableau Software and a Stanford professor who previously worked for Pixar, where he won two Oscars for creating Pixar’s famous animation tech.
And the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Georgia Tech scientist Alexander Gray, reportedly won an award for his work on proving the existence of dark matter.
The Allen Telescope Array (Credit: SETI Institute)
These industry leaders are drawn to the company because Skytree is pioneering “machine learning” data analysis. This process “uses algorithms to sift through massive volumes of data to find the answers to questions you didn’t even know you had.”
Reviewing massive volumes of data has been challenging for the SETI Institute. This organization has a constant stream of incoming data from radio telescope arrays searching for signals from intelligent extraterrestrials. And, until now, only a small percentage of that data could be reviewed. But by utilizing Skytree servers, the data can now be analyzed as it is received.
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Image credit: ESA
A new space-based tool is launching in five years that will search for extraterrestrial life.
A new study suggests that white dwarf stars can support habitable planets. RedOrbit explains that researchers demonstrated that “it should be possible to detect biomarkers surrounding these habitable planets – including methane and oxygen – that indicate the presence of life using advanced technology that will become available in the next decade.”
Artist’s concept of the JWST. (Credit: NASA)
This advanced technology will be aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that is scheduled to launch in 2018. According to the Daily Galaxy, Professor Avi Loeb, director of Harvard University’s Institute for Theory and Computation, who led the recent study, explains, “In the quest for extraterrestrial biological signatures, the first stars we study should be white dwarfs.” Professor Dan Maoz of Tel Aviv University, who was part of the research team, agrees with Loeb. He states that, by using the JWST to examine planets orbiting white dwarf stars, if “all the conditions are right, we’ll be able to detect signs of life.”
RedOrbit explains:
JWST is designed to look into the infrared region of the light spectrum where such biomarkers are prominent, making it an ideal instrument for hunting out signs of life on exoplanets. JWST will also be able to analyze the atmosphere of Earth-like planets without weeding out the similar signatures of Earth’s own atmosphere because it will be space-based and not ground-based.
The team’s study was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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Tags: advancing, extraterrestrial, life, mission, nasa, search |
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 Daily News & Analysis |
Newly found Earth-like planets ideal search for SETI to find life in space
Daily News & Analysis Two super-Earth planets, which had been discovered by NASA's Kepler mission along with a new planetary system that is home to five small planets around a slightly smaller star than the Sun, may sustain life after all. Both the planets, most likely made … |
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Mars One announced that it will begin searching for its first Mars colonists in July 2013.
Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp. (Credit: Mars One)
The company plans to establish the first colony on Mars in 2023. Mars One will televise a two-year search for the initial four astronauts. According to Space.com, Mars One “will begin accepting application videos in July, charging a fee to weed out folks who aren’t serious about their candidacy.” The maximum fee will reportedly be , but will vary by country.
Mars One co-founder and chief executive officer Bas Lansdorp told Space.com that he expects “a million applications with 1-minute videos, and hopefully some of those videos will go viral.” The company reports that, although applications are not being accepted yet, 10,000 people have already expressed interest in becoming a Mars One astronaut.
The number of astronaut candidates will be narrowed to twenty-four by July 2015. These individuals will be grouped into six teams of four people. These teams will then go through seven years of training. And once Mars One selects the final candidates, a global audience will select the four astronauts who will go to Mars. The entire process from astronaut selection to colonization will be televised as an interplanetary reality show. The company hopes that television revenues will help fund the billion required to send the first four colonists to Mars.
Artist’s rendition of human settlements on Mars. (Credit: Mars One)
Anyone at least eighteen years of age from any country is invited to submit a video to Mars One explaining why he or she would make a good Mars colonist. But applicants should keep in mind that this is a one-way mission. The colonists are moving to Mars permanently.
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Image credit: Maccoinnich/Wikimedia Commons
Researchers from fifteen UK research institutions have teamed up to search for extraterrestrial life.
Professor Charles Cockell. (Credit: University of Edinburgh)
Internationally renowned astrobiologist Professor Charles Cockell leads Edinburgh University’s UK Centre for Astrobiology (UKCA). According to Scottish newspaper The Scotsman, the UKCA will “spearhead Britain’s hunt for aliens – bringing together researchers from 15 institutions across the country.”
Cockell recently stated that, with all the new data available about other planets, “It’s become a lot easier to understand whether conditions on those planets are habitable and if life could exist there.”
A key instrument at the UKCA is a cutting-edge vacuum chamber capable of simulating atmospheric conditions on alien planets. Additionally, as the Scotsman explains, “Among the trailblazing technologies deployed will be a laboratory buried more than a kilometre underground in Boulby Mine, Yorkshire, which will enable the study of creatures living deep below the surface of the Earth.” Cockell describes that the Boulby International Subsurface Astrobiology Laboratory (BISAL) “is actually part of a lab that’s already there and being used for dark matter research. The mine itself, which is a salt mine, is also still in use and it’s very deep. You have things living in the salt which are unique.”
In addition to looking for life on other worlds, astrobiologists study life in general, exploring the origins of life, and researching the types of environments in which life as we know it can exist. Cockell points out, “It’s all about better knowledge of extreme environments in outer space based on extreme environments right here on Earth.” Salty environments have been found on Mars, and Cockell explains that, by studying the lifeforms existing in the deep salt mine in Yorkshire, scientists can gain insight into the types of life that may currently exist on Mars.
The BBC reports that the UKCA will officially launch on Tuesday, April 16. But the UKCA has been active since 2012. In early 2013, the UKCA offered an introductory astrobiology course through the online course provider Coursera. The course reportedly attracted 40,000 students from around the world.
The Boulby International Subsurface Astrobiology Laboratory (BISAL). (Credit: UKCA)
The UKCA is affiliated with the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and collaborates with the following institutions:
- University of Bath
- University of Bradford
- University of Bristol
- Cranfield University
- Imperial College
- University of Kent
- University of Leeds
- University of Nottingham
- University of Leicester
- Open University
- University of Oxford
- Birkbeck, University of London
- University of East Anglia
- Astrobiology Society of Britain
Read more about the UKCA at http://www.astrobiology.ac.uk/
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Tags: british, Collaborating, extraterrestrial, life, SCIENTISTS, search |
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On Tuesday, April 9, HuffPost Live featured a segment titled “Searching for ET.”
The HuffPost Live segment discussing the search for ET. (Credit: Huffington Post)
HuffPost Live‘s Jacob Soboroff moderated this discussion that featured SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute senior astronomer Seth Shostak, MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) journal editor Roger Marsh, and Huffington Post journalist Lee Speigel. The panel discussed SETI’s efforts to detect intelligent extraterrestrials by listening for radio signals in space. The group also touched on other astrobiology efforts such as NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope and its search for habitable worlds.
Lee Speigel. (Credit: Jason McClellan)
But Roger Marsh pointed out that there are “a lot of people studying ufology today that think that the intelligence is already right here on this planet.” Speaking about the SETI Institute’s efforts, Marsh stated, “They’re looking out into space to see what they can find. I think that’s great research. I think there’s a lot of different things we should be studying. But my organization hasn’t left the planet. We’re right here on the surface looking at the evidence that’s right here.”
When discussing UFO sightings, Lee Speigel was careful to point out that many people jump to the conclusion that UFOs are extraterrestrial spacecraft. He explained, “The word ‘UFO’ doesn’t mean ‘alien.’” Marsh also commented, “We don’t know if they’re aliens.” He discussed the 600+ sightings of unidentified objects reported to MUFON every month. He stated that, of those hundreds of monthly sightings, “Only about five or ten of those are really, really good reports.”
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Lawfulness of search warrant challenged in drugs trial
Legalbrief (subscription) Police confiscated drugs, cars and cash worth more than R12m. Eastern Cape High Court (Port Elizabeth) Acting Judge Ntombizodwa Seti-Nduna was told that the defence was applying for a trial-within-a-trial for the court to make a ruling on the … |
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Tags: challenged, drugs, Lawfulness, Legalbrief, search, subscription, trial, warrant |
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