ExtraterrestrialLife
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Saturn and Jupiter's moon burps bode well for distant life
Scientists recently took a closer look at data over a decade old and concluded that two moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter might have environments that foster life. During an October 2015 flyby of the ringed planet's moon Enceladus, the probe Cassini was hit by gaseous plume, which was likely a hydrothermal vent breaking through the iced surface. Scientists theorize that the spray is evidence of chemical energy for life to feed on. Thanks to sporadic evidence of plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa, NASA has announced that two locations in the solar system might support living organisms.
SETI's 'unusual signal' most likely came from Earth
With apologies to the would-be Dr. Ellie Arroways out there: the "unusual signal" picked up by SETI using Russia's RATAN–600 radio telescope and thought to be originating from a star in the Hercules constellation is almost certainly coming from Earth and not some advanced alien civilization. In a statement the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences wrote: "Subsequent processing and analysis of the signal revealed its most probable terrestrial origin."
SETI researchers investigate an unusual signal
The hunt for alien life might have turned up something special. A Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence team using Russia's RATAN-600 radio telecope (above) is investigating an unusually strong signal from a star 95 light years away, in the Hercules constellation. It's far from conclusive evidence of sentient beings. However, it's interesting enough that team members have called for "permanent monitoring" of their target, and have managed to get help from both the Allen Telescope Array in California as well as Panama's Boquete Optical Observatory.
Internet investor pours $100 million into the search for alien life
The hunt for extraterrestrial life just got a big leg up. Internet investor Yuri Milner and his Breakthrough Prize Foundation will spend $100 million supporting Breakthrough Listen, a project that will use radio telescopes, lasers and other equipment to search for alien signals. The cash will not only guarantee equipment time, but lead to dedicated processing equipment that could dramatically improve the discovery process. Researchers should not only cover several times more sky and radio wavelengths, but inspect both in greater detail and at higher speeds -- the radio telescope searches should run 100 times faster, even as they tackle five times as many wavelengths.
SETI comes back from the financial dead, gets a check from Jodie Foster
Roswell devotees, dry those tears -- the search for alien overlords frenemies is back on. Four months after going into financial "hibernation," SETI's Allen Telescope Array has been temporarily resuscitated thanks to an infusion of publicly raised funds from the SETIStars program, and Ms. Jodie Foster. The web campaign for those-who-believe raised over $200,000 in just 45 days, enough cash to get the Paul Allen-funded dishes scanning the skies for at least five more months. Tom Pierson, the institute's CEO, is hoping to secure long-term funding for the project from the U.S. Air Force, which could use the array during the daytime "to track orbital objects that otherwise might pose a threat to the International Space Station and other satellites." However Pierson manages to keep the fleet of skyward-facing ears afloat, one thing's for sure -- the truth is out there and tracking it's a hustle.
SETI suspends search for alien life, E.T. weeps in the silent dark of space
Our progress toward intergalactic fellowship has suffered another blow, as SETI suspended operations of its Allen Telescope Array. Funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the array is a collection of radio dishes that scan the skies for signs of life; now it'll be in "hibernation" mode until 2013, when the institute's new round of funding begins. SETI hopes to raise $5 million to bring the Array back online before then, while it continues to use other telescopes around the world, including the Hubble Space Telescope. The budget woes are especially bitter given the number of recently identified alien planets – NASA's Kepler mission found 1,235. If any of them are broadcasting the next Wow! signal, let's hope it doesn't fall on deaf earthling ears.
NASA makes 'astrobiology discovery,' schedules press conference for Thursday to discuss alien life
So NASA seems to have made some hot new astrobiology discovery, but just like the tech companies we're more used to dealing with, it's holding the saucy details under embargo until 2PM on Thursday. That's when it's got a press conference scheduled to discuss its findings, which we're only told "will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life." It's unlikely, therefore, that little green (or brown, or red, or blue) men have been captured somewhere on the dark side of the moon, but there'll definitely be some impactful news coming within only a couple of days. NASA promises a live online stream of the event, which we'll naturally be glued to come Thursday.
NASA's discovered hundreds of planets where aliens might live
The Kepler spacecraft, which is rooting about outerspace checking for habitable planets has apparently discovered 706 possible candidates by monitoring for subtle changes in brightness. Up next astronomers will run the results through a battery of other tests, identifying the most likely candidates. After that? A reality show featuring seven NASA astronauts in a competition to find the first actual ALF, or Cylon, Yoda or E.T. We're there, dude.
