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The Fermi paradox

THE FERMI PARADOX

The Fermi Paradox is a discussion of why, if our universe teems with life, have we not discovered it yet? Or, why have the ET’s have not discovered us. According to legend, a group of scientists (including Entico Fermi, a noted physicist from Italy), were sitting around a table some seventy years ago, just chitter chatting about science or the weather or the war and what not. Someone broached the subject of extraterrestrial life, and the statistical probability that many...

Dog Days

DOG DAYS

The Dog Days of summer are upon us. Most of us have heard that term. It refers to what is popularly considered to be the hottest time of the year, typically the months of mid-July until mid-August. And this year, like last year and likely during these summer months for the next few centuries, the characterization still stands and will remain true. The first reference to the Dog Days in English is found in John de Trevisa’s book, Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus,...

GLIESE 667 AS A 3-BODY PROBLEM (三体)

GLIESE 667 AS A 3-BODY PROBLEM (三体)

As the Hubble and Webb telescopes discover more and more star systems, it was only a matter of time before systems with three or more stars that orbit each other or otherwise move in respect to each other were discovered.  Now, the once obscure hypothesis known as the “three-body problem” is making the astrophysical news as the reality of such a possibility becomes clear.  Here, we’ll look at the star system Gliese 667 as part of my exobiology research with a focus...

Unnatural selection

UNNATURAL SELECTION

I received an article in my inbox overnight from Medium, written by Harvard Astrophysicist Avi Loeb called “What Does Extraterrestrial Intelligence Look Like?  Professor Loeb, who sits on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), is perhaps best known for his work on the Galileo Project and the search for extraterrestrial life (specifically, evidence of alien technology on Earth.)  The premise of his work is that the Earth may have been visited in the distant past by extraterrestrials or interdimensional beings, and that...

The Fourth Dimension

THE FOURTH DIMENSION

Try “googling” the word “dimension.” You’ll come up with something, nothing or anything to paraphrase the second U.S. President, John Adams speaking on another subject. Dimensions are important constructs in cosmology, mathematics, geography, physics and so on, and each discipline defines a dimension differently. So, rather than quote a confusing definition of a dimension, let’s just say that a dimension is an environment in which we live. Our third dimension freedom allows us to travel in different directions including up...

Rogue planets

ROGUE PLANETS

For the purpose of this post, we’ll focus on PSO J318.5−22, some eighty light years away from Earth. One of the most fascinating phenomena in our galaxy are rogue planets. Picture them as silently traveling through space with no sun, likely no atmosphere, no life, perhaps no moons as well, though there could be exceptions. Imagine standing on the surface of a rogue planet in a space suit, with no bright sun, moon or even an atmosphere to break the...

Are we alone in the universe?

ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?

The Kepler space mission has produced data that suggests that “based upon the number of M-class stars in the galaxy, that alone represents about 10 billion potentially habitable, Earth-like worlds.”  Our sun is a G-class star.  M-class stars are fainter, cooler stars called “Red Dwarfs.”  To understand the conditions on a planet circling a Red Dwarf, refer to my post here.  Meanwhile, today’s question is “Are we alone in the universe?” Ten billion worlds.  That’s a lot.  Of course, that number is the top end.  Let’s dig into the...

Kepler 16

KEPLER 16

A word about galaxies before I get into Kepler 16.  Our galaxy is called the Milky Way.  There is no technical designation for it because no one discovered it.  It was always there. It is classified as a barred spiral galaxy, which suggests that it is a very mature galaxy.  This is because it takes billions of years for the barrel-like “bar” to appear in the center of the core of the galaxy (see the second illustration beneath to see what a bar looks...

ALIEN DNA

How I arrived here (wherever “here” is) The first time I heard the term “alien DNA” was while I was watching a news conference on CNN early into the pandemic. There were four or five or so men and women in a group called “America’s Frontline Doctors.” They were in Washington outside the U.S. Supreme Court building, or perhaps on the steps of the Capitol. They took turns speaking, and one particular doctor started referring to the COVID virus, possibly...

Wolf 359

WOLF 359

One of the many things I find fascinating is speculating on the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. What life might emerge on a planet circling a white dwarf star, or a red giant, a pulsar? What if the planet was tidally locked? What if it was a waterworld, or an ice planet? The oceans on Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter are thought to be sixty miles deep with a thick crust of ice covering them. What...

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