|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| Book Contest! Wonders of the Universe |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
08/03/11 |
| Book contest! What do you think is the most wondrous aspect of the universe? Reply on our Facebook site by Monday, August 8, and our favorite answers will win a copy of the new Brian Cox book, "Wonders of the Universe." |
|
|
|
| First Contact: Investigating Astrobiology |
| Topic: Missions |
04/28/11 |
| In this essay, Marc Kaufman explains how his first contact with astrobiologists led him to write a book that tells the latest stories behind the science. |
|
|
|
| The Eerie Silence |
| Topic: Alien Life |
04/12/10 |
| Why have we not made contact with aliens after so many years searching the depths of space? The Eerie Silence, a new book by SETI researcher Paul Davies, provides a fresh and thoughtful look at this question. |
|
|
|
| Timetree of Life |
| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
06/14/09 |
| The Timetree of Life project is now providing scientists with easy access to information about when living species and their ancestors originated. The resource could prove useful for astrobiologists studying the origin and evolution of life on Earth. |
|
|
|
| The Crowded Universe |
| Topic: New Planets |
05/11/09 |
| After two decades of planet searching, Alan Boss has written a book about how far we have come and how close we are to answering the question of whether we are alone in the universe. |
|
|
|
| Confessions of an Alien Hunter |
| Topic: Alien Life |
03/23/09 |
| After five decades, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has failed to find any alien signals. SETI researchers are still optimistic that we will one day find evidence for intelligent life somewhere in our galaxy. A new book by SETI scientist, Seth Shostak, reviews the history, the controversies and the reasons for continuing the search. |
|
|
|
| Can a Biosphere Be Selfish? |
| Topic: Spaceship Earth |
04/16/07 |
| In this book review of "Scientists Debate Gaia," Charley Lineweaver discusses what astrobiology and the Gaia hypothesis have in common. Both are trying to recognize new forms of life by seeking universal connections between different kinds of systems. |
|
|
|
| Space on Earth |
| Topic: Earth |
01/25/07 |
| In his book, "Space on Earth," microbiologist Charles Cockell urges space scientists and environmentalists to work together for the future for humanity. |
|
|
|
| The Oxygen Gap |
| Topic: Biosphere |
11/02/06 |
| Vertebrate creatures first began moving from the world's oceans to land about 415 million years ago, then all but disappeared by 360 million years ago. The fossil record contains few examples of animals with backbones for the next 15 million years, and then suddenly vertebrates show up again, this time for good. |
|
|
|
|
| This Easter Island Earth |
| Topic: Alien Life |
04/17/06 |
| In an ongoing tour of literature related to astrobiology, Linda Sauter reviews "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. While not overtly about astrobiology, "Collapse" can provide insights about the likely development of life and civilizations in the universe. |
|
|
|
| Are There Aliens Already on Earth? |
| Topic: Extreme Life |
02/20/06 |
| Are there aliens living on Earth? Not the humanoid kind, with big eyes or glowing fingertips. But unfamiliar types of microscopic life, that doesn't use DNA. Geology professor Peter Ward thinks its possible. His new book, Life as We Do Not Know It, explains why. |
|
|
|
| Strings in the Mirror? |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
10/30/05 |
| Like Lewis Carroll's Alice, who steps through the looking glass into a strange world, Lawrence Krauss, Case Western Reserve University professor of physics, began his search for extra dimensional worlds with the Twilight Zone episode, "Little Lost Girl." |
|
|
|
| Roving Mars |
| Topic: Mars |
09/08/05 |
| The Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are the Energizer Bunnies of planetary exploration. Designed to last for only 90 days, they are still going strong after nearly two years. Their journeys on Mars have provided exquisite detail of the planet's surface, proving definitively that liquid water once existed on this now arid world. |
|
|
|
| Moondust |
| Topic: Moon to Mars |
08/15/05 |
| The new book "Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth" shows how the Apollo program changed the lives of the astronauts who walked on the Moon. This leap to another world also colored our perception of what it means to be stuck on Earth. |
|
|
|
| Seeing Forests in the Tree of Life |
| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
05/23/05 |
| Peter Ward, speaking at a NASA Director's Seminar, presented some ideas for changing the tree of life. This restructuring would not only embrace things like viruses, which are banished from the current tree, but would allow us to put into context some even odder misfits, such as cloned sheep and alien life on other worlds. |
|
|
|
|
| Martian Methane Mystery |
| Topic: Mars |
02/09/05 |
| In this excerpt from the new Forward to the paperback edition of "Lonely Planets", planetary scientist David Grinspoon ponders what the recent discovery of methane on Mars could mean for the possibility for life on the Red Planet. |
|
|
|
|
| It Came Out of the Sky |
| Topic: Mars |
01/17/05 |
| In this excerpt from the new Forward to the paperback edition of "Lonely Planets", planetary scientist David Grinspoon discusses the exciting discoveries unveiled by the twin rovers on Mars. |
|
|
|
|
| The Search for Ourselves in the Cosmos |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
12/01/04 |
| Our senses alone offer only a narrow window on the physical universe, as Neil deGrasse Tyson writes in his four-part NOVA/PBS series, "Origins". The tour de force looks at how we measure our place in the universe based on the part of the universe we sense around us. |
|
|
|
|
| The Origin of Life on Earth |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/29/04 |
| Neil deGrasse Tyson, author and host of the NOVA series, "Origins, Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution", gives a galvanizing tour of the cosmos revealing what the universe has been up to while turning part of itself into us. |
|
|
|
|
| Deception Point |
| Topic: Extreme Life |
09/06/04 |
| Bestselling author, Dan Brown, has concocted a tale for astrobiologists called "Deception Point". But how can one separate facts from fiction? Consider the scientific possibilities of dissecting a meteorite full of insect-like fossils. |
|
|
|
| Light This Candle |
| Topic: Missions |
06/28/04 |
| In the early days of the astronaut program, scientists weren't sure if the human body could survive space flight. In Neal Thompson's engaging biography of Alan Shepard, "Light This Candle," he writes of the extreme tests astronauts had to undergo in order to prove themselves fit for space. |
|
|
|
|
| Ancient Astronauts |
| Topic: Alien Life |
04/28/04 |
| Ben Bova writes in his new book, "Faint Echoes, Distant Stars" about the science and politics of finding life beyond Earth. |
|
|
|
| Gorgon |
| Topic: Geology |
04/15/04 |
| Journey to South Africa with paleontologist Peter Ward, as he describes a day of fossil hunting and what it's like to chase a ghost from the greatest catastrophe on Earth. |
|
|
|
|
| There's a Hole in My Philosophy |
| Topic: Alien Life |
12/05/03 |
| Planetary scientist, Dr. David Grinspoon, discusses his new book, 'Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life', in this multi-part interview on topics ranging from which planets are best for harboring life to speculative topics about levels of advancement a civilization must pass through to manage its biosphere. |
|
|
|
|
| Lonely Planets: Welcome Earthlings |
| Topic: Alien Life |
11/30/03 |
| Planetary scientist, Dr. David Grinspoon, discusses his new book, 'Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life', in this multi-part interview on topics ranging from which planets are best for harboring life to speculative topics about levels of advancement a civilization must pass through to manage its biosphere. |
|
|
|
|
| The SETI Factor |
| Topic: Alien Life |
10/25/03 |
| What would an intelligent signal from another planet change about human destiny? This large question is the topic of a book, The SETI Factor, by Frank White, who also analyzes how to announce such an historic finding and whether it would unite or divide nations. |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World VII: Encore |
| Topic: Missions |
06/10/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Tell me about an environment in which you personally thrive. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World VI: Fuller |
| Topic: Missions |
06/03/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Tell me about an environment in which you personally thrive. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World V: Hendricks |
| Topic: Missions |
05/27/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Tell me about an environment in which you personally thrive. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World IV: Venter |
| Topic: Extreme Life |
05/20/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Tell me about an environment in which you personally thrive. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." |
|
|
|
|
| Dirtside Simulation |
| Topic: Alien Life |
05/18/03 |
| What would the future hold for a society where reputation was all that mattered? Astrobiology magazine reviews award-winning science-fiction from Cory Doctorow, Outreach Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World III: Goldin |
| Topic: Mars |
05/13/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Tell me about an environment in which you personally thrive. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World II: Richardson |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
05/06/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." That is what author Debra Trione asked over fifty of the world's most powerful and influential leaders in America to do: describe their perfect world using words, then picture their perfect world using paint. |
|
|
|
|
| A Perfect World I: Tyson |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
04/30/03 |
| "Name two things you hope will be true about the world in fifty years. Tell me about an environment in which you personally thrive. Now paint a picture of your ideal world." |
|
|
|
| Tale of a Comet |
| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
04/04/03 |
| In the next five years, no fewer than five spacecraft will attempt to rendezvous with a comet or asteroid. More than 125 years ago, the visionary author, Jules Verne, described his own incredible version of how astronomers might explore the solar system--from a unique cometary vista. |
|
|
|
| Mighty Aphrodite |
| Topic: Venus |
03/26/03 |
| Earth's twin, Venus, offers life as we know it few safe places on its faint red-glowing surface, which is hot enough to melt lead. But higher in the clouds, small amounts of water and strange ultraviolet absorbers make for a balmy 107 F abode. |
|
|
|
| When Eden Comes to Titan |
| Topic: Titan |
03/21/03 |
| How will the most favorable conditions for life move outward as the Sun enters its brighter, red giant phase? Paleontologist Peter Ward and astronomer Robert Brownlee take a voyage of imagination seven billion years into the future, and come back with a new and distant home for Earth's bacterial descendents: Titan. |
|
|
|
|
| Lord of Gondwanaland |
| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
02/28/03 |
| In an ancient time, what happens when a common water-hole brings together the most clever species on our planet with its apex predator? Welcome to the ancient supercontinent of Gondwanaland, where the largest vertebrate carnivore--the gorgon--battles its smartest foe yet--the cynodont. |
|
|
|
|
| Earthly Endgames |
| Topic: Biosphere |
02/05/03 |
| If Earth's place and position have no better observer than an astronomer, then its future has no better forecasters than a paleontologist and astronomer familiar with how we got here. Paleontologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee's new book shows how astrobiology will change our prognostications. |
|
|
|
|
