A Radical New Theory of Life in the Universe

Weekend Edition

This weekend’s stories include: The universe needs a 'memory' and a way of creating and reproducing complex information and A supermassive black hole radiation ‘echo’ is spreading across the Milky Way, and more.

‘Under Alien Skies’ imagines what the sky looks like on other planets--astronomer Philip Plait takes readers on a thrilling ride through the cosmos, reports Science News--"a bewitching cosmic ride through the solar system and beyond, transporting readers aboard futuristic starships to discover what the sky might look like above faraway landscapes."

A supermassive black hole radiation ‘echo’ is spreading across the galaxy, reports BBC Science Focus--"The sleeping cosmological giant woke up around 200 years ago and devoured everything that came close to it, releasing intense amounts of radiation in the process."

The Universe Has a Pressure Cooker, and It Makes Black Holes--For the first time, astronomers have observed chaos in the center of an ancient galaxy, the sort of place where a million or more stars are locked in a dance of death, reports Matt Hrodey for Discovery Magazine.

Radical New Theory Gives a Very Different Perspective on What Life Is, reports Science Alert. "Arizona State University astrobiologist Sara Walker and University of Glasgow chemist Lee Cronin argue that chance alone cannot consistently produce the highly complex molecules found in all living creatures. "To produce billions of copies of intricate objects like proteins, human hands, or iPhones, the universe needs a 'memory' and a way of creating and reproducing complex information. 

Go Ahead, Try to Explain Milk--No one can define it, much less fully replicate it. "If an alien life form landed on Earth tomorrow and called up some of the planet’s foremost experts on lactation, it would have a heck of time figuring out what, exactly, humans and other mammals are feeding their kids," reports The Atlantic.

Our Milky Way Is Somewhat Of An Oddball Galaxy, New Study Confirms, reports Bruce Dorminey for Forbes,

Curated by The Galaxy Report editorial staff.