How Might Life Migrate Through the Universe to Are Alien Probes Already Here?
Weekend Edition
This weekend’s news includes How many constants define our Universe? and How Might Life Migrate Through the Universe?
Astronomers have found a strange new type of extremely magnetic star--A new type of star may eventually collapse and become a magnetar – a highly magnetic neutron star, whose origins have been a cosmic mystery for decades, reports Leah Crane for New Scientist.
Life in the Universe, the immortal paradox? reports Dilip D'Souza for Mint.com. Enrico Fermi's great question revisited.
Denmark Is Crawling With Earth’s Most Resilient Creature: Tardigrades, reports Astrobiology.com--"They’re found on Mount Everest, in the deep seas, aboard the International Space Station and thousands of them have even crash landed and been spilled onto the moon. The microscopic water bear has a nearly unfathomable ability to survive in the most hostile environments. New research from the University of Copenhagen demonstrates that a wide variety of them also live in Denmark."
Interstellar hitchhikers and the origins of life--How Might Life Migrate Through the Universe? Explores MIT Press. "We are used to thinking of space as vast and mostly empty, completely unsuitable for life. Perhaps we should change our minds."
Astronomers have discovered a galaxy cluster that shows no signs of having been disrupted by violent collisions over its 8.4 billion light years lifespan with other clusters of galaxies, reports Universe Today.. This composite image contains X-rays from Chandra (blue), which helped identify SPT2215 along with other telescopes, and data from Hubble (cyan and orange), reports Universe Today.
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/M. Calzadilla; UV/Optical/Near-IR/IR: NASA/STScI/HST; Image processing: N. Wolk
This Harvard Scientist Thinks Alien Probes Are Already Here. He’s Checking Out These Mysterious ‘Spherules’ –Avi Loeb recently recovered metallic “spherules” from the ocean floor that he believes could be interstellar in nature. But don’t draw any conclusions, yet, reports Caroline Delbert for Popular Mechanics. The theoretical physicist made headlines last month for his controversial expedition off the coast of Papua New Guinea, where his team combed the ocean floor for remnants of two meteors Loeb believes could actually contain alien technology.
Born less than 400 million years after the Big Bang, 'Maisie's galaxy' is one of the oldest objects in the universe, reveals the James Webb telescope.
How many constants define our Universe? explores Big Think's Ethan Siegel. Some constants, like the speed of light, exist with no underlying explanation. How many "fundamental constants" does our Universe require? "All told, we need 26 fundamental constants to explain the known Universe: the Standard Model plus gravity. But even with that, some mysteries still remain unsolved."
Why NASA is psyched about these weird Martian patterns--Scientists make a breakthrough discovery by looking between the cracks, reports Mashable. "The cracks form a lattice of hexagons, signaling that the land has gone through intermittent spells of wetness and dryness. Many scientists credit these environmental shifts with prompting the chemical reactions needed to create microorganisms on Earth."
All of Neptune’s clouds have vanished – it may be because of the sun--Over the past few years, the white clouds that usually shroud Neptune’s surface have disappeared, and it may be because of changes in the sun’s activity over its 11-year cycle, reports Leah Crane for New Scientist.
Extreme heat: Inside the expedition to find out how Earth’s humans can adapt--Climate change means extreme heat will become the norm for millions across the world. We joined an experiment in the Saudi Arabian desert designed to find out what that means for our brains and bodies, reports Graham Lawton for New Scientist.
Curated by The Galaxy Report Editorial Staff