Posted on Jun 29, 2022 in Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Extraterrestrial Life, Future, James Webb Space Telescope, NASA, Science News, Technology, Universe
Today’s stories range from We May Have to Excavate Mars to Find Alien Life Says NASA to Why There’s a Chance We Heard From Aliens Back in 1977, and much more.
We May Have to Excavate Mars to Find Alien Life, NASA Says –Cosmic rays likely annihilate amino acids within two meters of the red planet’s surface, according to a first-of-its-kind experiment, reports Vice Science. “Life might have existed on Mars billions of years ago, when the planet was wetter and warmer. This is why NASA’s Perseverance rover is tasked with collecting samples that might contain the fossilized remains of any ancient Martians, if they existed.”
Swarm of Tiny Swimming Robots Could Look for Life on Distant Worlds, reports the JPL. “Someday, a swarm of cellphone-size robots could whisk through the water beneath the miles-thick icy shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus, looking for signs of alien life. Packed inside a narrow ice-melting probe that would tunnel through the frozen crust, the tiny robots would be released underwater, swimming far from their mothercraft to take the measure of a new world.”
The Gaia Mission Keeps Unlocking Secrets of the Galaxy –New data from the ESA’s probe, now eight years into its mission, adds significant detail to its portrait of nearly 2 billion objects in the Milky Way, reports Wired.
Why There’s a Chance We Heard From Aliens Back in 1977 –A loud, peculiar signal detected by scientists 45 years ago is getting a second look—and renewing hopes that we found extraterrestrial life, reports David Axe for The Daily Beast.
How to Communicate With Aliens –Richard Carter wrote a book of poetry using a version of Lincos, a language invented in the 1960s by a mathematician to communicate with aliens, reports Becky Ferreira for Vice Science.
“Information Can Escape a Black Hole Both On the Outside and Possibly to Another Universe” (Stephen Hawking’s Paradox), reports The Daily Galaxy. “It has been said that Newton gave us answers; Stephen Hawking gave us questions. A trio of physicists appear one step closer to resolving the black-hole information paradox, one of the most intriguing physics mysteries of our time.”
Do we need a new theory of evolution? asks The Guardian. “A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists – and the conflict may determine the future of biology. Strange as it sounds, scientists still do not know the answers to some of the most basic questions about how life on Earth evolved. Take eyes, for instance. Where do they come from, exactly? The usual explanation of how we got these stupendously complex organs rests upon the theory of natural selection.”
Behold the Weird Physics of Double-Impact Asteroids. Mars is littered with craters made by binary asteroids. These collisions are as intriguing as they are powerful, reports Jonathan O’Callagan for Wired. “When an asteroid strikes a planet, it can pack a powerful punch—as the dinosaurs discovered to their detriment 66 million years ago. But what if two asteroids strike at the same time and in the same location?”
Explosive Power Beats Even Moore’s Law. The power of destructiveness is the most impressive metric of modern technology, reports Spectrum Magazine.
They Found Two New Craters on the Moon and Discovered a New Mystery –Tediously searching through imagery from a NASA spacecraft, researchers found where a discarded stage of a forgotten rocket crashed in March. But other questions remain, reports Kenneth Change for New York Times Science.
The puzzling link between star formation and radio emission in galaxies, reports Sarah Hönig for Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam. “On the 50th anniversary of the discovery of a close connection between star formation in galaxies and their infrared and radio radiation, researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) have now deciphered the underlying physics.”
James Webb Space Telescope: Just a huge thermal camera –Astronomers have long used infrared technology — the same as in thermal imaging — to see deep space. “Scientists are abuzz with anticipation for the first full-color images from the James Webb Space Telescope, the biggest and most powerful infrared space-based telescope, which will be revealed in July.
Intergalactic Viral Video Takes Viewers To ‘Edge’ of Universe and Blows People’s Minds, reports Jeffrey Quiggle -for MSN.com. “A marvelous animation takes those who view it on an illuminating adventure through outer space, beyond the Milky Way and ultimately to the edge of the known universe. Included in the journey are stunning revelations about the difficult-to-comprehend nature of distances measured in light years.”
Curated by The Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff
The Galaxy Report newsletter brings you twice-weekly news of space and science that has the capacity to provide clues to the mystery of our existence and add a much needed cosmic perspective in our current Anthropocene Epoch.
Yes, sign me up for my free subscription.
Recent Galaxy Reports:
Unmistakable Signal of Alien Life to What Happens if China Makes First Contact?
Clues to Alien Life to A Galaxy 100 x Size of Milky Way
Cracks in Einstein’s Theory of Gravity to Colossal Shock Wave Bigger than the Milky Way
Monster Comet Arriving from the Oort Cloud to Black Hole Apocalypse
Enigmas of Stephen Hawking’s Blackboard to Why the Universe and Life Exist
Einstein’s Critics to NASA Theologians Prepare for Alien Contact
Mind-Bending New Multiverse Theory to Dark-Matter Asteroids of the Milky Way
Mysterious Expanding Regions of Dark Matter to Are Black Holes Holograms
Read about The Daily Galaxy editorial team here