Category Archives: Class

Fermi Paradox

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Ethan Jones

Paradoxes are always interesting to contemplate, and the Fermi paradox is no different. First proposed by Enrico Fermi (above) the Fermi paradox in a nutshell is if the scale and probability of our universe favors intelligent life developing elsewhere, then why have we not found any evidence of that life. This paradox sparked Frank Drake […] Continue reading →

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Drake vs Seager Equation

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Tejas Mahesh

The Drake Equation is The Seager Equation is Dr. Drake formulated his equation a century ago (in 1951) whereas Seager formulated hers approximately a decade (the interview was taken in 2013). As we can see, there are wild differences between the two equations. Seager’s equation only deals with all the stars that we’ve observed, which […] Continue reading →

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Would humans survive without Jupiter?

Posted on April 28, 2024 by katie shapiro

“Our solar system is a cosmic dance of planets, moving together in perfect harmony.”-Unknown At the beginning of this course I understood that the solar system had planets and other objects, such as asteroids and comets, but I believed that they all acted independently of each other, with the exception of gravity. In other words, […] Continue reading →

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Potential for Life on Europa

Posted on April 28, 2024 by katie shapiro

“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”-Arthur C. Clarke In order for their to be the possibility of life, there needs to be liquid water. That is why life is so successful here on Earth; we have an abundance of liquid water in the […] Continue reading →

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Blog 8: Why Try?

Posted on April 28, 2024 by matthewastro

Humanity is constantly being humbled by nature on our very own planet, not to mention the vast expanse of the cosmos. The fastest thing we have ever created, the Parker Solar Probe, was clocked at 330,000 miles per hour in 2020, as it orbited around the sun at an absolutely breakneck pace. Parker’s speed constitutes […] Continue reading →

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Visualizing Exoplanet s

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Angela Harris

The subject of my blog 5 post was the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system. While learning about this system of extrasolar planets, I was fascinated by the  illustrations of exoplanets that can’t be photographed by telescopes. Tim Pyle and Robert Hurt are two artists who create renderings of exoplanets by using data about an exoplanet’s size, mass, […] Continue reading →

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Blog 7: The Fermi Paradox

Posted on April 27, 2024 by matthewastro

Many scientists have theorized that we are not alone in the universe. Indeed, there are many scenarios that should lend themselves to the existence of life. The conditions inherent in theoretical models that have been developed to explain Earth’s formation and subsequent development of life exist elsewhere. Not only do they exist, but they appear […] Continue reading →

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NASA’s Astrobiology Program

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Angela Harris

Astrobiologists at NASA use data from many NASA missions to study the possibility of life on other worlds. Here are a few ways they use data from other missions to support the NASA Astrobiology Program:  Chandra X-ray Observatory   The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope that detects emission from extremely hot regions of space (exploded […] Continue reading →

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Blog 7 – Extremophiles

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Leni Ertel

Extremophiles are organisms, usually microbacteria, that can survive in extreme environments. These environments are characterized by conditions uninhabitable to humans. The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, is iconic for its bright, seemingly unnatural colors. However, these colors are a result of extremophiles, specifically, thermophiles! Thermophiles are classified as “heat-loving” organisms, and are one […] Continue reading →

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The End of the Universe

Posted on April 26, 2024 by Owen Purcell

One of the more morbid questions that astronomers have debated over the last few decades has been the possibility of the end of the universe. With the widespread acceptance of a model of the universe that is in some way finite, there are questions about how the state of that universe could change over time. […] Continue reading →

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