Tag Archives: life

Blog #4: Statistics Behind Our Solar System

Posted on March 9, 2020 by John Harrington

A concept that has always intrigued me is the possibility of life on Earth. It seems like every topic we cover reveals another statistical improbability that has allowed life to exist on Earth at all. For example, we are just far enough from the sun that we have an atmosphere, but not so far fromContinue reading “Blog #4: Statistics Behind Our Solar System” Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Universe | Tagged , | Comments Off on Blog #4: Statistics Behind Our Solar System

Resilient Life on Earth Increases Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life

Posted on April 27, 2019 by dayvon

Believe it or not, there are organisms on Earth that can survive unimaginable conditions! These beings are called extremophiles, and they’re nothing short of amazing. One example is the tardigrade, which can live in the most extreme heat, cold, dehydration and radiation. The simple fact that these organisms exist give us reason to believe that … Continue reading Resilient Life on Earth Increases Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life → Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Exoplanets | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Resilient Life on Earth Increases Possibility of Extraterrestrial Life

Methane-Based Life

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Jonathan Roberts

Is liquid water necessary for life to form? If judging strictly from the only life we know, of course. However, humanity’s exploration of the universe has just begun, and we can’t say for sure what lies beyond Earth. Other worlds within our solar system have organic compounds that life could possibly evolve from. In particular, … Continue reading Methane-Based Life → Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Moons, Science, Space Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Methane-Based Life

Adaptive Archaea

Posted on April 25, 2019 by epiphany9

Discovered in 1970, Archaea might be the least well-known of the three domains of life (the others being Bacteria and Eukaryota), but it is a fascinating and diverse group of organisms and quite possibly the first on Earth. Like bacteria, archaea are unicellular, prokaryotic organisms, meaning that they lack nuclei and other membrane-bound organelles in […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Terrestrials | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Adaptive Archaea

The Case for Tardigrades

Posted on April 25, 2019 by IanO12

I can’t remember if it was Cosmos or Planet Earth, but it was narrated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. My roommate and I were watching it before bed, and it was fascinating. Almost the entire episode was dedicated to tardigrades, more colloquially known as water bears. These microscopic animals are uncannily resilient. Like, scarily so. According […] Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Case for Tardigrades

What Is Life?

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Jiayu Kang

While talking about the search for extraterrestrial life, you may notice the difficulty in drawing a line between the living and nonliving. Bacteria are considered life forms, but viruses are not. Artificial Intelligence is able to do a lot of things that human beings can do, but it is not viewed as life by the … Continue reading What Is Life? → Continue reading →

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on What Is Life?

The Drake Equation

Posted on May 1, 2018 by interplanetira

The Drake Equation is a formula that is commonly used to stimulate discussion of the possibility of extraterrestrial life-  not to necessarily quantify the number of communicating civilizations. The Drake Equation uses many variables to quantify estimates for the number of communicating civilizations, but a number of them are quite controversial as they are not […] Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Historical | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Drake Equation

Extremophiles

Posted on April 30, 2018 by samssolarsystem

Incredibly species of microorganism and microbes have tested the limits of evolutionary theory as they have been discovered to survive an incredible range of extreme conditions.  These microbes, called extremophiles can survive in various extremes: incredibly high temperatures, near-vacuum condition of space, and in the freezing cold.  In fact, scientists have discovered microbes within the … Continue reading Extremophiles → Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Science | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Extremophiles

Extremophiles

Posted on April 30, 2018 by samssolarsystem

Incredibly species of microorganism and microbes have tested the limits of evolutionary theory as they have been discovered to survive an incredible range of extreme conditions.  These microbes, called extremophiles can survive in various extremes: incredibly high temperatures, near-vacuum condition of space, and in the freezing cold.  In fact, scientists have discovered microbes within the … Continue reading Extremophiles → Continue reading →

Posted in Class, Science | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Extremophiles

Why We Haven’t Been Invaded by Aliens

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Katie

As we learned in class, the Drake equation can estimate that the existence of life should exist. The universe is huge, its been in existence for a very long time, and there is no foreseen limit to what can exist, especially life off Earth. Fermi’s paradox is super cool, creepy, exciting and puzzling all at … Continue reading Why We Haven’t Been Invaded by Aliens Continue reading →

Posted in Aliens, Space Travel, Universe | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Why We Haven’t Been Invaded by Aliens