Life, the Universe, and all that...

[Rob_K]

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-167_Astrobiology.html



Cheers -

[CraigS]

Another one of these mystery announcements by NASA.

(I think the last one was about the Chandra observations leading to a baby black hole).

Exciting approach to it all.

Thanks for the 'heads-up' Rob !

Cheers

[CraigS]

The Announcement may be be a fit of a fizzer in terms of finding life elsewhere.

None-the-less, the paper may have some interesting sicence discoveries to report !

NASA creates buzz with 'extraterrestrial' announcement. (http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-nasa-extraterrestrial.html)



Cheers

PS: There's a 'General Chat' thread (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=662181#post662181) about the same topic, for those wanting to chat about this one. :)

[Rob_K]

LOL, dontcha just luv 'em! :D

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/exoplanet20101201.html

"A team of astronomers, including two NASA Sagan Fellows, has made the first characterizations of a super-Earth's atmosphere, by using a ground-based telescope. A super-Earth is a planet up to three times the size of Earth and weighing up to 10 times as much. The findings, reported in the Dec. 2 issue of the journal Nature, are a significant milestone toward eventually being able to probe the atmospheres of Earth-like planets for signs of life."

Eventually. Look, these are all milestones, but fair dinkum has NASA got a death wish? Big announcement that will change the way we look for extraterrestrial life? Press conference beamed live to the world? Embargo on publishing of scientific paper until after press conference? Sheesh I just hope the journos got grog... :lol: ;)

Cheers -

[CraigS]

Well Rob;

Ah dunno … we still don't know what the paper has to say.

At the moment, all comments about the topic, and the delivery method chosen (by NASA), are just speculation.

I'm going to wait until I've read their paper … (and then dump on 'em ;):lol::) )

Cheers

[Rob_K]

Craig, you've gotta relax mate! :lol: It's about the circumstances of the announcement, not the paper. Sometimes the quest for papered perfection can leave one blind to the fascinating play of human psychology in the realm of funded science. That's the real story here!:thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Outbackmanyep]

NASA announces new finding: "We were able to find gravy still in the packet in Bi-Lo", according to the team they weren't able to detect what brand of gravy or even if it is indeed gravy. :confused2: