Pave New Worlds, Are We Alone podcast, SETI Institute

The extra-solar planet count is more than 400 and rising. Before long we may find an Earth-like planet around another star. If we do, and can visit, what next? Stake out our claim on an alien world or tread lightly and preserve it? We'll look at what our record on Earth says about our planet stewardship. Also, whether a massive technological fix can get us out of our climate mess. Plus, what we can learn about extreme climate from our neighbors in the solar system, Venus and Mars.

- Ken Caldeira - Climate scientist from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University
- Keith Cowing - Biologist, and editor of NASAwatch.com
- Kathryn Denning - Anthropologist at York University in Canada
- Gary Davis - Director of the Joint Astronomy Center in Hilo, Hawaii
- David Grinspoon - Curator of the Denver Museum of Science and Nature

Posted by Keith Cowing at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past summer, NAI participated in organizing a special weekend workshop held at NASA Ames Research Center entitled "The Future of Intelligence in the Cosmos." The workshop brought together internationally renown scientists and thinkers to explore potential scenarios for the evolution of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. The talks were organized into sessions including The Fermi Paradox, Cultural Evolution, The Nature of Intelligence, and Technological Evolution, followed by several breakout sessions. The proceedings are now available for download at: http://event.arc.nasa.gov/main/home/reports/CP2007-214567_Langhoff.pdf

[Source: NAI newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This new article from Science & Spirit magazine cogitates on 'following the water' in the search for life elsewhere, and the relationship between water and enlightenment in mythology and human psychology. http://www.science-spirit.org/newdirections.php?article_id=719 [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The First", by Stuart Atkinson

Maybe you're on Mars, inside
or hiding beneath a rock, many rocks,
exiled by the lethal blue-leeched sky
to a world of damp and dark,
A crystalline, Noachian dungeon where
"water" is just a scent and Time runs slow:
one billion sols... two billion sols...
between each breath a billion more...

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

19-21 September 2006 Hirshhorn Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC - Purpose: The purpose of this conference is to undertake a broad overview of the societal impact of space exploration, especially as illuminated by historical research. The purpose is not to conduct an exercise in public affairs or a debate over public policy, but to examine with rigorous research what the impact has been, both nationally and internationally.

Continue reading "NASA History Division and National Air and Space Museum Division of Space History" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)