Astronomy.com blog : life

This is the way the world ends

Bill Andrews — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:42:00 GMT

This isn’t going to happen in 2012! Baseless theories, like a proposed planetary alignment on the scale of this photo illustration, have led many to fear the year 2012 needlessly. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (NASA) photo

Rejoice, for the end is nigh. Not of the actual world, of course, but of 2012’s marketing campaign.

As you are no doubt aware, Roland Emmerich’s end-of-the-world epic, 2012, opened this weekend. As in Emmerich’s previous movies (Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow), 2012 features mass destruction and plucky everyday people who become heroes. But, whereas the destruction was somewhat limited before — even the aliens focused on large cities — the entire world now lies on the chopping block.

Infinitely worse, though, pseudo-scientific ads and posters featuring a fictional (but very realistic) Institute for Human Continuity were part of the movie’s ad campaign, making people think the world really might end in 2012. And being in charge of correspondence here at Astronomy magazine, I bore the brunt of many letters asking about the supposed planetary alignment, or the phantom Planet X/Nibiru impact, or why we help NASA cover up the facts that point to planetary destruction. This meant the movie 2012 went from “seems dumb, but it might be fun to watch” to “I hate this movie” pretty quickly for me.

And apparently I’m not the only one. NASA set up a web page explaining, “Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012.” While that sure is nice of them, isn’t it a little sad that NASA has to go on record and officially let people know these random Internet rumors and hoaxes aren’t true? Do people really need to be reminded that what happens in movies isn’t necessarily true?

So, basically I want to know: Did you see or do you plan on seeing 2012? Given my personal animosity, you may be able to predict my response, but the reviews aren’t making it sound that great either. One thing’s for sure, though. Once the movie’s been out a while, the ads will stop, and my life will get a lot easier. For about a year and a half, anyway.

Comets provide ideal conditions for bacteria, life

Bill Andrews — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:49:00 GMT

Aliens and science don’t usually go together. Maybe it’s the, let’s say, “disheveled” look of the overly eager UFO enthusiasts and abductees. Both professional and amateur astronomers alike are quick to distance themselves from talk of UFOs. But that is a far cry from saying there is no alien life. While there remains no solid proof of extraterrestrial life, more and more discoveries do seem to hint that it exists.

A July paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology claims that liquid water in comets, once thought virtually impossible, is in fact almost a certainty. The authors used the latest discoveries of comets’ interiors to calculate that many comets would give off radioactive heat, causing the frozen ice commonly found in comets to melt into liquid water.

More significantly, the authors argue these potential lakes and oceans, together with the organic materials we already knew existed in comets, would have provided ideal conditions for primitive bacteria to thrive. Bam! Likely extraterrestrial life, right there in a respected journal. And that’s not all.

NASA announced just this week it found the amino acid glycine, one of the essential building blocks of life, in samples of a comet. The Stardust spacecraft, built specifically to help scientists analyze comets and their makeup, brought samples of Comet Wild 2 back to Earth. The Stardust principal investigator himself called the glycine discovery an exciting and profound result, and I have to agree. While it’s still a far cry from proof of extraterrestrial life, it’s one more bit of evidence supporting the idea.

We might be quick to pick apart any notion of potential alien life, and that’s fine — it’s the role of science to doubt and question, after all. But we should also remember that extraterrestrial life remains a distinct possibility, with no evidence against it. Just because scientists and aliens don’t normally mix, doesn’t mean it always will be so.

Do you think aliens are a big joke? Or do you think that if it is just us, it seems like an awful waste of space?

Photo credit: NASA/JPL

SETI's "Earth Speaks" lets you suggest a message to alien civilizations

Daniel Pendick — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:07:00 GMT

On May 15, the SETI Institute — the planet’s leading extraterrestrial searchers — launched “Earth Speaks.” The project invites the public to submit proposed messages to alien civilizations. According to Thomas Pierson, CEO of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, “By submitting text messages, pictures, and sounds from across the globe, people from all walks of life will contribute to a dialogue about what humanity might say to intelligent beings on other worlds.”

For a half-century, scientists have scanned the skies for radio messages from intelligent life. So far, not so good — no “You’ve got mail” window has popped up on SETI laptops.

But if we did get the call, what would we say in reply? Think it over carefully.

“The initial messages we send to an extraterrestrial civilization could set the tone for a conversation lasting hundreds or thousands of years,” says Douglas Vakoch, Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute. Man, wouldn’t you like to have a business card with THAT job description on it!

I think one useful message could be, “We taste bad. Tough to chew. Stay away.” You know, like in that old science-fiction plot about aliens coming to Earth to turn us into a 6-billion-member herd of cows.

Or how about, “Does God exist? If so, please forward a contact number.”

Or “LOL/2BZ4UQT” (Laughing Out Loud/Too Busy For You Cutey)

Or maybe, “Sorry, currently perturbing climate on a global scale and using up all energy resources. Will try to respond next week. If you have a working design for a fusion reactor or a perpetual motion machine, please forward.”

If you have something to say to the aliens, submit your messages, sound, or image to Earth Speaks.

More SETI news from Astronomy.com:

How to make a bad first impression

Jeremy McGovern — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:22:00 GMT

The EISCAT European space station in the Arctic Circle will pepper an unfortunate solar system in Ursa Major with a Doritos ad. EISCAT

How little do we think of potential extraterrestrial life? Not much, it seems.

The University of Leicester helped Doritos — yes, THAT Doritos — send a message to a solar system 42 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. What was the communication? A peaceful salutation? A threat? Nope, it’s a Doritos ad. From a University of Leicester press release:

Today Doritos makes history, taking the UK’s first step in communicating with aliens as they broadcast the first ever advert directed toward potential extraterrestrial life.

The transmission is being undertaken as part of the Doritos Broadcast Project, which invited the UK public to create a 30-second video clip that could be beamed out to the universe offering a snap shot of life on Earth to anyone "out there." Sixty-one percent of the UK public believes this is just the start of communication with ET life and that we will enter into regular communication with an alien species at some stage in the future.

Let’s see, of all the messages we could send to life out there, do we want it to concern synthetic-tasting chips bursting with enough chemicals to preserve a corpse for the next 50 years?

Not necessarily putting our best foot forward. Sending a junk food ad to extraterrestrials is like showing up for a job interview dressed like the Dude or taking out a person you are courting on a dinner date to KFC.

Anyway, I suppose kudos should go to Matt Bowron, the winning video director. His creation shows a tribe of Doritos sacrificing a chip to a salsa god. You can see his ad here.

I guess it could be worse. At least our target audience out there won’t receive a commercial featuring Matthew Lesko and his suit that would make Frank Gorshin turn in his grave.