g ABODES -Scientists propose to find water on alien planets by looking for the glint of starlight from distant oceans. See article.
g LIFE - Fans of extraterrestrial life may have been disappointed when internet-fed rumors of Martian life ended in a NASA press conference on soil composition. But they can take solace in a newly popular theory that suggests the rest of space may teem with microbes. See article.
g MESSAGE - Any nonreproducing alien probes discovered in the Solar System during the normal course of future SETI research would most likely have been sent by extraterrestrial civilizations located within a 1000 light-year radius of the Sun, whereas any self-reproducing devices similarly detected probably originated far outside this exploration sphere. See article.
g COSMICUS -Solar energetic particles (SEPs), especially those of high energies, can negatively affect the near-Earth space weather environment and spacecraft. The SEPs can originate from either energization at a solar flare site or by interplanetary shockwaves associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The charged energetic particles consist of protons, electrons, and heavy ions-primarily moving along the solar and interplanetary magnetic fields-can reach Earth in a matter of a few hours and dose the geospace environment with hazardous radiation. See article.
g LEARNING -Astrobiology is young enough to still have vocal critics; in particular, those who think that "astrobiology" is nothing more than a hope that life will someday be discovered beyond Earth. See article.
g AFTERMATH - Here's an intriguing article that is frequently referenced in astrobiology papers: "The Consequences of a Discovery: Different Scenarios", by astronomer Ivan Almar. Note: This article is from 1995.
