Alien Life, Coming Slowly Into View

This New York times editorial considers the advances made in recent years toward an answer to the question of life in the universe, and contemplates the impact of such a discovery on our civilization.

The implications of the discovery of any form of life could be profound, as I will discuss further in my next post which will address the concept of The Great Filter.

Alien Life, Coming Slowly Into View

New Scientist poll - which technology will have the biggest impact in the next 30 years?

Also, check out the links at the top for recent New Scientist articles on each of these technologies

New Scientist Poll

"Word geek roughs up math geek"

That self-description aptly sums up the New York Times review of Michio Kaku’s new book “Physics of the Future,” which the Times describes as a "dull" and "charmless" read that nonetheless “has the ability to surprise and enthrall and frighten as well."

Kaku's book speculates on the state of technology, science, and life at the end of the present century.

NY Times review of "Physics of the Future"

Initial reaction to the paper on life in meteorites is at best mixed

Not surprising given the nature of the claims that were made. It appears safe to say there will be no near term consensus concerning the reported findings from the recent paper claiming to find evidence of ancient bacteria trapped inside meteorites.

The scientific community is naturally skeptical of any claims that are as radical as those suggested in the recent paper by Richard Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. That does not mean the claims are wrong, but as Cosmic Log says, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Cosmic Log: Life in meteorites? Study stirs debate

What are the odds that LHC finds supersymmetry?

"In fact, the latest results from ATLAS, one of the two giant detectors at the LHC, show that there's no evidence for many of the particles all the way up to 700 GeV, or over 100,000 times the mass of the electron and the two lightest quarks."

Will the LHC Find SUSY?

Opencog roadmap for the development of advanced human-level general intelligence

roadmap for OpenCog development in the next 12 years of advanced human-level general intelligence

Opencog Roadmap for Human Level Artificial General Intelligence

New paper claims to find evidence of ancient extraterrestrial life in meteorites

Similar claims have been made before. However, this paper offers some compelling photographs of possible fossilized Cyanobacteria and perhaps makes a more persuasive case than previous claims.

Fossils of Cyanobacteria in CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites
Richard B. Hoover, Ph.D. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center

New experiment to test a theory of time travel involving postselected closed timelike curves

This post at Next Big Future summarizes an experiment to test the theory of Closed Timelike Curves via postselection. The article includes links to the paper describing the experiment as well as earlier papers describing the theory and proposing the experiment.

Closed Timelike Curves via Postselection: Theory and Experimental Test of Consistency