'Omumuamua is the first known interstellar small body, possibly an asteroid coming from another planetary system. It was discovered in October 2017 and researchers are trying to collect as much data as they can. SETI Institute researcher Matija Cuk has theorized that it may have formed when a large planet, larger than Earth, got too close to its star and was ripped apart.
A study from researchers at the University of Oxford recently published in the International Journal of Astrobiology suggests that alien life would have been subject to evolution, as was life on Earth. Seth Shostak, SETI Institute Senior Astronomer and host of the Big Picture Science radio program and podcast, commented that while that may be the case, there isn’t sufficient data to predict how alien life evolved and what it could look like:
“Happenstance and the specifics of the environment will produce variations on an alien species’ planet as it has on ours, and there’s really no way to predict these,” Shostak concludes. “Alas, an accurate cosmic bestiary cannot be written by the invocation of biological mechanisms alone. We need data. That requires more than simply thinking about alien life. We need to actually discover it.”
SETI Institute is a world-class center of scientific research. But that’s not all we do. In addition to the Carl Sagan Center for Research, our Center for Education and Center for Outreach work to share knowledge and learning with all humanity. The Center for Education promotes STEM education that teaches and excites children, young adults, and educators, while the Center for Outreach engages with the general public through a variety of digital, print, and in-person initiatives.
You can download the whole November 2017 activity report here.
Last week’s Air Apparent delved into smells and now they affect our experience of the world and even our survival. This week’s encore, With All Our Mites, considers bugs, microscopic critters and whether we want, or need them around.
Last week SETI Institute President and CEO sat down with Eliot Gillum for an update on Laser SETI.
All past Facebook Live videos can be seen on the SETI Institute’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SETIInstitute/.
- American Geophysical Union: December 11-15, New Orleans, LA SETI Institute Scientist Matt Tiscareno will present research on the planetary rings of Saturn and the Cassini mission. Other SETI Institute scientists participating will include Nathalie Cabrol, Franck Marchis, and Pamela Harman.
- American Astronomical Society: January 8-12, Washington, DC SETI Institute scientists and staff will participate.
- Consumer Electronics Show: January 9-12, Las Vegas, NV Franck Marchis will participate
- SETI Talks: January 23, Menlo Park, CA SETI Institute Researcher Matija Cuk and Meg Scwamb of the Gemini Observatory in Hawai’i will discuss ‘Oumuamua
- Rencontre du Vietnam on Exoplanetary Science: February 25 – March 2, Quy Nohn, Vietnam Franck Marchis will present
