We're not just any star stuff, most of which is humdrum hydrogen and listless helium. Our bodies include fancier ingredients like carbon,… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In general, when moviemakers talk to scientists, they usually see them as a resource to solve particular technical problems or script problems… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Charles Darwin sailed around the world for two years on the 'Beagle,' and he had quite a bit of interest in things… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Data from orbiting telescopes like NASA's Kepler Mission hint that the tally of habitable planets in our galaxy is many billion. If… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
It seems that 'rocket scientist' is a job category that's here for the long haul, like 'mortician.' But all this activity masks… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Sure, nobody will make a fortune if we figure out why the Big Bang happened. But just about everyone would like to… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The thing to keep in mind is that we're still in the very early days when it comes to the search for… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Of course there is still unexplored terrestrial territory, but most of it is waterlogged. Submersed secret places, such as the Challenger Deep,… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Nine out of 10 Hollywood aliens look like us. Oh, sure, they might be short, big-eyed and hairless - decked out in… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Given the tendency of many to picture God's realm as somewhere high above Earth - an idea that sounds suspiciously like the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Very few societies on Earth developed science as we know it today. On the other hand, the number is not zero -… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Many people suggest using mathematics to talk to the aliens, and Dutch computer scientist Alexander Ollongren has developed an entire language (Lincos)… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The space elevator's not just another competitive technology, promoted by people who simply like the idea of diminishing the luster of the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Most of the things at the zoo don't look like us. We're one design that works. Our chimp pals sort of look… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The bottom line is, like, one in five stars has at least one planet where life might spring up. That's a fantastically… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The usual metric for whether a planet is habitable or not is to ascertain whether liquid water could exist on its surface.… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The fact that we can't easily foresee clues that would betray an intelligence a million millennia farther down the road suggests that… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Most of the intelligence out there must be artificial intelligence. We keep looking for critters like us living on a planet like… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system has been… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio signals, despite… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Sure, nobody will make a fortune if we figure out why the Big Bang happened. But just about everyone would like to know. — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
If you could drive straight down, into a tunnel bored through the crust of the planet, you'd hit this molten mess in about an… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
While I have always thought that the motivation for looking for E.T. was both self-evident and patently worthy, it's possible that I'm a victim… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
I studied Latin in high school, and I was reading stuff from Cicero. And that signal took a few thousand years to get to… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most likely be… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
This plucky NASA telescope is able to find planets en masse. If you compare planet hunting to prospecting for gold, then Kepler is equivalent… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
