Diminutive worlds are more likely to be rocky, and lapped by oceans and atmospheres. In the vernacular of 'Star Trek,' these would… — 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
Note to academics: Aristarchus' track record of astronomical research would probably have guaranteed him tenure somewhere, if tenure had been invented. His… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Mountains aren't eternal: even the most imposing massifs are smoothed away by weathering in a few hundred million years or less. Plate… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Any society that could come here could pick up the lights from New York. What should we do about that? Should we… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
If gravity were somewhat stronger or weaker, stars wouldn't exist, and neither would you. And the same can be said of other… — 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
Hollywood usually guesses that extraterrestrials would only be interested in one of three things: (1) They want to breed with us, because… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Even if the Moon didn't exist - even if it had been vaporized billions of years ago by cantankerous Klingons - there… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The next time you check your moves in the mirror and reflect on how special you are, consider that somewhere in this… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Heads are a good deal, and I think they would be a common feature. It's hard to think of species that don't… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
It's worth noting that invoking God as the entity who set our universe in motion isn't contradicted by the data. Of course,… — 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
Explorers tend to be the aggressive types - why else would they risk scurvy, mutiny and other bad things to go out… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
Admittedly, it would take industrial-grade chutzpah and a massive dose of malevolence for anyone to bulldoze the spot where Neil Armstrong stepped… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
The planets and moons of our solar system are blatantly visible because they reflect sunlight. Without the nearby Sun, these planets would… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
In days gone by, scientists would speak solemnly about our solar system's 'habitable zone' - a theoretical region extending from Venus to… — Seth Shostak Copy Share Image
'Battleship' is not a film that Francois Truffaut would have made. Nor would any of those other namby-pamby European directors. Nope, this… — 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
Are we the only members of the Galaxy that can actually understand what a galaxy is? Could Homo sapiens really be the… — 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
Sending greeting cards to aliens is hardly a new idea. In 2005, Craigslist solicited messages for broadcast to space by a transmitter… — 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
