Is Anybody Out There? NASA Thinks So.

 Almost daily, someone, somewhere, reports seeing a UFO. Many of those claims are accompanied by shaky or blurry videos. Even the U.S. Navy has released videos from fighter jets of UAP flying objects that the military can’t explain. Yet, despite all of that anecdotal evidence, the majority of astronomers believe that there is not a shred of hard evidence of extraterrestrial visitations. Most astronomers do, however, believe that life does exist in locations other than Earth, perhaps even in our own solar system. Even NASA’s official position is that extraterrestrial life seems almost inevitable, and perhaps it is time we seriously prepare for finding it.

In a new scientific commentary led by NASA’s chief scientist, James Green, the space agency’s researchers believe now is the time to create a framework for reporting evidence of extraterrestrial life. “Our generation could realistically be the one to discover evidence of life beyond Earth,” the team writes. It is quite unlikely, the researchers believe, that a single event or discovery will unambiguously prove the existence of alien life. It is far more likely, they state, that the discovery of such life will be a long-term process with evidence coming in piecemeal. Our ideas and beliefs will likely change as a result of scientific study. “History includes many claims of life detection that later proved incorrect or ambiguous,” the researchers state. We need, they say, to “recast the search for life as a progressive endeavor, where we convey the value of observations that are contextual or suggestive but not definitive and emphasize that false starts and dead ends are an expected part of a healthy scientific process.”

How NASA envisions a possible alien visitation. Image credit: NASA

The researchers want to avoid splashy headlines that prove upon further analysis to be a false discovery of alien life. They feel we need to establish criteria for a “confidence of life detection” (CoLD) scale. The lowest levels of the CoLD scale might be represented by possible identification of plausible biosignatures, signs that an alien planet might be able to support life. Higher levels of the CoLD scale should be reserved for specifically defined measurements of the existence of life. Their goal is to establish a common set of criteria for progressively establishing the existence of alien life.

I suppose the highest level of the CoLD scale might be when an alien spacecraft lands on the White House lawn, or that of some other major world capital, and holds a press conference unequivocally announcing their existence.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

 This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

 

A Circumtriple planetary system? Maybe.

 Our solar system contains a single star, our sun. But about half the stars in the sky exist in binary star systems in which two stars orbit each other. In the “Star Wars” movies, Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine orbited the two suns of such a binary star system, what astronomers refer to as a circumbinary orbit. Astronomers worked out the orbital dynamics of such a system decades ago and have found multiple examples of circumbinary orbits.

Although astronomers have discovered thousands of triple star systems, no circumtriple planetary orbit was known before now. Recently, astronomers studying the young triple star system GW Orionis detected a gap in the dust ring surrounding the stars. Such a gap is considered evidence for the existence of a planet.

The research team, led by Jeremy Smallwood, lead author and a recent Ph.D. graduate in astronomy from UNLV, studied multiple possible scenarios for how such a gap might have formed. The three stars can create gravitational torque on the dust ring, causing gaps. A similar situation occurs in the rings of Saturn where gravitational interactions with it dozens of moons cause warps and gaps in the ring structure.

After analyzing all possible scenarios, the team announced that the most likely explanation for the gap is the presence of one or more massive, Jupiter-like planets, whose gravity cleared out the dust. The group found no evidence of smaller, Earth-like planets in the young triple star system.

Artist's of a planet in a triple star system like GW Orionis, Credit NASA

According to Smallwood, current theory says that gas giants, like Jupiter and Saturn, should be the first planets to form in a star system. Smaller, rocky planets like Earth and Mars should form later. "It's really exciting because it makes the theory of planet formation really robust," said Smallwood. "It could mean that planet formation is much more active than we thought."

GW Orionis may not be through forming planets. Who knows? Perhaps a one-up of a Tatooine-like planet may still form in its dusty disk.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

 This is reprinted with permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

When the Sky Falls, Duck! Newest Book Release.

 My new book is now available from my publisher's Author Page at http://www.4rvpublishing.com/wayne-harris-wyrick.html. 

This is from the introduction:

            "Chicken Little was right.

"Sometimes, the sky really falls.

"Or, at least, strange stuff falls out of the sky. Much of what reaches the surface of our planet from above may be harmless, ordinary, and expected. Most of it actually comes from the surface of the planet, lifted up by way of the wind or the sun’s heat. And as the old saying says, “What goes up, must come down.” All of what falls during various types of weather comes from the surface of our planet. These materials regularly fall from the sky. Rain, hail, sleet, and snow occur every year all over Earth and we hardly ever think about it.

"But some of what comes down was never on Earth before. This stuff comes from space. It might be in the form of dust, huge rocks, frozen ice balls, or various forms of radiation. While much of that stuff won’t hurt us, some downright deadly stuff also falls from the sky."

                                            The full cover, front and back.

Read about lots of strange stuff that falls from the sky. Some of it you won't believe. The book describes everything from common weather-related stuff like rain, sleet, hail, etc. to animals, golf balls, coins, sugar crystals, and stuff that falls regularly all the way from space. 

You'll never look at the sky the same way again. 

Order it now. Hardback $20.99, paperback $13.99.

 

 

Travelling to Mars? Pick the right flight time.

     NASA sent men to the Moon nine times, with astronauts landing and walking on the lunar surface six times. As of this writing, 49 spacecraft have been launched towards Mars by the U. S and other countries. Twenty-five of those, over half, were total or partial failures. Of the others, some simply passed by, snapping pictures along the way. Some went into orbit, and several sent a lander down to the surface to further study the planet in closer detail. No humans have made the trip to Mars, but NASA and some private space launch companies have plans to do so.

Traveling to Mars is hard. Any one of hundreds of systems could fail. One particularly grave risk exists for humans flying to Mars, even if all the systems work perfectly. Space is full of deadly cosmic radiation. An astronaut flying in an unprotected or poorly protected spacecraft is unlikely to survive the trip.

                                                                        Mars, credit NASA

An international team of space scientists conducted a study to answer two questions: Would cosmic radiation pose too grave a threat to human life on a round trip to Mars? And, could the decision of when to launch such a mission help protect astronauts?

The study concluded that spacecraft ferrying humans to Mars can carry sufficient shielding to protect the astronauts from lower levels of radiation. But for maximum survivability, the timing of the launch is critical.

The cosmic radiation of concern comes from two sources. Our sun emits cosmic rays in the form of the solar wind, radiation that shielding can protect astronauts from. More lethal is the radiation from galaxies, supernovas, and all the other inhabitants of space beyond our solar system. While these outside cosmic rays are deadlier, they can generally be deflected by the sun’s magnetic field. That protective envelope is strongest during solar maximum when the sun has more and larger sunspots.

                                                        Cosmic ray sources, credit NASA

The study suggests that such a roundtrip flight to Mars in a well-shielded craft must take no longer than four years, limiting the exposure to cosmic rays, and must occur during solar maximum when the sun’s activity can help protect the astronauts. The scientists involved in the study conclude, “We estimate that a potential mission to Mars should not exceed approximately 4 years, limiting exposure to cosmic radiation. This study shows that while space radiation imposes strict limitations and presents technological difficulties for the human mission to Mars, such a mission is still viable.”

It’s not too late to sign up for a trip to the Red Planet.

 

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.

How to Collect Your Own Stardust

 

How would you like to collect some extraterrestrial dust? Scientists estimate that thousands of tons of meteorite dust fall to Earth every day. Passage through our atmosphere reduces most meteoroids to fine particles of dust. That dust then gently falls to the ground or rain washes it out of the sky. That’s your ticket to capturing some meteorite dust.

Many meteorites contain a high proportion of nickel and iron, both of which possess magnetic properties. That property of meteorite dust provides a quick and cheap way to separate it from the far more common terrestrial dust.

Fill a large bowl partly full of water. Use a glass, aluminum, or plastic bowl, not a steel one. Make sure a magnet won’t stick to your bowl. Place it on something that puts it up and away from ground level. This helps reduce the amount of Earth dust that’s kicked up by cars and wind. You need to put it out in the open where it can collect any rain. If you’re doing this during the warmest days of summer, you need to check it pretty regularly. Keep water in the bowl so the dust doesn’t dry out and blow away. You can also collect runoff water from your roof gutter’s downspout.

After several weeks, or after rain, retrieve your bowl. Get a second bowl or container. This doesn’t need to be as large as the first one. If you get rain within a few days after a meteor shower, your chances of capturing meteorite dust increase. You can check the dates of meteor showers at http://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/.  

Meteor Shower, credit NASA/JPL

Wrap a magnet in a plastic bag, and run it over the bottom of the collection bowl. Make sure you pass it over any sediment that you see in the bowl, or, better still, very slightly stir up the sediment.

Micrometeorites in rainwater

Anything that sticks to the magnet is most likely a bit of a meteorite, your own shooting star dust. Now put the plastic-wrapped magnet into the second bowl. Carefully pull the magnet out of the plastic bag. Meteorite dust makes up much of what falls off. You may only get a few sand-grain-sized or smaller pieces. Considering that the bodies orbiting in the Asteroid Belt and comets, the prime sources of meteorite dust on Earth, were created by the same material that made our sun and all the planets at the very beginning of our solar system’s formation, the age of the fragments you collect exceeds four billion years!

The Original Star-Crossed Lovers

 Look at the circular star chart and notice the three bright stars, Vega, Altair, and Deneb that sit in the center of the sky. Together, these three stars make up the Summer Triangle. You really can’t miss them. Vega is the third brightest star visible from Oklahoma. Altair is the ninth brightest we can see, and Deneb is the fifteenth.

Star map for September, The map shows the sky at 11:00 early in the month, 10:00 in the middle of the month, and 9:00 at the end of the month. Map produced using Night Vision star mapping software.

Two factors determine the brightness of a star in our sky: how much light it emits, the star’s luminosity, and the star’s distance. We rate luminosity compared to our sun’s light output. Altair is 17 light-years away and is 10.6 times brighter than our sun. By comparison, the closest star to us beyond the sun is 4.2 light-years away. Vega sits 25 light-years distant and puts out 50 times more light than our sun. Deneb is one of the most distant stars visible to the naked eye at 1467 light-years and shines an incredible 196,000 times brighter than our sun. If Deneb were as close to us as Vega, it would far outshine anything in our sky other than the full Moon and the sun!

Vega and Altair are the main characters in the Japanese Star Festival known as Tanabata. Look at the enhanced star chart showing the center of the sky, and note that Vega and Altair sit on opposite sides of the Milky Way, the great heavenly river in the sky. Vega represents Princess Orihime, a weaver who made beautiful cloth by the sky river. Her father is the God of the Heavens. Because she was so despondent at never finding love, Orihime’s father introduced her to Hikoboshi, a cow herder who lived on the other side of the Milky Way, marked by the star Altair. Their attraction instantly grew great, and they married soon after.

This star map with enhanced Milky Way was produced with SkyGazer star mapping software.

The Sky God soon became frustrated as Orihime stopped weaving her beautiful cloth, and the cows wandered all over the sky because Hikoboshi spent all his time with his beloved wife. To set the heavens right again, Orihime's father forbade the lovers from seeing each other. Orihime begged her father to reconsider. Out of love for his daughter, he allowed the two to spend one day a year together, on the 7^th day of the 7^th month, when Japanese lovers celebrate Tanabata.

But, the river of the sky proved to be too deep. Orihime cried until a flock of magpies formed a bridge for her to cross. They do this every year unless it rains on that day, in which case Orihime and Hikobosi must wait another year to be together. In Japan, young couples pray for nice weather on Tanabata so Orihime and her husband can unite for that one day. The festival is celebrated on July 7^th, but the stars are highest in our sky in September.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

 This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.oklahoman.com.

 

The Psychology of Being Watched

 

Ever walk into a room and get that feeling that you are being watched?  If so, do you behave differently?  Are you less likely to, say, throw litter on the ground?  According to Sander van der Linden, a doctor of Experimental Psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, you will be a better person when you feel you are being watched.

Van der Linden performed a detailed study on what he calls gaze detection, a “dedicated neural architecture for detecting facial features, including the presence of eyes which served as an important evolutionary tool in ancestral environments, e.g. for detecting lurking enemies.”  According to van der Linden, we are all hard-wired to detect faces and in particular eyes and reading the intent in others eyes.  We had to know if they were the eyes of a friend or a stranger, perhaps even a dangerous enemy.

In modern society, gaze detection manifests as a sort of social referee so that when others are watching us, it has a positive effect on our decision making: we make choices that are better for society as a whole even if it is less desirable or more troublesome for us personally.  Van der Linden’s research specifically studied what people would do with trash in a cafeteria when someone was and wasn’t watching.  Older studies, done in the 1970s showed that people who are being watched are three times more likely to properly dispose of their trash, as opposed to leaving it at the table or on the floor, when they are being watched compared to not being watched.  Studies also showed that it didn’t matter that someone was physically watching; a poster of people with wide-open eyes on the wall had the same effect.  When people perceived a pair of eyes on them, whether real eyes or photographs of them or just figures that resemble eyes, they behaved differently then when they didn’t feel as if they were being watched.

Van der Linden’s studies proved that the same gaze detection behavior could be extended to images that simply looked like a pair of eyes.  In his words, “it doesn’t take a fellow human being to make us feel ‘as if the world were watching,’ not even another living organism. All it takes is an image of a pair of human eyes.” 

 

And it is not an effect that we have conscious control over.  We can’t overcome the behavioral change simply because we are aware of the effect.  It is a hard-wired set of behaviors, providing an evolutionary advantage.  “This makes sense,” van der Linden states “because there is great evolutionary value in being able to quickly assess whether any predators are on the prowl; neural activation of the gaze detection system is fast and automatic. Yet this also means that it’s possible to “trick” the system and this is exactly what the new experiment has shown: objects that merely resemble human eyes are sufficient to trigger human gaze detection and subsequently alter social behavior.”

After reading his study, I wondered how this gaze detection phenomenon might manifest itself in a situation in which a moral choice isn’t an issue.  Could the mere fact that we unconsciously perceive that we are being watched when no action we might do makes any difference except to ourselves make us behave or believe something that we wouldn’t otherwise do so?  When we don’t have a moral choice to make, might gaze detection cause some other psychological effect?  In particular, how might it affect the perceptions of someone sitting in a room at night, especially if they already had a notion that there was paranormal activity occurring in the house?  How might gaze detection affect their behavior?

I posed this question to Dr. van der Linden: Is it possible that this feeling of being watched could, in a situation where one is frightened for whatever reason, cause the person to perceive other imagined phenomena such as hearing sounds or seeing shadows out of the corner of their eyes or just a generally “creeped” out feeling, phenomena that some might assume is caused by a ghost?  This was his response.

 

The question you posed is whether, if a ‘spooky’ environmental cue can be identified, can (gaze detection) also induce behavioural responses other than moral and social adjustments? This is in fact a very interesting research question and I don’t have a straightforward answer. I imagine it can. People often report to feel ‘uncomfortable’ when they know they are being watched, even more so of course when they believe that a deceased individual (or ghost) is watching them. Also, this may very well induce feelings of anxiety and panic.

Emotions that people report while ‘experiencing’ paranormal activity are usually instinctive emotions such as ‘fear’ and ‘anxiety’ that, because of how the brain is wired, are very hard to control, in particular because these emotions originate in the oldest part of the brain, which is very well developed, and as a result often overtakes our ability to continue to reason ‘rationally.’ Recent research has in fact indicated that perceptual and sensory experiences (e.g. ‘feeling a presence’ or ‘picking up energy’) are related to the limbic system, the older part of the brain. In fact, research points to the fact that ‘extrasensory experiences’ are particularly common in individuals that have a strong sensitivity to environmental factors. In other words, people that often experience allergies, headaches, other chronic symptoms or a heightened sensitivity to light, sound, touch and smell are particularly prone to experiencing paranormal activity. Individuals with a heightened sensitivity also tend to be female (about 2/3). So people sensitive to environmental conditions react more strongly, in reason and feeling to incoming informational cues from their environment.”

 

Gaze Detection may become one of the causes of reported paranormal phenomena.  I believe that this could become a powerful tool in the paranormal investigator’s arsenal to prove to people that they are NOT being haunted by a ghost, but that rather subtle psychological behaviors are triggered by the presence of photographs, posters or drawings on the wall or even in decorative motifs.  The next time a client tells you that “people always feel a presence in this room” or report sounds or “shadows out of the corner of my eye”, look around.  If the room has lots of photos of deceased Aunt Martha, maybe it’s not her ghost, but merely her eyes that haunt the place.

A $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 Asteroid.

 

During the mid-19^th century, Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, working at an observatory in Naples, discovered nine asteroids, among his other credits. His fifth asteroid, Psyche, was only the 16^th known. Although he didn’t realize it at the time, Psyche would become one of the most unique and interesting asteroid discoveries.

Analysis of Pysche revealed it to have a radius of slightly over 70 miles, with an average density revealing it to be made of almost solid iron and other metals. Astronomers believe that it might be the metallic core of a planet that never fully developed. Scientists estimated its commercial value at $10,000 quadrillion. That's $10,000 followed by 15 zeroes.  It is one of the most valuable objects in the Asteroid Belt, assuming we could ever mine it.

Artist rendering of Asteroid Psyche, credit NASA

However, a recent analysis of Psyche hints that it may be slightly less valuable. Given Psyche’s size and mass, astronomers had estimated it to be 95% iron and other metals, giving it that high estimated value. However, a recent NASA spacecraft’s visit to another asteroid caused a team of researchers led by University of Arizona undergraduate student David Cantillo to reevaluate that estimated value. University of Arizona scientists lead the science team for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to study another asteroid, Bennu. OSIRIS-REx retrieved a sample from Bennu's surface and is now bringing it back to Earth. Bennu turned out to be a rubble pile. It’s a loose collection of rock and dust held together by gravity but not solid.

As Cantillo’s team assessed the known data on Psyche, they realized that it may also be a rubble pile, and is likely only 82.5% metallic. If true, that would drop its commercial mining value to a “mere” $8700 quadrillion.

I think I’d still stake a claim, if only international law allowed it.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

 

This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.newsok.com.

Just How Much Cosmic Dust falls to Earth Each Year?

 

On almost any dark, clear night away from city light pollution, even the casual sky observer may see one or several “shooting stars.” Tiny bits of rock, typically less than an inch across, create these brief streaks of light. The rocky bits move so quickly through the air that they create a huge amount of friction, heating the air to incandescence which creates the streak of light.

Eventually, the cosmic rock is broken into tiny dust particles which float serenely down to the surface of our planet. This cosmic dust comes primarily from two sources. A research team studying this phenomenon, led by Julien Rojas, a doctoral student at the University of Paris–Saclay, found that more than 60% of the dust originates from the family of comets that Jupiter’s huge gravitational pull herds into orbits of less than 20 years and which can pass close to Earth’s orbit. Another 20% of the dust likely came from the main asteroid belt.

                          Meteor entering Earth atmosphere as seen from the ISS. Credit NASA

Astronomers want to know just how much of this cosmic dust Earth accumulates each year. But the problem is that with dust constantly blowing around all over our planet, it becomes virtually impossible to separate space dust from Earthly dust.

There is one place where terrestrial dust does not contaminate extraterrestrial dust, Antarctica. The study team collected ice cores from that continent in an attempt to quantify the amount of cosmic dust landing on our planet each year. And, because the snow and ice cover there can be melted, it is easy to separate the tiny dust particles from the otherwise dustless environment. Jean Duprat, a cosmo-chemist and co-author of the study, said “The South Pole is by far the best location because you are surrounded by oceans, you are completely isolated from mainlands.”

 Extrapolating the three-year study of Antarctic cosmic dust measurements to the entire planet, the team found that between 4,000 and 6,700 metric tons of space dust falls to Earth each year. Rojas explained that the study’s range is simply a matter of statistics due to the inherent difficulty of extrapolating the worldwide accumulation from a series of limited, local measurements. “Depending on the volume of snow,” Rojas said, “you would expect a certain uncertainty by just counting the particles.”

Between 4,000 and 6,700 tons a year! And you think you have a problem keeping weight off.

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

 This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.newsok.com.

 

Is the Hypothesized "Planet Nine" Actually a Primordial Black Hole?

 On March 13, 1781, astronomer William Herschel pointed his telescope into the night sky and discovered the planet Uranus, the first such discovery in historical times. Over the next 45 years, as astronomers observed Uranus looking for possible moons, they realized its orbit didn’t follow the known laws of gravity. Some astronomers surmised that perhaps Newton’s gravitational laws didn’t work so far from the sun.

But two mathematicians decided that the discrepancy occurred due to the gravitational attraction of an eighth planet even farther out. Unbeknownst to each other, both French astronomer Rubin Le Perrier and British mathematician John Couch Adams began calculating the likely position of such a planet based on the aberrations of the orbit of Uranus. On September 23, 1846, French astronomer Johanne Galle found Neptune within one degree of the predicted position. The effect of Neptune’s gravitational pull on the orbit of Uranus led to its discovery.

In January 2015, Caltech astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown noted some rather odd orbits of five asteroids in the far outer regions of our solar system. Using computer modeling, they predicted the presence of a ninth planet ten times larger than Earth whose gravity they theorized affected the asteroids. They dubbed it “Planet Nine.”

That planet has never been discovered even with today’s sophisticated telescopes, yet according to Brown and Batygin, new evidence continues to support their hypothesis. This negative result has led some astronomers to propose a radical idea: maybe the cause of the odd orbits isn’t a large planet but rather a small black hole.

Typically, black holes result from the death of massive stars and are typically five to ten times the mass of our sun. But the extreme conditions at the earliest stages of the formation of the universe could have created smaller, planet-sized black holes, called primordial black holes, although we’ve yet to find any. 

Primordial black holes may exist throughout the cosmos. Credit NASA

A planet ten times the size of Earth should have been found, many astronomers believe, but a black hole of the same mass would be tiny and impossible to see. The only way to discover one is to use the same method astronomers use to find any stellar-sized black hole, by way of its massive gravity. A planet-sized black hole might be invisible, but the gravity of one could certainly cause the observed effect.

I think the idea of a primordial black hole at the edge of our solar system is exciting. As long as it stays out there.

Is There Life on Mars? Maybe, but We Haven't Looked in the Right Places

 Two new studies point to a real possibility of life on Mars. We know Mars once had lots of water, enough water to cover the entire planet by as much as three-quarters of a mile. That water is now lost from the surface.

                          Artist’s rendering of Mars before it lost surface water, credit NASA

One study, led by Eva Scheller, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology, looked at the rate at which Mars lost water to space. Hydrogen, a component of water molecules, comes in various forms. Normal hydrogen consists of one proton and one electron. Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, also contains one neutron. Being heavier, deuterium can’t escape Mars as easily as normal hydrogen. By studying the ratio of the two, scientists can determine how much hydrogen, and therefore water, Mars lost to space since it formed. This allows the scientists to estimate the total amount of water Mars originally possessed.

Since the rate of hydrogen loss early in Mars’ history can’t be known precisely, scientists can only estimate the amount of water lost. They calculate that the total amount of water lost from Mars amounts to only enough to cover the planet by up to 82 feet. That leaves a lot of water still on Mars. The rest, they claim, went underground, chemically combined with minerals in the Martian crust. "Mars basically became the dry, arid planet we know today 3 billion years ago," Scheller stated. Since then, the amount of water locked below the crust has remained essentially unchanged. Water loss from Mars stopped when the remaining water became trapped in the crust.

                                                  Mars with polar ice cap, credit NASA

Nathalie Cabrol, director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research, part of the SETI Institute, led the second study. She claims life would still exist on Mars if it ever developed there. It simply would have moved underground with the water. We haven’t found it yet because we haven’t looked in the right places.

Cabrol studies some of the harshest environments on Earth, locations scientists refer to as Mars analogs. These places represent the environments on Earth most like Mars, a cold, dry desert world. She explains that at these locations on Earth, “You can walk on the same landscape for miles and find nothing. Then, maybe because the slope changes by a fraction of a degree, the texture or the mineralogy of the soil is different because there is more protection from UV, all of a sudden, life is here.”

On Earth, virtually everywhere water exists, so does life, even deep below ground with water trapped in rocks. Cabrol says that on Mars, other conditions must also be considered. “What matters in extreme worlds to find life is to understand the patterns resulting from these interactions.”

Both scientists agree that the Perseverance Rover, newly landed on Mars, may be able to find the right conditions for Martian life below the surface.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

 This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.newsok.com.

 

Is Earth Soon Due for a Mass Extinction?

 

Earth’s magnetic field does more than makes compasses point north. It also protects us against dangers from space, specifically solar wind and cosmic rays. Without our protective magnetic shield, the solar wind could strip away much of our atmosphere, as occurred on Mars. As the atmosphere diminishes, the oceans slowly evaporate and become lost to space, as on Mars.

Earth’s hot, liquid-iron interior generates our magnetic field. The liquid core of Earth gets so hot that electrons are stripped off the molecules. As the charged particles spin around with Earth’s rotation, it generates our lifesaving magnetic field. But, Mars, being smaller, cooled long ago, the core solidified, and it no longer generates a magnetic field, hence its cold, dry, virtually lifeless surface.

Earth's magnetic field. Credit Nasa

Earth’s magnetic field isn’t as stable as it might seem. Over long periods of time, it flips with magnetic north and south poles reversing. During that magnetic flip, the magnetic field can become significantly weaker.

Such a magnetic pole reversal occurred 42,000 years ago. Researchers of the University of New South Wales studied the event. Chris Turney, a co-author of the study, explained “Earth’s magnetic field dropped to only 0 to 6% strength during the event. We essentially had no magnetic field at all. Our cosmic radiation shield was totally gone.” That event coincided with the extinction of many species, including the Neanderthals. Scientists are still trying to work out just how much the reversal affected those now-extinct species.

Although such magnetic reversals generally occur on timescales of a few hundred thousand years, geoscientists have found ample evidence that such a reversal may already be underway. Pole wandering, or the movement of the magnetic poles, is more pronounced than in the past. Over the last 170 years, Earth’s magnetic field strength has decreased by 9%.

At the very least, a severely weakened magnetic field can cause total malfunction of communications and all other satellites and will be dangerous, perhaps even lethal, to any astronauts. At its worst, it could dramatically increase animal extinctions and severely affect human health. No one can say for sure if or when a magnetic reversal will occur, how long it might take, and how long it would last. But, the geologic record paints a potentially grim picture.

 

Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.newsok.com.

A Review of my book "If You Swallow That Seed"

 

If You Swallow That Seed
Written by Wayne Harris-Wyrick
Illustrated by Matthew Hughes
Published by 4RV Publishing, 2015

Review By Kena Sosa

 

Parents say the weirdest things. In the case of the story, If You Swallow That Seed, a mother’s words literally sprout into action. The main character is shocked to find carrots growing out of his ears after swallowing a seed just as his mother warned him. He puts the carrots to good use feeding horses, but before he can overcome his problem, his mother has even more wacky comments to say and they all come true!

The boy shows determination time and time again, finding solutions to the weirdness until it gets out of hand. Matthew Hughes’ illustrations are full of texture, adding dimension and additional flavor to the story, especially in the cover illustration where we see the boy and his horses enjoying their role in the adventure.

Kids will get a kick out of this story and connect with it as they’ve been confused by their own parent’s idioms and sayings. A story that feels straight out of the childhood of the author, Wayne Harris-Wyrick, this book takes it further than just one metaphor. Swallowing the first seed is only the beginning of the adventure of what happens when words are taken literally. It is packed with excitement, fun and a great segway into the silly and savvy world of idioms and sayings.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

 

Book Review: Forty Winks

 

Book Review: Picture book Forty Winks

Written by Nancy Allen

Illustrations by Diane Brown

 

 

Generally, picture books for kids have one of two primary purposes: to entertain or to inform. While these two ideas don’t begin to cover all the variations in picture books, virtually all picture books articulate these two qualities in some proportion.

 Virtually all children’s books have a moral or help the child reader understand good choices. The best children’s books both teach and entertain. In Forty Winks, Nancy Brown offers what seems, on the face of it, a bedtime story to entertain young readers. Joey has trouble getting to sleep. Although he tries some methods to bring on sleep, his imagination keeps him from becoming drowsy. That is until he meets Sir Nod, a book-loving monster living in his closet.

 Sir Nod shows Joey his “magical book.” “Read it,” Sir Nod says, “ and you can travel anywhere,” then immediately falls asleep. Joey takes the book and reads a story about a pirate adventure, but is soon fast asleep, dreaming about pirates.

Joey wants to keep the book, but Sir Nod cries that it is his only book. Nod tells Joey he can read his own books, but Joey complains that his books aren’t magical. Sir Nod replies, “The magic happens when you read a book.” Joey and Sir Nod settle their disagreement about using the book and come to a mutual, and sleep-inducing, solution.

 As is common with picture books published by 4RV Publishing, the book contains an appendix with discussion questions and extra “fun facts.” Here, Nancy Allen continued her mix of entertainment and information.

 Diane Brown’s illustration nicely captured Joey’s adventures on a pirate ship, traveling through space, and more. These illustrations will trigger the imagination of young readers just as well as the story does.

 This book may help a child go to sleep, but even better, it encourages children to experience the magic of books. I applaud any book that encourages children to read, whether or not it helps them sleep.

4RV Authors, Artists, and Editors Awarded

 Among other things, I write books for children. I have five published books with three more in the works at my publisher, 4RV Publishing. The name has nothing to do with recreational vehicles. When the publisher/president started the company, she used the initials of the members of her family: four R’s and a V. You can see all the books (including mine!) and authors at 4RVPublishing.com.

 

 Every year, www.critters.org publishes the Critters Readers Poll on the best in writing for the previous year. Formerly known as “Predators and Editors,” this poll has been published for 25 years. Readers vote on their favorites in forty-five categories including twenty-five genres of novels and short stories, artists, covers, online bookstores, and other areas related to publishing. The most recent winners and runners-up can be found at http://critters.org/predpoll/final_tally.ht.

 This year, 4RV books and editors won several awards, including two First Place awards, six Second Place awards, and one Sixth Place award.

These awards demonstrate the excellence of this small press publisher and care with which the publisher’s president, Vivian Zabel (the “V” in 4RV) selects the editors and the books they publish.

 Congratulations to Cheryl Malandrinos, Jeanne Conway, Vivian Zabel, D. K. Davenport,  Shawn Simon, Rita Durrett and 4RV Publishing!

Alien Signals? Likely Not, But the Most Exciting Possibility Yet!

      Earth is a noisy planet. Not with sound waves, which never leave the atmosphere, but with all sorts of radio noise. Between radar beams from weather monitoring stations, airports and military use, TV and radio signals, and even deliberate attempts by astronomers to send messages to any listening aliens, our planet constantly announces its presence to the universe at large.

Because we are so radio noisy, astronomers have for decades tried to find such radio signals emanating from any other existing alien civilizations in our Milky Way, with little success. In 1977, astronomers performing such a search with a giant radio telescope run by Ohio State University detected a signal, a powerful radio burst, dubbed the “WOW!” signal. It never appeared again despite much searching.

In 2015, billionaire Yuri Milner donated $100M to create a program designed to search for extraterrestrial radio signals, the Breakthrough Listen Project. The project uses the Parke Radio Telescope in Australia, operated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

 Recently, news broke that the project detected a narrowly-focused beam of 980 MHz radio waves detected in April and May 2019. The signal came from the direction of our nearest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, which has two planets orbiting it, and one is Earthlike. That frequency is important because human-made craft and satellites typically don’t use it, lending credence to the possibility of it coming from an alien civilization.

Parke Radio Telescope, credit Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

The powerful burst excited astronomers of the project. Sofia Sheikh, an astronomer at Penn State University, led the analysis of the signal. While the team has yet to release its full report, Scientific American interviewed Sheikh. She said, "It's the most exciting signal that we've found in the Breakthrough Listen project because we haven't had a signal jump through this many of our filters before.”

No repeat signal has been detected, and the team still must rule any natural signals, such as a distant comet or some other astronomical. But astronomers excitedly await the full report. We may have finally discovered that we have neighbors.

 

    Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. On the following day, I post that same column to my blog page.

    This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.newsok.com.