Monday, March 17, 2008

The Truth is out there


Today's post is going to be dedicated to Space, aliens and the unknown! Exciting, I know.


First of all, did you know that our government set up a program to work on contacting alien life? I think it is no longer government funded, but is instead now private. It is called SETI (which stands for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, I think). The Mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. They listen out for possible proof of alien life. In 1974 they sent out a huge broadcast using the Arecibo radio telescope, which is in Puerto Rico and is HUGE (and pictured above). I think it is 1000 feet in diameter and covers about 20 acres. So far, SETI hasn't had any proof of intelligent alien life, as far as we know...
Did you know that all our radio transmissions and cell phone conversations and such travel into space? They transmit from our phone and just keep going and going and going. Someone recently explained this to me, and I may get it wrong here on the blog, but it goes something like this. Our first radio signals started around a little over 100 years ago (the end of the 1800's actually), so they are now 100 light years out from Earth, which isn't very far in terms of distance in Space. So, really, it seems very unlikely that any alien intelligence out there has received our transmissions because alien life isn't that close in to Earth. Does this make sense? It's wild to me to imagine all our cell phone conversations heading out to space...

Meanwhile, in the UK, Doritos is working on advertising in Space... Some companies will do anything for advertising!
And, about a year ago, an unusual meteor landed in Peru, unusual because it didn't follow the usual "meteor rules." It also seemed to make people who visited the crash site sick...
My 11 year old, Donny, is teaching me about Dark Matter. And, he also taught me that Pluto is no longer a planet, which is obviously different from what I learned, and I think everyone has heard that in the news.
During my searches today about Space, I learned there is the possibility of space tornadoes.
I am so fascinated by deep space and what's out there, what we know and don't know about it all. We have so much to learn still. Some of the best pictures I've seen come from the Hubble Telescope, NASA's orbiting telescope. You can sign up for their astronomy emails and news alerts also.
We're never too old to learn more, and we should never cease our quest for knowledge!

7 comments:

Malicious Intent said...

No aliens. It really just is my family. They are pretty harmless, but I won't be to upset if they are shot down.
I doubt there will be communication. Their current communication skills stink.

Tez Miller said...

I hope you subscribe to Astronomy Photo of the Day - sounds quite up your alley. Haven't visited it myself, but the Parents like it.

Have a lovely day! :-)

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Ohhh...love x-files. Did you hear that they are making another movie? And regarding Pluto...I read somewhere that they have decided that we actually have 11 planets now...but that Pluto and some other one are dwarf planets. I just want to know where the other "planets" came from!

tearese said...

yeah, I've heard about the 'other' planet(s) in our system, and the exclusion of Pluto. It seems like they mention SETI in like every Sci-Fi movie in the last few years, don't you think? That picture kind of looks like that place in "Contact".
What drives me nuts is people who think space exploration is a waste of money...don't they know how many inventions have come out of space study?
When I was a kid, I wanted a giant photo of outer space on my wall. Sigh. I think it would still be pretty cool.

Rhea said...

Funny, Malicious Intent.

Tez, thanks for the info about Astronomy Photo of the Day. I didn't know about it and I love it!

Hey, Kat! I didn't know they were making an x-files movie, cool! I did hear about some extra planets. lol Amazing how they popped up out of nowhere!

Tearese, I definitely think space exploration is necessary, like you. My son has a huge canvas photo of a galaxy on his wall right now, and he wants more space posters in his room! A giant photo on the wall would be awesome.

Thanks, guys, for stopping by and commenting.

Maeglin said...

Interesting post.
Space Doritos Rocks!!
Next Pepsi or Microsoft advertisment for Martian People. HALO Special "Red-EDITION"
I think like you about learning the magic of UNIVERSE.

Namariƫ Rhea

Rhea said...

Thanks, Maeglin!