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  • Articles  (17,927)
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  • 1
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    Implication of our technological species being first and early (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉According to the Principle of Mediocrity, a cornerstone of modern cosmology, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we should believe that we are a typical member of an appropriately chosen reference class. If we assume that this principle applies to the reference class of all extant technological species, then it follows that other technological species will, like us, typically find that they are both the first such species to evolve on their planet and also that they are early in their potential technological evolution. Here we argue that this suggests that the typical technological species becomes extinct soon after attaining a modern technology and that this event results in the extinction of the planet's global biosphere.〈/p〉〈/div〉
    Print ISSN: 1473-5504
    Electronic ISSN: 1574-3006
    Topics: Biology , Geosciences
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  • 2
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    Ground-based detection of a cloud of methanol from Enceladus: when is a biomarker not a biomarker? (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Saturn's moon Enceladus has vents emerging from a sub-surface ocean, offering unique probes into the liquid environment. These vents drain into the larger neutral torus in orbit around Saturn. We present a methanol (CH〈span〉3〈/span〉OH) detection observed with IRAM 30-m from 2008 along the line-of-sight through Saturn's E-ring. Additionally, we also present supporting observations from the 〈span〉Herschel〈/span〉 public archive of water (ortho-H〈span〉2〈/span〉O; 1669.9 GHz) from 2012 at a similar elongation and line-of-sight. The CH〈span〉3〈/span〉OH 5(1,1)-4(1,1) transition was detected at 5.9〈span〉σ〈/span〉 confidence. The line has 0.43 km s〈span〉−1〈/span〉 width and is offset by +8.1 km s〈span〉−1〈/span〉 in the moon's reference frame. Radiative transfer models allow for gas cloud dimensions from 1750 km up to the telescope beam diameter ~73 000 km. Taking into account the CH〈span〉3〈/span〉OH lifetime against solar photodissociation and the redshifted line velocity, there are two possible explanations for the CH〈span〉3〈/span〉OH emission: methanol is primarily a secondary product of chemical interactions within the neutral torus that: (1) spreads outward throughout the E-ring or (2) originates from a compact, confined gas cloud lagging Enceladus by several km s〈span〉−1〈/span〉. We find either scenario to be consistent with significant redshifted H〈span〉2〈/span〉O emission (4〈span〉σ〈/span〉) measured from the 〈span〉Herschel〈/span〉 public archive. The measured CH〈span〉3〈/span〉OH:H〈span〉2〈/span〉O abundance (〉0.5%) significantly exceeds the observed abundance in the direct vicinity of the vents (~0.01%), suggesting CH〈span〉3〈/span〉OH is likely chemically processed within the gas cloud with methane (CH〈span〉4〈/span〉) as its parent species.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 3
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    Darwin's aliens (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Making predictions about aliens is not an easy task. Most previous work has focused on extrapolating from empirical observations and mechanistic understanding of physics, chemistry and biology. Another approach is to utilize theory to make predictions that are not tied to details of Earth. Here we show how evolutionary theory can be used to make predictions about aliens. We argue that aliens will undergo natural selection – something that should not be taken for granted but that rests on firm theoretical grounds. Given aliens undergo natural selection we can say something about their evolution. In particular, we can say something about how complexity will arise in space. Complexity has increased on the Earth as a result of a handful of events, known as the major transitions in individuality. Major transitions occur when groups of individuals come together to form a new higher level of the individual, such as when single-celled organisms evolved into multicellular organisms. Both theory and empirical data suggest that extreme conditions are required for major transitions to occur. We suggest that major transitions are likely to be the route to complexity on other planets, and that we should expect them to have been favoured by similarly restrictive conditions. Thus, we can make specific predictions about the biological makeup of complex aliens.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 4
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    Breakthrough Listen follow-up of the reported transient signal observed at the Arecibo Telescope in the direction of Ross 128 (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉We undertook observations with the Green Bank Telescope, simultaneously with the 300 m telescope in Arecibo, as a follow-up of a possible flare of radio emission from Ross 128. We report here the non-detections from the GBT observations in C band (4–8 GHz), as well as non-detections in archival data at L band (1.1–1.9 GHz). We suggest that a likely scenario is that the emission comes from one or more satellites passing through the same region of the sky.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 5
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    Extreme salinity as a challenge to grow potatoes under Mars-like soil conditions: targeting promising genotypes (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉One of the future challenges to produce food in a Mars environment will be the optimization of resources through the potential use of the Martian substratum for growing crops as a part of bioregenerative food systems. 〈span〉In vitro〈/span〉 plantlets from 65 potato genotypes were rooted in peat-pellets substratum and transplanted in pots filled with Mars-like soil from La Joya desert in Southern Peru. The Mars-like soil was characterized by extreme salinity (an electric conductivity of 19.3 and 52.6 dS m〈span〉−1〈/span〉 under 1 : 1 and saturation extract of the soil solution, respectively) and plants grown in it were under sub-optimum physiological status indicated by average maximum stomatal conductance 2O m〈span〉−2〈/span〉 s〈span〉−1〈/span〉 even after irrigation. 40% of the genotypes survived and yielded (0.3–5.2 g tuber plant〈span〉−1〈/span〉) where CIP.397099.4, CIP.396311.1 and CIP.390478.9 were targeted as promising materials with 9.3, 8.9 and 5.8% of fresh tuber yield in relation to the control conditions. A combination of appropriate genotypes and soil management will be crucial to withstand extreme salinity, a problem also important in agriculture on Earth that requires more detailed follow-up studies.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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    Topics: Biology , Geosciences
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  • 6
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    Pulsar positioning system: a quest for evidence of extraterrestrial engineering (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Pulsars have at least two impressive applications. First, they can be used as highly accurate clocks, comparable in stability to atomic clocks; secondly, a small subset of pulsars, millisecond X-ray pulsars, provide all the necessary ingredients for a passive galactic positioning system. This is known in astronautics as X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XNAV). XNAV is comparable to GPS, except that it operates on a galactic scale. I propose a SETI-XNAV research program to test the hypothesis that this pulsar positioning system might be an instance of galactic-scale engineering by extraterrestrial beings. The paper starts by exposing the basics of pulsar navigation, continues with a critique of the rejection of the extraterrestrial hypothesis when pulsars were first discovered. The core section of the paper proposes lines of inquiry for SETI-XNAV, related to the pulsar distribution and power in the galaxy; their population; their evolution; possible pulse synchronizations; pulsar usability when navigating near the speed of light; decoding galactic coordinates; directed panspermia; and information content in pulses. Even if pulsars are natural, they are likely to be used as standards by ETIs in the galaxy. I discuss possible objections and potential benefits for humanity, whether the research program succeeds or not.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 7
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    Evolutionary exobiology: towards the qualitative assessment of biological potential on exoplanets (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉A planet may be defined as habitable if it has an atmosphere and is warm enough to support the existence of liquid water on its surface. Such a world has the basic set of conditions that allow it to develop life similar to ours, which is carbon-based and has water as its universal solvent. While this definition is suitably vague to allow a fairly broad range of possibilities, it does not address the question as to whether any life that does form will become either complex or intelligent. In this paper, we seek to synthesize a qualitative definition of which subset of these ‘habitable worlds’ might develop more complex and interesting life forms. We identify two key principles in determining the capacity of life to breach certain transitions on route to developing intelligence. The first is the number of potential niches a planet provides. Secondly, the complexity of life will reflect the information density of its environment, which in turn can be approximated by the number of available niches. We seek to use these criteria to begin the process of placing the evolution of terrestrial life in a mathematical framework based on environmental information content. This is currently testable on Earth and will have clear application to the worlds that we are only beginning to discover. Our model links the development of complex life to the physical properties of the planet, something which is currently lacking in all evolutionary theory.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 8
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    Chemical alteration and preservation of sedimentary/organic nitrogen isotope signatures in a 2.7 Ga seafloor volcanic sequence (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Massive to lobate volcanic flows and brecciated hyaloclastite units in the Abitibi greenstone belt allow investigation of Late Archæan seafloor alteration and associated incorporation into these rocks of nitrogen (N) biogeochemical signatures. In this suite (the Blake River Group), hyaloclastite units containing putative microbial ichnofossils are particularly enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (K, Rb, Ba, Cs), B, and Li, consistent with their having experienced the greatest fluid–rock interaction during subseafloor hydrothermal alteration. Similarly, silicate-δ〈span〉18〈/span〉O and δ〈span〉15〈/span〉N values for samples from the hyaloclastites show the greatest shifts from plausible magmatic values. The chemical and isotopic patterns in these tholeiitic igneous rocks greatly resemble those in modern altered seafloor basalts, consistent with the preservation of an Archæan seafloor alteration signature. The N enrichments and shifts in δ〈span〉15〈/span〉N appear to reflect stabilization of illite and interaction with fluids carrying sedimentary/organic signatures. Enrichments of N (and the δ〈span〉15〈/span〉N of this N) in altered glass volcanic rocks on Earth's modern and ancient seafloor point to the potential utility of N for tracing past and present biogeochemical processes in similar rocks at/near the Mars surface.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 9
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    Alternative standard frequencies for interstellar communication (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉The 21 cm hydrogen line is considered a favourable frequency by the SETI programme in their search for signals from potential extraterrestrial (ET) civilizations. The Pioneer plaque, attached to the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecraft, portrays the hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen and used the wavelength as a standard scale of measurement. Although this line would be universally recognized and is a suitable wavelength to look for radio signals from ETs, the presence of ubiquitous radiation from galactic hydrogen could make searches a little difficult. In this paper, we suggest several alternate standard frequencies, which are free of interference from atomic or molecular sources and is independent of any bias.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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  • 10
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    The aerobic transition as an economic ratchet (2017)
    Cambridge University Press
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    Publication Date: 2017
    Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Punctuated equilibrium, in the sense of Eldredge and Gould in 1972, and path dependence (Gould in 2002), dominate evolutionary processes, many of whose dynamics can be expressed in terms of interacting information sources (Wallace in 2010). Argument based on Feynman's (in 2000) characterization of information as a form of free energy leads to a close, if inverse, analogy between evolutionary transitions and economic ratchets. Driven by such a ‘self-referential’ mechanism, increases in available metabolic free energy – via the aerobic transition – led to the eukaryotic transition and to life as we know it. Formal analysis focuses on groupoid symmetries associated with the cognitive processes of gene expression, an extension of the symmetry breaking/making perspectives of physical science into biological phenomena. This suggests that understanding modalities of cognitive gene expression, as opposed to focus on genes themselves, provides the deepest insight into evolutionary phenomena, a perspective at some variance with current simplistic gene-centred views that constrain evolutionary theory.〈/p〉〈/div〉
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