Search+for+Alien+Life+-+WS

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Rubric: [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.doc]], [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.pdf]]

 * Written Information **: As you enter text, the area will expand. Make sure to check the required details of the assignment and review the rubric (see document links) to self-assess your work. Your paragraphs will be in block format, enter one return between paragraphs. The tab key, indent feature will not appear when typing directly into the wiki page.

Life from planets that aren't Earth is called extraterrestrial. Astrobiology or exobiology are a couple examples of the fields that "study" and look for alien life. There are numerous strategies for these scientists to use in their search for alien life. The following are examples of their strategies: While big life forms require many requirments, life on a cellular level has much less requirments. The big, intelligent life forms could exist on as many as 50,000 other planets even though there is a large amount of requirments. > Dr.Hoover (a previous NASA employee) has claimed he found alien life on other planets three times. He has been disproved three times. Now the science community has distanced itself from him because he was making a laughing stock of their profession.
 * The most obvious way is to actually send astronauts and spacecrafts to the planets we believe could have life. They could do tests on the soil and atmosphere to see if there is life. However, this will only work on things inside of our solar system. If we create a strong enough spaceship then we could send some robots to test Europa.
 * Another way to search for alien life is to look at the light reflected off of planets surfaces because light turns into different colors depending on the gas it bounces off. Through this method, we can search for planets with similar chemical composition to our planet. A problem with this method is that we are not sure if all life needs the same conditions as those on Earth or the chemicals that we need are just sitiuational. We won't know until we have an example besides life on Earth.
 * The third strategy is to study meteorites that have come from other planets. With these rocks, we can see if there is life on even a cellulaur level from other planets. One of the most popular of these examples is the Mars' meteorites where there were microscopic "fossils" in the rock. Scientists eventually decided that these were to small because they were the width of 100th of the width of a hair.
 * __People In the Business:__**
 * Planet hunters are people who search for other planets with life. Just about all these people do other things as well though.
 * Siegfried Franck is a scientist who wrote a paper that claimed there might be hundreds of thousands of planets that are capable of having life. Him and his team used a simple equation to come to this number of multiplying the number of solar systems by 0.01%. Through that math, they figure that a planet Earth twin could be as close as a few hundred light years away. However, other scientists are a little skeptical of this. "It is a very good paper," says Donald Brownlee, an highly regarded astronomer, "but we have no way to know if the estimate is good or not. We have no data." Other scientists are hesitating because they believe the assumption is premature. They also say that he's not taking into account all the factors like a star's position in the galaxy could be vital to life.

Visuals Make sure to include the location of your image; add a caption with this information Planet Earth Twin Credit: [] || Supposed Alien Life (Dr.Hoover) Credit: [] || Europa Credit: [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_(moon]) || Meteorite From Mars Credit: [] || Hollywood Depection of an Alien Credit: [] ||  || Bacteria in Extreme Temperatures Credit: [] || Dr. Richard Hoover Credit: [] ||  ||
 * [[image:http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/images/2009/01/11/planet_earth_twin_2_2_2_2.jpg width="308" height="235" caption="Planet_earth_twin_2_2_2_2" link="http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/01/11/planet_earth_twin_2_2_2_2.jpg"]]
 * [[image:http://serc.carleton.edu/images/microbelife/topics/nanobes/high_res_nanoba_350.jpg width="350" height="271" caption="High resolution TEM image of nanofossils in ALH84001"]]
 * [[image:http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/xtremelife/images/smoker_great.jpg width="400" height="300"]]

**Works Cited** **Sources** : Include the source information for all of the magazine articles, reference sources (encyclopedias) and web site pages that were used to complete your project. The source information for encyclopedias may be found at the end or beginning of each entry in iCONN. When using periodicals, the publication information will be at the beginning or end of the article. This neds to be formatted for MLA standards. If it is not labeled 'Source Citation' it can be formatted appropriately by using EasyBib.com. You should use EasyBib for the web sites. The final Works Cited should be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. "Milky Way." //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. "The Milky Way." //WMAP's Universe//. NASA, 28 June 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. . Vergano, Dan. "Galaxy Bracketed by Big Bubbles." //USA Today// 10 Nov. 2010: 05A. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.
 * Sample:**

> > > > >
 * Your Source List:**
 * Biotechnology, 2007; []
 * "Exobiology." //The Columbia Encyclopedia//, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2000. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. []
 * New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand), November 9, 2011; []
 * Odyssey, November-December 2011 []
 * []
 * []
 * []

**Topic: Research Focus**
 * What is your topic?**
 * State the focus of your research:**
 * The Search For Alien Life**

**Notes** ==== Include notes, statistics and facts that you will use to write your final paper. You may want to label sections of your notes to help you be more organized as you write. As you take notes from a source, you should list the source citation in the Works Cited section above. ==== **__ Search for Alien Life __** Will Suitor

Anything that is from a planet other than Earth is called extraterrestrial. Exobiology or astrobiology, search for extraterrestrial life within the solar system and throughout the universe. There are several ways to search for alien life: There are six basic requirements for life are: temperature, pressure, salinity, acidity, water availability, and oxygen content. Advanced life is restricted to a narrow range of these parameters, but primitive microorganisms can exist over a much wider range. There may be as many as 50,000 planets that have earthlike conditions, a small amount of which could have cultures as technologically advanced as our own. The White House says it has no evidence that extraterrestrials have ever tried to contact humans. One problem in the search for alienlife is that we are not sure what to look for. If life on other planets does not use the same chemistry as life on Earth, the tests scientists usually use to look for life —such as looking for cells—will not work. However, scientists think it is probable that life anywhere in the universe will use some of the same chemicals as life on Earth. Some people, however, use ridiculous things like this to identify aliens: [check] 1) Is the goo distinctly separate from its environment? In other words, does it keep its insides separate from its outsides? [check] 2) Does the goo use energy from its environment to maintain its parts and keep itself in good working order? [check] 3) Does the goo carry onboard the instructions it needs for building and repairing itself and to spawn new puddles of goo? If "yes" is the answer to all three questions, then the goo puddle is probably alive. Dr. Richard Hoover claimed he found alie life in meteorites. Hoover found bacteria-like creatures that he calls “indigenous fossils,” which he believes originated beyond Earth and were not introduced here after the meteorites landed. Hoover was latter disproved and he claimed to find aliens two times more and was, again, disproved. NASA has since distanced himself from him. There have been many claims like this but none have been proven. OUR galaxy may contain hundreds of thousands of life-bearing planets, according to a new estimate by Siegfried Franck.This could make the nearest inhabited twin of planet Earth as close as a few hundred light years away.Their estimate is also conservative in other respects. Based on theoretical arguments, the team assumed that only one per cent of all stars in the Milky Way is accompanied by Earth -like planets. ey also assumed that life will form and evolve on only one per cent of all habitable planets. But other researchers are sceptical. "It is a very good paper," says Donald Brownlee, an astronomer at the University of Washington in Seattle, "but we have no way to know if theTh estimate is good or not. We have no data." Other astronomers think the conclusions of Franck's team are premature.And there are other unknowns Franck has not taken into account. For instance, as Brownlee and others have suggested, a star's position in the Milky Way may play an important role in the development and sustenance of Earth -like planets and life. Planet hunters are people who search for planets that could be inhabitable or already have life life on them.
 * One is to send astronauts and/or spacecraft to other planets and test their water, soil, and rocks for microorganisms. This can only be done on planets and moons within our own solar system, because all other solar systems are too far away for spacecraft to travel.
 * A second way to seek alienlife is to study the light coming from planets circling distant stars using Earth-based telescopes. By looking at the type of light reflected by a far-away planet, astronomers can tell which chemicals are in its air. Some chemicals exist on Earth only because there is life here. Therefore, if some of those chemicals are present on other planets, you can tell if there is life there. This is difficult because the light reflected off of the planet is very difficult to tell from the light of its sun. However, they have started to make telescopes that can see the difference.
 * A third way to look for alienlife is to study rocks that have come from other planets. Some rocks have already come to Earth from Mars. In 1996, scientists with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that they had found tiny fossils in meteorites from Mars—proof that there is microscopic life on that planet. However, many scientists were not convinced. They thought it more likely that the marks had been made by non-living causes. Scientists are still studying the Martian rocks and still do not agree whether they contain proof of life on Mars. Most scientists think they do not.
 * __ Sources: __**
 * Biotechnology, 2007
 * "Exobiology." //The Columbia Encyclopedia//, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2000. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. []
 * New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand), November 9, 2011
 * Odyssey, November-December 2011 []
 * []
 * []
 * []