Exploration is an oft-lauded human activity, and one that resonates in the same way that music and good stories do. It’s hard-wired into our species (and into many others), no doubt because it has survival value. Exploration occasionally rewards those who accept its risks, usually with new resources. Seth Shostak Read Quote
The total number of people that do a job that has the same description as mine in the entire world is fewer than 10. There’s a lot of effort looking for life in space – that’s a lot of what NASA does, but they’re not necessarily looking for the kind of life that can hold up its side of a conversation. Seth Shostak Read Quote
There’s no doubt that the Moon is more than a handy night light and a hair restorer for werewolves. It’s responsible for the substantial amplitude of earthly ocean tides. These are of obvious influence if you’re a geoduck, a type of clam that people dig up at low tide. Seth Shostak Read Quote
Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back into the atmosphere. Without this slow speed carbon cycle, Earth’s temperatures would cool dozens of degrees below your comfort zone. Seth Shostak Read Quote
We’re not just any star stuff, most of which is humdrum hydrogen and listless helium. Our bodies include fancier ingredients like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, and a few other herbs and spices. Seth Shostak Read Quote
Lamentably, alien audiences may be frustrated by the switch to digital television. That’s because the transmitter power for DTV is fairly evenly spread across the spectrum. The spikiness is gone, and from afar, the attention-grabbing squeals of analog television’s carriers have been replaced by DTV’s smooth, low hiss. Seth Shostak Read Quote
