SSLOI: May 2019

2019/05/24

SETI@home & Science Links on IRC 2019/05/24 https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/2019/05/setihome-science-links-on-irc-20190524.html RSS Feeds https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default http://feeds.feedburner.com/SETIathomeScienceIRClinks

"Men and Women wanted for a hazardous distributed computing Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Low wages, bitter false positives, long hours of data crunching, overheating CPU's and GPUs. Safe return doubtful without caffeinated beverages. Honour and recognition in event of technosignal detection." (adapted from the apocryphal newspaper ad made by famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton)

SETI@home is down? A check list https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/2019/04/is-setihome-down.html

Dr Eric Korpela, project scientist - 17 May 2019, 17:39:43 UTC "Happy Anniversary! On this date in 1999, SETI@home came online. Since then millions of our volunteers have helped us sift through petabytes of data from multiple radio telescopes. ET still hasn't shown up to the party. We're not discouraged. We're able to examine less than a tenth of a percent of the radio spectrum, over only 1/3 of the sky and a limited number of additional stars. But our capabilities are increasing every day. In 1999 it took up to a week to process a single workunit on a home PC. Now, on a machine with a GPU, it might only take a few minutes to do a far more detailed and more sensitive analysis. Who knows what the next 20 years will bring?"
https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=84213&postid=1994043

" In the deepest sense the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves." - Carl Sagan

SETI@home, the Alien-Hunting Project for the Nonscientist, Turns 20 - The Ringer https://www.theringer.com/tech/2019/5/24/18637942/seti-home-aliens-citizen-science-extraterrestrial-life-20th-anniversary

Updated agenda for the July 9-12 2019 BOINC Workshop in Chicago https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/lt/images/boinc/2019BOINCWorkshopAgenda.pdf https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/stat/workshop.action

Signal Simulator testing the BOINC Project. #gamedevelopment #gamedev #gamedesign #madewithunity #indiedev #indiegame #indiegames #makinggames #indiedevelopment #game #seti #nasa #ufo #aliens #scifi #gaming https://twitter.com/BlagoPenev/status/1128031073420623872 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB-fcEcIS2g

The BOINC NATION server on Discord has recently been disactivated, due to the lack of a meaningful participation from its 80+ members. Any further request for an invitation will not be honored. Sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused to the former members and contributors of BOINC NATION.

SETI@home server on Discord (beta test) https://discordapp.com/channels/580067621458673669/580067621924503555 Invite link https://discord.gg/W9whdq5

The SETI screensaver shows us what the internet could've been https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2019/04/28/the-seti-screensaver-shows-us-what-the-internet-couldve-been/

"To all explorers, we are just a dust particle in the universe; make it count." - Mendez & Gonzalez-Espada (2016)

SETI@home Sticker | TeePublic https://www.teepublic.com/sticker/181989-seti-at-home?product_id=1918&store_id=39290

BOINC Sticker by Loid | Redbubble https://www.redbubble.com/people/loid/works/8827076-boinc?p=sticker
6dollarshirts.com

Hacking SETI | SETI Institute https://www.seti.org/hacking-seti https://www.gnuradio.org/grcon/grcon19/

SETI Institute in the news April 25 EMay 1, 2019 | SETI Institute https://www.seti.org/seti-institute-news-april-25-may-1-2019 - Saturn ?SkimmerESpacecraft to Study Rings Up Close - US Navy to Issue New Guidelines on Reporting Unexplained Aerial Phenomena - Greetings from Earth Ea Bad Idea? -

Alien Contact: What Happens Next? - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTqLPvBz8xc

May 18th, 2019 - /r/GreatFilter: The Great Filter is the most urgent question Mankind has ever faced. It's the solution to the Fermi Paradox. The Great Filter is Robin Hanson's hypothesis there are no other technological civilizations (not even on Earth) because they die before they colonize a galaxy. The mission of r/GreatFilter is to raise awareness of the value and fragility of life, and thus the importance of peaceful colonization of space beyond Earth, one rock at a time. Is our destiny literally in our stars? subredditoftheday https://www.reddit.com/r/subredditoftheday/comments/bq38ya/may_18th_2019_rgreatfilter_the_most_urgent/

How Different Might an Alien Intelligence Be From Us? https://medium.com/predict/how-different-might-an-alien-intelligence-be-from-us-5aca920d1379

Robotic Space Explorer To Pursue Earth-Like Planets https://www.forbes.com/sites/billretherford/2019/05/09/robotic-space-explorer-to-pursue-elusive-earth-like-planets/

PANOSETI?- A Panoramic All-sky All-time Near InfraRed and Optical Technosignature Finder https://oirlab.ucsd.edu/PANOSETI.html

BBC - Future - If we made contact with aliens, how would religions react? http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161215-if-we-made-contact-with-aliens-how-would-religions-react

UC Berkeley SETI sur Twitter : "Congratulations to @Astro_Wright - recipient of the @SETIInstitute 2019 Drake Award, 2016 @brkthroughprize Listen Visiting Professor and Listen Advisory Board member. We talked to Jason about confirming weird signals and searching for alien megastructures: https://twitter.com/BerkeleySETI/status/1126921905871581187 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lqXc2ungX0

I am Jason Wright, the winner of the SETI Institute's 2019 Drake Award. AMA! : IAmA https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/bm753f/i_am_jason_wright_the_winner_of_the_seti/

Recipient of the @SETIInstitute 2019 Drake Award, 2016 @brkthroughprize Listen Award, Visiting Professor and Listen Advisory Board member Jason Wright talks about confirming weird signals and searching for alien megastructures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lqXc2ungX0

SETI Institute in the news May 8 (April 25 EMay 1, 2019) https://seti.org/seti-institute-news-april-25-may-1-2019

SETI Institute - May 15, 2019 - Where is the Origin of Life on Earth? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFSIT1KctRU

Who?s Out There-Microbes? - Astronaut https://astronaut.com/whos-out-there-microbes/

Advanced Civilizations Could be Communicating with Neutrino Beams. Transmitted by Clouds of Satellites Around Neutron Stars or Black Holes - Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com/142234/advanced-civilizations-could-be-communicating-with-neutrino-beams-transmitted-by-clouds-of-satellites-around-neutron-stars-or-black-holes/

Advanced Civilizations Could be Communicating with Neutrino Beams. Transmitted by Clouds of Satellites Around Neutron Stars or Black Holes - Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com/142234/advanced-civilizations-could-be-communicating-with-neutrino-beams-transmitted-by-clouds-of-satellites-around-neutron-stars-or-black-holes/

Starting Life on Another Planet EMany Worlds https://manyworlds.space/2019/05/17/starting-life-on-another-planet/

On Mars, Organics Are Hard to Find And now we know the reason why. | Daily Planet | Air & Space Magazine https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/mars-organics-are-hard-find-180972213/

Contemplating the stars | Columnists | grandrapidsmn.com https://www.grandrapidsmn.com/opinion/columnists/contemplating-the-stars/article_07ed7726-78be-11e9-b068-bf3b8398cf50.html

Figuring Out Whether Aliens Exist: Possible Resolutions to the Fermi Paradox https://interestingengineering.com/figuring-out-whether-aliens-exist-possible-resolutions-to-the-fermi-paradox

An Advanced Civilization Could Resist the Accelerating Expansion of the Universe https://medium.com/mit-technology-review/an-advanced-civilization-could-resist-the-accelerating-expansion-of-the-universe-2145eee93751

Is Life Inevitable? | Big Picture Science http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/is-life-inevitable

New Water Worlds | Big Picture Science http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/new-water-worlds

Enhanced Habitability on High Obliquity Bodies near the Outer Edge of the Habitable Zone of Sun-like Stars - Astrobiology http://astrobiology.com/2019/05/enhanced-habitability-on-high-obliquity-bodies-near-the-outer-edge-of-the-habitable-zone-of-sun-like.html

A Family Of Comets Reopens The Debate About the Origin Of Earth's Water - Astrobiology http://astrobiology.com/2019/05/a-family-of-comets-reopens-the-debate-about-the-origin-of-earths-water.html

Could There Be Life Without Carbon? (video) - Astrobiology http://astrobiology.com/2019/05/could-there-be-life-without-carbon-video.html

[1901.07756] Science Opportunities and Challenges Associated with SKA Big Data https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.07756

[1901.10551] A Critical Review on the Assumptions of SETI https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.10551

[1902.02426] Machine Vision and Deep Learning for Classification of Radio SETI Signals https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.02426

[1902.08035] Introduction: Detectability of Future Earth https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.08035

[1902.09985] Searching for Extraterrestrial Civilizations Using gamma Ray Telescopes https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.09985

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: 18 Earth-Sized Exoplanets Discovered https://www.astrowatch.net/2019/05/18-earth-sized-exoplanets-discovered.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AstroWatch+(Astro+Watch)

CITIZEN SCIENCE

World Community Grid : "Here's a #CitizenScience project for anyone interested in learning more about their (possibly unknown) roommates! Never Home Alone aims to document the species that live indoors with humans. https://twitter.com/WCGrid/status/1128734004524539905 https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/never-home-alone-the-wild-life-of-homes

SCIENCE

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: Massive Martian Ice Discovery Opens a Window into Red Planet’s History https://www.astrowatch.net/2019/05/massive-martian-ice-discovery-opens.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AstroWatch+(Astro+Watch)

Swarm of comet debris may raise chances of impacts on Earth https://www.skymania.com/wp/swarm-of-comet-debris-may-raise-chances-of-impacts-on-earth/

Phil Plait: How Can Mistakes Lead To Scientific Advancement? : NPR https://www.npr.org/2019/05/24/725516852/phil-plait-how-can-mistakes-lead-to-scientific-advancement?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=space

What Prevents Pluto's Ocean from Freezing? - Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-prevents-plutos-ocean-from-freezing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciam%2Fspace+%28Topic%3A+Space%29

Why You Can?t See Extrasolar Planets With Your Telescope | David Reneke | Space and Astronomy News https://www.davidreneke.com/why-you-cant-see-extrasolar-planets-with-your-telescope/

Scientists gear up to look for fossils on Mars | Astronomy.com http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/05/scientists-gear-up-to-look-for-fossils-on-mars?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+astronomy%2ForOJ+%28Astronomy.com+News+-+Presented+by+Astronomy+Magazine%29

SPACE

How an Inflating Universe Could Create a Multiverse | Space https://www.space.com/inflating-universe-could-create-multiverse.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

A Century of Gravity | Astronomy News https://nineplanets.org/news/a-century-of-gravity/

Was 'Oumuamua a Fragment from a Disintegrated Comet? - Sky & Telescope https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/oumuamua-comet-fragment/

How Dead Aliens Could Help Save Humanity | Space https://www.space.com/dead-intelligent-aliens-save-humanity.html

What Chang'e 4 learned from the moon's far side | Space | EarthSky https://earthsky.org/space/what-change-4-learned-from-the-moons-far-side

Astronomers prepare two space-borne tools that will investigate behemoth black holes | https://www.spaceanswers.com/deep-space/astronomers-prepare-two-space-borne-tools-that-will-investigate-behemoth-black-holes/

Want to send you name to Mars? Now's your chance - SpaceFlight Insider https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/nasa/want-to-send-you-name-to-mars-nows-your-chance/ https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/

Astronomy photo of the day: the reddest outer solar system object, Ultima Thule : https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190522.html

Don't Forget, Curiosity's Sister Rover is Flying to Mars in 2020 - Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com/142272/dont-forget-curiositys-sister-rover-is-flying-to-mars-in-2020/

[Scientific American] From the Lunar Far Side, China's Rover Reveals Moon's Hidden Depths http://rss.sciam.com/~r/ScientificAmerican-News/~3/MxdRVGdh9L0/ 2019-05-15T17:00:00

How some planets can survive their stars' deaths | Space | EarthSky https://earthsky.org/space/small-rocky-planets-most-likely-to-survive-star-death

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: CosmoGAN: Training a Neural Network to Study Dark Matter https://www.astrowatch.net/2019/05/cosmogan-training-neural-network-to.html

Caught Speeding: Illinois Patrol Cop Spies Blazing Fireball (Video) | Space https://www.space.com/bright-meteor-fireball-illinois-police-video-may-2019.html https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1172246082947768

Video: Fly over Curiosity's route on Mars | Space | EarthSky https://earthsky.org/space/video-fly-over-curiosity-mars-rover-route

Here's Three Free Posters to Celebrate NASA's Apollo Anniversaries (and Space.com's, Too!) | Space https://www.space.com/free-space-posters-celebrate-apollo-spacedotcom-anniversaries.html

Vulcan clears final review, could fly as early as 2021 - SpaceFlight Insider https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/ula/vulcan-clears-final-review-could-fly-as-early-as-2021/

Video: Fly over Curiosity's route on Mars | Space | EarthSky https://earthsky.org/space/video-fly-over-curiosity-mars-rover-route

More Details Emerge About Artemis ESpacePolicyOnline.com https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/more-details-emerge-about-artemis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Spacepolicyonline+%28SpacePolicyOnline+News%29

SpaceX postpones Starlink launch to update satellite software ESpaceflight Now https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/05/17/spacex-postpones-starlink-launch-to-update-satellite-software/

SpaceX releases new details on Starlink satellite design ESpaceflight Now https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/05/15/spacex-releases-new-details-on-starlink-satellite-design/

NASA taps Blue Origin and 10 other companies for moon lander projects EGeekWire https://www.geekwire.com/2019/nasa-taps-blue-origin-10-companies-work-moon-lander-studies-prototypes/

Apollo Moon landing: The 13 minutes that defined a century - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48232627

There's a Hole in Mars' Atmosphere that Spits Hydrogen into Space https://www.livescience.com/65470-strange-martian-water-cycle.html

Space Mining Could Ruin Our Solar System If We Don't Establish Protected Places Now, Researchers Warn https://www.livescience.com/65472-scientists-propose-solar-system-national-park.html

From Big Bang to Present: Snapshots of Our Universe Through Time https://www.livescience.com/65471-photo-timeline-big-bang.html

A Star in the Big Dipper Is an Alien Invader https://www.livescience.com/65452-weirdo-star-from-another-galaxy.html

Inside Giant Atom Smasher, Physicists See the Impossible: Light Interacting with Light https://www.livescience.com/65320-photons-interact.html

Space Mining Could Ruin Our Solar System If We Don't Establish Protected Places Now, Researchers Warn https://www.livescience.com/65472-scientists-propose-solar-system-national-park.html

Something Appears to Have Ripped a Huge Hole in the Milky Way and Scientists Don?t Know What https://www.newsweek.com/huge-hole-ripped-milky-way-1426920

[Ars Technica - Science] Wandering Earth: Rocket scientist explains how we could move our planet https://arstechnica.com/?p=1507409 2019-05-18T15:30:43

NASA?s full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/nasas-full-artemis-plan-revealed-37-launches-and-a-lunar-outpost/

Pluto has an underground ocean kept warm by a layer of gassy ice | New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2203696-pluto-has-an-underground-ocean-kept-warm-by-a-layer-of-gassy-ice/

Bad Astronomy | What astronomers mean by 'rubble pile asteroids' | SYFY WIRE https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/what-astronomers-mean-by-rubble-pile-asteroids

Q&A: Why Rockets Use Stages ESKY LIGHTS http://sky-lights.org/2019/05/20/qa-why-rockets-use-stages/

Moon Blobs, Collapsars and Long Planets : A roundup of recent research with astrobiological implications - Scientific American Blog Network https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/moon-blobs-collapsars-and-long-planets/

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: ALMA Discovers Aluminum around Young Star https://www.astrowatch.net/2019/05/alma-discovers-aluminum-around-young.html

NASA Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results https://scitechdaily.com/nasa-publishes-first-kuiper-belt-flyby-science-results/

[Scientific American] How Wild Should We Let the Solar System Be? http://rss.sciam.com/~r/ScientificAmerican-News/~3/BlraYpZlNnU/ 2019-05-21T12:00:00

Apollo Astronauts, in Their Own Words | DiscoverMagazine.com http://discovermagazine.com/2019/jun/apollo-in-their-own-words

How SpaceX's Starlink Internet Satellites Could Help Humanity Colonize Mars | Space https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-internet-satellites-mars-colonization.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

LRO identifies crash site of Beresheet lander - SpaceFlight Insider https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/commercial/lro-identifies-crash-site-of-beresheet-lander/

Want to send you name to Mars? Now's your chance - SpaceFlight Insider https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/nasa/want-to-send-you-name-to-mars-nows-your-chance/ https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/

A suspected meteor lights up the night sky over Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay (Supplied: Martha Cove Owners Corporation) - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-22/a-suspected-meteor-ignites-the-night-sky-over/11137696

U.S. launch companies not worried about Chinese competition - SpaceNews.com https://spacenews.com/u-s-launch-companies-not-worried-about-chinese-competition/

Comparing Space and Cyber Governance in Multilateral Forums and U.S. Policy Initiatives | Secure World https://swfound.org/news/all-news/2019/05/comparing-space-and-cyber-governance-in-multilateral-forums-and-us-policy-initiatives/

TED 2019: The start-ups launching in space - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47885259

LightSail Launch Event | The Planetary Society http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2019/lightsail-2-launch-event-preliminary-plans.html

Chang'e-4 Lander and its Rover Have Turned up new Mysteries on the Moon's far side. The Moon's Mantle Blasted Onto the Surface? - Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com/142247/change-4-lander-and-its-rover-have-turned-up-new-mysteries-on-the-moons-far-side-the-moons-mantle-blasted-onto-the-surface/

NASA Puts Mars 2020 Rover's Space Ride to the Test (Photo) | Space https://www.space.com/mars-2020-rover-spacecraft-test-photo.html

NASA's Mars Rover 2020 Mission in Pictures (Gallery) | Space https://www.space.com/21900-nasa-mars-rover-2020-images.html

NASA's Grand Plan for a Lunar Gateway Is to Start Small | Space https://www.space.com/nasa-lunar-gateway-start-small.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

SpaceX's 60-Satellite Launch Is Just the Beginning for Ambitious Starlink Project | Space https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-launch-just-beginning.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

The LPI?s Lunar South Pole Atlas EA New Online Reference for Mission Planners EParabolic Arc http://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/05/20/lpis-lunar-south-pole-atlas-online-reference-mission-planners/

The GMT, Next-Gen Megascope for Astronomy, Takes Shape on Chilean Mountaintop | Space https://www.space.com/giant-magellan-telescope-construction-chile.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

Radio Pulsars: How Slow Do They Go? | astrobites https://astrobites.org/2019/05/20/radio-pulsars-how-slow-do-they-go/

New Horizons: Results and Interpretations https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2019/05/21/new-horizons-results-and-interpretations/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+centauri-dreams%2Feepu+%28Centauri+Dreams%29

SCIENCE

There's a Brand-New Kilogram, And It's Based on Quantum Physics | Space https://www.space.com/new-kilogram.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

ST40 has been rebuilt and successfully operated in our new facility ? Tokamak Energy https://www.tokamakenergy.co.uk/st40-has-been-rebuilt-and-successfully-operated-in-our-new-facility/

Improving Molecular Imaging Using a Deep Learning Approach - Tech Briefs https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/1198-tb/stories/news/34492-improving-molecular-imaging-using-a-deep-learning-approach?Itemid=690

Humans causing shrinking of nature as larger animals die off | Environment | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/23/humans-causing-shrinking-of-nature-as-larger-animals-die-off

New Studies Increase Confidence in NASA's Measure of Earth's Temperature - SpaceRef http://spaceref.com/earth/new-studies-increase-confidence-in-nasas-measure-of-earths-temperature.html

[NPR - Science] The 2019 Hurricane Season Will Be 'Near Normal.' But Normal Can Be Devastating https://www.npr.org/2019/05/23/726207697/the-2019-hurricane-season-will-be-near-normal-but-normal-can-be-devastating?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=science 2019-05-23T17:13:33

[Ars Technica - Science] NASA officially orders its first segment of a lunar space station https://arstechnica.com/?p=1510185 2019-05-23T21:26:11

[BBC - Science & Environment] SpaceX puts up 60 internet satellites https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48289204 2019-05-24T02:40:44

[Reuters] Procrastinating genius: did da Vinci have attention disorder? http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/yHA0SfCPWpc/procrastinating-genius-did-da-vinci-have-attention-disorder-idUSKCN1ST2U8 2019-05-23T19:12:06

Could Fundamental Constants Be Neither Fundamental nor Constant? | Inside Science https://www.insidescience.org/news/could-fundamental-constants-be-neither-fundamental-nor-constant

Canadian scientists figure out how to preserve vaccines without refrigeration Ea potential public-health game changer | National Post https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-scientists-figure-out-how-to-preserve-vaccines-without-refrigeration-a-potential-public-health-game-changer

Sam Harris: "Can we build AI without losing control over it?" (transcript) https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_can_we_build_ai_without_losing_control_over_it/transcript

" Can we build AI without losing control over it? Unfortunately, I don't have a solution to this problem apart from recommending that more of us think about it. I think we need something like a Manhattan Project on the topic of artificial intelligence, not to build it because I think we'll inevitably do that, but to to understand how to avoid an arms race and to build it in a way that is aligned with our interests. When you're talking about a super intelligent AI that can make changes to itself, it seems that we only have one chance to get the initial conditions right. And even then, we will need to absorb the economic and political consequences of getting them right. But the moment we admit that information processing is the source of intelligence, that some appropriate computational system is what the basis of intelligence is and we admit that we will improve these systems continuously, then we have to admit that we're in the process of building some sort of God. Now would be a good time to make sure it's a God we can live with." - Sam Harris

PhysOrg: Researchers replace the genes of E. coli bacteria with synthesized genome -> https://phys.org/news/2019-05-genes-coli-bacteria-genome.html

'This Is Very Hard': SpaceX Is Trying to Launch 60 Starlink Internet Satellites Into Space?Here's How to Watch Live https://www.newsweek.com/very-hard-spacex-launch-60-starlink-internet-satellites-space-1426942

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: Russian Scientists Propose Building Astrophysical Observatories on the Moon in Early 2030s https://www.astrowatch.net/2019/05/russian-scientists-propose-building.html

[Ars Technica - Science] X-rays reveal the colors of a 3 million-year-old fossil mouse https://arstechnica.com/?p=1508431 2019-05-21T17:45:46

[Ars Technica - Science] For the fifth year in a row, a named storm has formed early in the Atlantic https://arstechnica.com/?p=1508539 2019-05-21T13:25:12

[NPR - Science] To Safely Study Volcanoes, Scientists Bring The Blast To Them https://www.npr.org/2019/05/21/724994967/to-safely-study-volcanoes-scientists-bring-the-blast-to-them

Sci-Am: 11 Cool Things You Never Knew about Fireflies -> https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/11-cool-things-you-never-knew-about-fireflies/

Sci-Am: Rescue Drones Need to Learn How Lost Humans Think -> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rescue-drones-need-to-learn-how-lost-humans-think/

Plastic leachates impair growth and oxygen production in Prochlorococcus , the ocean?s most abundant photosynthetic bacteria | Communications Biology https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-019-0410-x

Navy Plans to Document UFO Sightings, But Keep Them Confidential https://www.livescience.com/65387-navy-ufo-sightings.html

UFO believers got one thing right. Here's what they get wrong | SETI Institute https://seti.org/ufo-believers-got-one-thing-right-heres-what-they-get-wrong

WhatsApp discovers 'targeted' surveillance attack - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48262681

NASA Honors William Shatner with Distinguished Public Service Medal https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-honors-william-shatner-with-distinguished-public-service-medal

Maggot sausage and insect ice cream can help feed world, scientist says - CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/02/health/insect-ice-cream-maggot-sausage-trnd/index.html

2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: Is the Universe a Simulation? - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgSZA3NPpBs

[Reuters] Trump seeks extra $1.6 billion in NASA spending to return to moon by 2024 http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/uzQdwZyguS4/trump-seeks-extra-1-6-billion-in-nasa-spending-to-return-to-moon-by-2024-idUSKCN1SJ2FG 2019-05-14T00:35:07

SF / JG Ballard - BBC - Culture - How the near-near-future became our greatest horror http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190513-how-the-near-near-future-became-our-greatest-horror

BBC - Future - The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

When misinformation leads to death threats - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-48261087/when-misinformation-online-leads-to-death-threats

BBC - Future - What would it mean for AI to have a soul??To ask whether it?s even possible, we first must understand and define what a soul actually is, argues Brandon Ambrosino http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180615-can-artificial-intelligence-have-a-soul-and-religion

BBC - Future - How and why did religion evolve? http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190418-how-and-why-did-religion-evolve

BBC - Future - Why we need to reinvent democracy for the long-term http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190318-can-we-reinvent-democracy-for-the-long-term

BBC - Future - The lifespans of ancient civilisations http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190218-the-lifespans-of-ancient-civilisations-compared

BBC - Future - Are we on the road to civilisation collapse? http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190218-are-we-on-the-road-to-civilisation-collapse

BBC - Future - The perils of short-termism: Civilisation?s greatest threat http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190109-the-perils-of-short-termism-civilisations-greatest-threat

CNN: Breaking down the robocall epidemic -> http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/xgAHFdDb-cY/how-robocalls-work-explainer-orig.cnn-business

[BBC - Science & Environment] Bedbugs survived the dinosaur extinction event https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48274090 2019-05-16T15:04:47

The universe may be a billion years younger than we thought. Scientists are scrambling to figure out why. https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/universe-may-be-billion-years-younger-we-thought-scientists-are-ncna1005541

From physics to data science | symmetry magazine https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/from-physics-to-data-science?utm_source=main_feed_click&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=main_feed&utm_content=click

OTHERS

This Weird Meteorite Crashed Through a Doghouse in Costa Rica. (The Dog's Fine) | Space https://www.space.com/clay-meteorite-that-fell-through-doghouse-recovered.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

To Stay Sane at Work, Try Taking Microvacations https://curiosity.com/topics/to-stay-sane-at-work-try-taking-microvacations-curiosity?utm_campaign=daily-digest&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email

[NYT - Space] Stanton T. Friedman, Scientist Who Tracked U.F.O.s, Dies at 84 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/obituaries/stanton-friedman-dead.html

FoxNews: Mars colonists ?will become super-mutants with cancer-immune skinEEbut could die ?if they mate with EarthlingsE scientist warns https://www.foxnews.com/science/mars-colonists-will-become-super-mutants-with-cancer-immune-skin-but-could-die-if-they-mate-with-earthlings-scientist-warns

Lunacy: how science fiction is powering the new moon rush | Books | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/a-new-chapter-in-space-travel-why-science-fiction-is-powering-a-moon-rush

"Imagine..." - our attitudes can change solely by the power of imagination https://www.cbs.mpg.de/1169283/20190506-1

Former FBI Director Wrote Scathing ?X-FilesEReview in Newly Released Letter https://www.newsweek.com/x-files-review-season-5-fbi-director-deloach-hoover-mccarthyism-1429276

Fake news travels six times faster than the truth on Twitter | New Scientist https://www.newscientist.com/article/2163226-fake-news-travels-six-times-faster-than-the-truth-on-twitter/

Could Blockchain Tech Launch Spacefaring Nations Into a Data-Sharing Frontier | Space https://www.space.com/blockchain-for-space-cooperation.html

BBC - Culture - The 1968 sci-fi that spookily predicted today http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190509-the-1968-sci-fi-that-spookily-predicted-today

AI/Machine Learning in the Enterprise Just Became Much More Challenging https://towardsdatascience.com/ai-machine-learning-in-the-enterprise-just-became-much-more-challenging-9e62feef768c

Chatbots were the next big thing: what happened? EThe Startup EMedium https://medium.com/swlh/chatbots-were-the-next-big-thing-what-happened-5fc49dd6fa61

Chatbots were the next big thing: what happened? EThe Startup EMedium https://medium.com/swlh/chatbots-were-the-next-big-thing-what-happened-5fc49dd6fa61

Is AI a threat to Democracy?? ETowards Data Science https://towardsdatascience.com/is-ai-a-threat-to-democracy-4bef3e5fcfdd

Scientists Want to Make a Movie Out of Your Dreams EElemental https://elemental.medium.com/scientists-want-to-make-a-movie-out-of-your-dreams-8a3e62227e63

?TamagotchiEDigital Pets Make A Nostalgic Return on May 13 EVariety https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/tamagotchi-on-bandai-1203193932/

Navy Plans to Document UFO Sightings, But Keep Them Confidential https://www.livescience.com/65387-navy-ufo-sightings.html

Why Is the Indian Army Tweeting About Yetis? https://www.livescience.com/65362-indian-army-yeti-tweet.html

Giant Bird That Killed Its Owner Heads to Auction https://www.livescience.com/65335-cassowary-auction.html

Professor Brian Cox explains the universe as we know it in one hour - with some help from Eric Idle : "The Entire Universe" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozUST2136R0

The-Convo: Cyber attacks are rewriting the 'rules' of modern warfare Eand we aren't prepared for the consequences -> http://theconversation.com/cyber-attacks-are-rewriting-the-rules-of-modern-warfare-and-we-arent-prepared-for-the-consequences-117043

CNN: Crazy history of the 'Back to the Future' car -> http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/MeZiMK8gfQI/index.html

[NPR - Science] How To Help A Kid Survive Early Puberty https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/16/715291510/how-to-help-a-kid-survive-early-puberty?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=science 2019-05-16T09:41:27

TechXplore: New machine learning algorithm can predict age and gender from just your Twitter profile -> https://techxplore.com/news/2019-05-machine-algorithm-age-gender-twitter.html

FoxNews: Kurt Vonnegut museum raises $1.5M for new Indianapolis home -> https://www.foxnews.com/us/kurt-vonnegut-museum-raises-1-5m-for-new-indianapolis-home

[SANS ISC News] Adobe Patches Over 80 Vulnerabilities in Acrobat Products (SecurityWeek) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Securityweek/~3/LNSxu8zLmJk/adobe-patches-over-80-vulnerabilities-acrobat-products

[Scientific American] Can You Prevent Pregnancy with the Pullout Method? http://rss.sciam.com/~r/ScientificAmerican-News/~3/5nNkXY2QbYY/ 2019-05-16T17:30:00

LULZ : Thomas Castello, A Dulce Base whistleblower - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gSKPz52cVw
"Dulce Base is an alleged secret alien underground facility under Archuleta Mesa on the Colorado-New Mexico border near the town of Dulce, New Mexico in the United States. According to Thomas Castello, a former Dulce base security officer -- this particular under-world city is a highly secret base operated by humans as well as reptilian aliens and their worker cast, the commonly encountered Grey aliens."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/german-crossbow-victims-were-part-of-medieval-sex-cult

Echonomist - Grace (Original Mix) [microCastle] - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riAEFCx0Pfg

Higgs boson walks into a church, and the priest says, 'I'm sorry we don't allow Higgs bosons to come to churches.' And [the Higgs] says, 'But without me, you can't have mass...

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2019/05/17

SETI, SETI@home (and coffee) quotes

SETI, SETI@home (and coffee) quotes
------------------------------------------------------

-=o=- -=o=- -=o=- 'o//

Richard's Maneuver: "I also had problems accessing the SETI@home website, with - apparently - the Cloudflare service failing to get me a secure connection and giving me a 'forbidden' plain http connection instead. So I went out to the pub, and it was fine when I got back."

<Ageless> (about the SETI@home 20th Anniversary t-shirts https://i.imgur.com/EZPhX3Y.jpg) Nice good quality shirts. Just those confusing little white specks [nftr: the t-shirt's stars] on there make me think I have dandruff where I don't. :-)

"To all explorers, we are just a dust particle in the universe; make it count." - Méndez & González-Espada (2016)
Bad Religion - "Hello Cruel World" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GLVDRWVPtA

"The probability of success is difficult to estimate, but if we never search, the chance of success is zero." - Philip Morrison & Guiseppe Cocconi, Nature, 1959

"All this fear mongering of aliens in movies, this is not from any actual knowledge of aliens, it's from actual knowledge of humans." - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

“I don’t think you can ask the question of life beyond Earth and stop at microbes.” - Jill Tarter in "University research center will search for extraterrestrial intelligence" https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/university-research-center-will-search-extraterrestrial-intelligence

"I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with great caution." - Wernher Von Braun

<ProzacAddict> Would you like your coffee small large or intravenous ?

Ah, morning. First, coffee. Then, adulting.

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.

Why, yes, I could start my day without coffee. But I like being able to remember things like how to say words and put on pants

Shhhh, don’t disturb me, I’m busy changing coffee into badassery

I don’t have enough coffee or middle fingers for today

My time-travel machine is instant coffee in a microwave oven.

"The difference between seing nothing but a pebble and reading the history of the Cosmos inscribed inside it is Science." - Ann Druyan https://www.instagram.com/p/BvzENmghUZA/

"You can’t kill a legend with anything as mundane as facts." - Molecular biologist Ross Barnett

“In the deepest sense the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves.” – Carl Sagan

“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in telepathy? — in ancient astronauts? — in the Bermuda triangle? — in life after death? No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no. One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst out "Don't you believe in anything?" "Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.” -- Isaac Asimov

“The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” - Carl Sagan, Contact

“We, all of us, are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolves for so long that it begins to ask where it came from.” - Jill Tarter

“Thinking about SETI requires us to abandon all our presuppositions about the nature of life, mind, civilization, technology and community destiny. In short, it means thinking the unthinkable.” - Paul Davies, The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence

“Your story -my story, our story- began billions of years ago," she says. "But that probably doesn't come first to your mind when you wake up in the morning." A pause fills the air-conditioned room. "We need to change that." [...] "We are intimately connected with these faraways times and faraways places," she continues, "because it takes a cosmos to make a human" - Sarah Scoles, Making Contact: Jill Tarter and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

“One thing we’ve learned in the last 500 years of astronomy: Every time we thought we were a miracle, we were wrong.” - Bill Retherford, Little Green Men

“Indeed, much of Tarter’s pitch, whether at speaking engagements or within SETI promotional materials, has a soaring, cinematic feel. Among her most captivating lines: “We are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolve for so long that it begins to ask where it came from. This is us, contemplating ourselves.” - Bill Retherford, Little Green Men

“The conflict came to a boil in October 2006, at a SETI meeting in Valencia, Spain, where there was a debate over active SETI and a contentious vote over new guidelines for initiating broadcasts from Earth. Later that month, Nature published a scolding editorial criticizing the SETI community for a lack of openness. According to the Nature editors, the risk posed by active SETI is real. It is not obvious that all extraterrestrial civilizations will be benign—or that contact with even a benign one would not have serious repercussions for people here on Earth… yet the Valencia meeting voted against trying to set up any process for deliberating over the style or content of any spontaneous outgoing messages. In effect, anyone with a big enough dish can appoint themselves ambassador for Earth. The SETI community should assess [the risks] in a discussion that is open and transparent enough for outsiders to listen to and, if so moved, to actively participate. As a lifelong SETI enthusiast, I found it disconcerting to see the field so publicly chewed out.” - David Grinspoon, Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future

“I began to see this as a series of dilemmas nested like Russian dolls. Can today’s SETI community agree on a policy about active SETI? Even if collectively forged and broadly ratified, would such an agreement actually control or change global behavior, as perceived from the outside? How would you get everyone to go along? Can human society in some sense agree on active SETI? Should we, as a species, cautiously try to hide our presence, or hopefully announce ourselves to the universe?” - David Grinspoon, Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future

“Way back, about a century ago, physicist Enrico Fermi and his colleagues, taking a lunch break from the Manhattan Project, found themselves discussing life in the cosmos. Some younger scientists claimed that amid trillions of stars there should be countless living worlds inhabited by intelligent races, far older than ours. How interesting the future might be, with others to talk to! Fermi listened patiently, then asked: “So? Shouldn’t we have heard their messages by now? Seen their great works? Or stumbled on residue of past visits? These wondrous others … where are they?” His question has been called the Great Silence, the SETI Dilemma or Fermi Paradox. And as enthusiasts keep scanning the sky, the galaxy’s eerie hush grows more alarming.” - David Brin, Existence

“Ultimately there may be no completely rational basis on which to decide. We can discuss probabilities and scenarios and continue to gather evidence, but the decision whether or not to make ourselves known may come down to what kind of universe we think we’re living in. I still feel that we cannot be frightened of the universe. I believe that we should start pursuing active SETI, reaching out to our space brethren and sistren, letting them know they are not alone and seeing if we can spark some cosmic conversation. There is no way to defend ourselves from, or hide from, some superadvanced entity that means to do us” - David Grinspoon, Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future

“In 1961, Frank Drake hosted the first SETI conference at Green Bank. There were only eleven in attendance, including Philip Morrison; Carl Sagan; Melvin Calvin (who, during this conference, received a call awarding him a Nobel Prize!); astronomer Su-Shu Huang, who invented the notion of habitable zones around stars; and neuroscientist John Lilly. Swept up in optimism and camaraderie, the participants formed a whimsical organization called the Order of the Dolphin, after Lilly’s work toward communicating with these sleek, bright creatures who seemed to encourage our hope for conversing with other intelligent species.” - David Grinspoon, Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future

“My conclusion is a startling one. I think it very likely—in fact inevitable—that biological intelligence is only a transitory phenomenon, a fleeting phase in the evolution of intelligence in the universe. If we ever encounter extraterrestrial intelligence, I believe it is overwhelmingly likely to be post-biological in nature, a conclusion that has obvious and far-reaching ramifications for SETI.” - Paul Davies, The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence

“In the deepest sense the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves.” – Carl Sagan,

“Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of the billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things within that enormous immensity.” - Werner von Braun

“If it is just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” – Carl Sagan

“I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” – Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

"In very different ways, the possibility that the universe is teeming with life, and the opposite possibility that we are totally alone, are equally exciting. Either way, the urge to know more about the universe seems to me irresistible, and I cannot imagine that anybody of truly poetic sensibility could disagree.” - Richard Dawkins

“It is possible that the future of human civilization depends on the receipt of interstellar messages.” – Carl Sagan

“In our time this search [for extraterrestrial life] will eventually change our laws, our religions, our philosophies, our arts, our recreations, as well as our sciences. Space, the mirror, waits for life to come look for itself there.“ — Ray Bradbury

“It is unnatural in a large field to have only one shaft of wheat, and in the infinite Universe only one living world.“ — Metrodorus of Chios

“The key to SETI is to guess the type of communication that an alien society would use. The best guesses so far have been that they would use radio waves, and that they would choose a frequency based on ‘universal’ knowledge—for instance, the 1420 MHz hydrogen frequency. But these are assumptions formulated by the human brain. Who knows what sort of logic a superadvanced nonhuman life form might use? … Just 150 years ago, an eyeblink in history, radio waves themselves were inconceivable, and we were thinking of lighting fires to signal the Martians.“ — David E. Fisher

“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” – Arthur C. Clarke

“To consider the Earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field sown with millet, only one grain will grow.” — Metrodorus of Chios, 4th century BCE

“A single message from space will show that it is possible to live through technological adolescence… It is possible that the future of human civilization depends on the receipt of interstellar messages.” — Carl Sagan, ‘The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.’, Smithsonian magazine, May 1978

“Why a journey into space? Because science is now learning that the infinite reaches of our universe probably teem with as much life and adventure as Earth's own oceans and continents. Our galaxy alone is so incredibly vast that the most conservative mathematical odds still add up to millions of planets almost identical to our own — capable of life, even intelligence and strange new civilizations. Alien beings that will range from the fiercely primitive to the incredibly exotic intelligence which will far surpass Mankind. (The Hollywood Reporter, Sept. 8, 1966)” - Gene Roddenberry

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2019/05/11

SETI@home & Science Links on IRC 2019/05/11

SETI@home & Science Links on IRC 2019/05/11 https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/2019/05/setihome-science-links-on-irc-20190511.html RSS Feeds https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default http://feeds.feedburner.com/SETIathomeScienceIRClinks

" Men and Women wanted for a hazardous distributed computing Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Low wages, bitter false positives, long hours of data crunching, overheating CPU's and GPUs. Safe return doubtful without caffeinated beverages. Honour and recognition in event of technosignal detection.” (adapted from the apocryphal newspaper ad made by famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton)

SETI@home is down? A check list https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/2019/04/is-setihome-down.html

“In the deepest sense the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves.” – Carl Sagan

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2019/05/06

SETI@home & Science Links on IRC 2019/05/06

SETI@home & Science Links on IRC 2019/05/06 https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/2019/05/setihome-science-links-on-irc-20190506.html or https://preview.tinyurl.com/SSLOI | RSS Feeds : https://setiathomeirclinks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default or http://feeds.feedburner.com/SETIathomeScienceIRClinks

“ Men and Women wanted for a hazardous distributed computing Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Low wages, bitter false positives, long hours of data crunching, overheating CPU's and GPUs. Safe return doubtful without caffeinated beverages. Honour and recognition in event of technosignal detection.” (adapted from the apocryphal newspaper ad made by famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton)