Sagan’s “Cosmos” Getting a Sequel…on FOX?!?

In some very interesting news, the classic PBS documentary ‘Cosmos‘ starring Carl Sagan will be getting a sequel in 2013.

It will star Neil deGrasse Tyson, whom you may recognize from the PBS show NOVA scienceNOW!

Neil deGrasse Tyson. Photo: NASA/JPL

The new Cosmos show will be produced by ‘Family Guy’ creator Seth McFarlane, who is well known to be frustrated with the scientific literacy of the United States, or lack thereof.

What is especially interesting about this is that the special will be aired on FOX, which has never been known to support scientific literacy of its audience. Fox News in particular comes to mind…

Anyway I hope this actually goes through and we get to see it. It probably won’t top the old-school charm of the original ‘Cosmos’, but should be great nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

Alien Bacteria *Possibly* Discovered in Meteorite

It sounds too good to be true, especially since these kinds of claims have been made before.

But a paper published yesterday in the Journal of Cosmology by Dr. Richard Hoover, a NASA scientist who studies meteorites, claims to have discovered fossilized Cyanobacteria in a meteorite. His conclusion is that the fossils are not due to Earthly contamination, and that they are of a non-Earth origin, i.e. alien life.

Images of filaments found in a carbonaceous meteorite, believed to be fossilized bacteria - Dr. Riccardo Guerrero / Journal of Cosmology

The implications of such a discovery are huge. That is why the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cosmology has released a statement regarding this paper, saying that they will publish commentaries of the study by other experts:

Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis. Our intention is to publish the commentaries, both pro and con, alongside Dr. Hoover’s paper. In this way, the paper will have received a thorough vetting, and all points of view can be presented. No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough analysis, and no other scientific journal in the history of science has made such a profoundly important paper available to the scientific community, for comment, before it is published. We believe the best way to advance science, is to promote debate and discussion.

Of course we shouldn’t start celebrating the discovery of life from outer space just yet. It is indeed a very interesting discovery, but let’s hold our excitement until after a large number of other experts have had a chance to look over the results.

I’ll write more about this after I actually read the paper myself and hear the opinions of other experts in the field. But as Dr. David Marais, another NASA scientist, told FoxNews,

“It’s an extraordinary claim, and thus I’ll need extraordinary evidence,” Marais said.

Carl Sagan couldn’t have said it better himself,

What counts is not what sounds plausible, not what we would like to believe, not what one or two witnesses claim, but only what is supported by hard evidence rigorously and skeptically examined. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

UPDATE!

I’ve just written a second post about this topic. Not surprisingly, I’m more skeptical about this paper now. Check out my new post here.

Happy (Geeky) Valentine’s Day

Admittedly it is a bit late to purchase these valentines in time for, well, tonight. But damn it if they aren’t awesome.

These are for sale on Etsy and are done by Stephanie Burrows Fox. Great stuff Stephanie!

Happy Carl Sagan Day!

Yup, it’s the second annual Carl Sagan Day; honouring the life and work of the great Carl Sagan.

Not only did his books and TV shows get me interested in science, they did the same for a whole generation of people. In my own little way, I will honour his memory with a few awesome videos featuring Carl.

Mmmmm…apple pie.

The Universe, and every living thing, are made of star stuff.

Maybe we should all celebrate Carl Sagan Day like Sara Mayhew over at There Are Four Lights

Our Glorious Planet: As Seen From Mercury

I never ceases to amaze me just how massive the universe is.

Take for example, this photo of the Earth and our moon, taken from roughly 114 million miles away.

Image Courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Click on the image to wonderfully aggrandize (thank you Thesaurus.com).

The image was taken from a NASA mission called MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging). MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and has done 3 flybys of Mercury, on its way to be in a permanent orbit to study the planet in 2011.

It is truly humbling to see our planet as a tiny speck in the vastness of space.

As Carl Sagan would say: “One voice in the cosmic fugue.”

Carl Sagan on Family Guy

So, the last few days I’ve noticed a lot of people posting this Carl Sagan video:

I love Carl Sagan, so I thought I would share one of my favourite moments involving the famous scientist. His appearance on Family Guy: