DailyDirt: Alien Lifeforms In Our Solar System

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

So far, we only have one example of life -- the biosphere of Earth. Our planet probably isn't unique in the universe, but compared to the other large objects in our solar system, Earth looks special. However, there are a few other spots in our solar system that could support life. It would be so nice to find another living neighbor -- as long as they kept to themselves after we meet them.

• Jupiter's moon, Europa, could harbor life in vast watery oceans beneath its icy crust. Europa's subsurface oceans hold roughly twice as much water (or more) as the Earth's oceans -- so there could be organisms similar to extremophiles that live near hydrothermal vents at the bottom of our oceans. [url]
• Life, but not as we know it, could potentially exist on Saturn's giant moon, Titan. There's a sea of liquid methane on Titan which would require a very different biochemistry -- but it's apparently not unthinkable that a theoretical cell membrane called an azotosome might exist. Or not. [url]
• Optimistic astrobiologists might be surprised to find lifeforms that are more complex than single-celled organisms. Newly discovered Antarctic crustaceans and fish living deep under a glacier in Lake Whillans provide an example of an unexpected thriving ecosystem that is almost completely isolated from the rest of our biosphere. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: antarctica, astrobiology, azotosome, biosphere, ecosystem, europa, extremophile, lake whillans, life, titan

DailyDirt: Imagine There's No Countries...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

If you've caught up on the Techdirt podcasts, you might have heard a brief mention of how Antarctica is split up and a bit of discussion on the possible ownership of the moon. The ownership of new lands will likely become a more important issue as the access to various inhospitable locations increases. Here are just a few links on claiming territories.

• The United Nations Outer Space Treaty states that no nation can claim ownership over the moon. However, there's some ambiguity in the treaty that might allow for private ownership, and there are already some people trying to stake claims -- with millions of acres of lunar property already bought/sold. [url]
• The ownership of land in Antarctica is a bit tricky and governed by the Antarctic Treaty which sets up the continent as a scientific reserve. Seven countries have claimed parts of Antarctica, with overlapping territories claimed by the United Kingdom, Chile and Argentina. [url]
• Denmark is claiming to own about half a million square miles of the North Pole (about 20 times the geographic size of the current Denmark) -- after spending over a decade and $50 million in research to support its claim to the UN. Five countries have a claim to parts of the North Pole: the US, Russia, Norway, Canada and Denmark. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: antarctica, geography, moon, north pole, south pole, space, space exploration, territory, treaties, united nations

P2P Banned In Antarctica?

from the seems-a-bit-extreme dept

We know that there's been an ongoing effort by entertainment industry lobbyists to convince politicians (and others) that file sharing and P2P apps are somehow to blame for stupid government staffers accidentally leaking files via those programs. Apparently the propaganda campaign has worked in at least one area: employees of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) were sent an alert that they need to stop using all P2P programs. The "scenarios" described in the note are the same ones that entertainment industry lobbying group Arts+Labs has been spewing for a few years now. However, rather than assume that the real lesson is that users should actually understand the software they're using on their computer, and make sure not to use it in a dumb way (such as exposing sensitive documents), the director of IT simply told everyone that while on Antarctica, they must disable any P2P apps on their computer. Hope no one there uses Skype to keep in touch with family...

Filed Under: antarctica, blame, file sharing, p2p