Skip to main content

We keep looking for aliens — but are aliens looking for us?


Could extraterrestrials find life on Earth? The question of whether or not life exists on other worlds suggests pondering if extraterrestrial beings might be able to find life on our home world. More than 4,500 exoplanets are currently known to astronomers, many of which were found as they orbited in front of their parent star as seen from Earth, dimming light from the stellar surface. “Let’s reverse the viewpoint to that of other stars and ask from which vantage point other observers could find Earth as a transiting planet,” Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University’s Carl Sagan…

This story continues at The Next Web

from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2HEUZfO

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

TNW Podcast: Boris comes over to co-host; Slack’s Cal Henderson talks European tech

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Andrii is joined by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder, member of the board, and former CEO of TNW. The topics discussed include the jobs created by Dutch startups, giant state funding for energy projects, translations of the word ‘computer’, and a bunch of other things in between. In the interview section, we’re featuring a conversation with Cal Henderson, co-founder and… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/jUgcNFD

The TickTime is a clever productivity gadget that just works

With so much of the world’s workforce shifting to remote labor, a whole lot of people are trying to figure out how to be productive at home for the first time. Well, I’ve been working from home for years, and I still haven’t totally figured out the puzzle. There are no shortage of apps designed to help you be more productive, but I’m not sure anything I’ve tried has had as much potential as a little gadget called the TickTime. The concept is simple but clever. If you’ve ever heard of the Pomodoro method, which asks you to work in… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/2ySFso4

Why is Venus so inhospitable? ESA launches new mission to find out

The European Space Agency (ESA) has embarked on a new mission to explore our closest planetary neighbour Venus in unprecedented detail.  Known as EnVision, the spacecraft will study Venus from the planet’s inner core to its outer atmosphere, to help astronomers understand why the scorching, toxic world is so different from Earth.  Work will begin on the spacecraft and its instruments later this year, following the selection of an industrial contractor. EnVision is set to launch on board an Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana in 2031.  “EnVision will answer longstanding open questions about Venus, arguably the… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web https://ift.tt/anZTFDP