holy heck do ya think they may actually think about disclousre next?
nah.. :( me neither..but we can always hope :D
http://news.msn.com/offbeat/this-alien-hearing-is-the-best-thing-congress-has-done-in-months
This alien hearing is the best thing Congress has done in months
19 hr ago By Abby Ohlheiser of The Wire
Congress talked about the search for alien life Wednesday,
in a hearing critics lambasted as unproductive.
But astrobiology is about more than just little green men.
The House science committee carved out two hours of time on Wednesday to discuss the search for extraterrestrial life. Because the House has just seven days of work left before the end of the year, this hearing idea has generated some pretty harsh criticism. But laments about an unproductive Congress finding time to look for aliens of all things are sadly misguided. Today's hearing is a great idea, and it's doing something remarkable: getting the Republican-led, scientifically challenged committee to seriously discuss an important field of research — and the funding needed to keep it going. So stop making fun of it.
To be clear, today's hearing is not about tinfoil hats, nor is it a call for the Obama administration to release the full contents of the X-Files, which totally exist. It's titled "Astrobiology: The Search for Biosignatures in our Solar System and Beyond." It features testimony from astrobiologists from NASA, MIT, and the Library of Congress. For comparison, here are some other recent hearing topics from the committee chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texan who, among other things, is a climate change skeptic: "Is My Data on Healthcare.gov Secure?," "Strengthening Transparency and Accountability within the Environmental Protection Agency," and "EPA Power Plant Regulations: Is the Technology Ready?"
Related: Study: 8.8 billion Earth-sized just-right planets
Astrobiology is a pretty broad category of study, but it includes the search for earth-like exoplanets beyond our solar system, and the identification of possible biosignatures on other worlds, including Mars. But the research also includes significant work close to home, including research into the past, present and future of life on Earth. Unsurprisingly, that research, and the technology used to complete it, has a cornucopia of very practical applications. Astrobiology technology, for example, was used to locate and map out the plume from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, something NASA's Dr. Mary A. Voytek mentioned in her testimony today.
It's really cool stuff, and has produced a series of exciting discoveries in recent years: before the Kepler spacecraft ended its planet-hunting mission, it collected years of data that indicates there are billions of earth-like planets in the milky way alone. Just yesterday, NASA announced that the Hubble telescope traced signatures of water in the atmospheres of five different planets, orbiting nearby stars. But the research leading to these discoveries are exactly the sorts of programs that the agency might cut if the sequestration is still around in early 2014.
As The Alantic explained earlier today, those cuts would likely kill the still-active Cassani mission to learn about nearby planets. The Planetary Society is in the middle of an urgent campaign to lobby Congress to stop those cuts. In the meantime, there are some worrying reports coming from NASA on the near future of the search for other planets:
It looks like they want to kill off NASA and buy thier information from the Chinese like they do every thing else. How the mighty have fallen. In 10 years NASA might be just a memory. Even though NASA has its problems, I would rather have them then congress any day. NASA puts a lot of people to work. Congress puts them out.
Even your ole Deuem did a little work for NASA in my school days and it helped to pay for my schooling a bit. Even better it was not stupid work, it was alway very technical and hard to do. Made one think.
Deuem
Deuem, has the possibility that this planet is being manipulated beyond country boundaries been given much probability in Your sight? I say it was not "Americans" that allowed this area to prosper as it did, but the initial freedom that was in the spirit that was grown here. But I also say They are trying to squash that freedom like the octopus I saw on the patch in that other thread.
I am merely trying to steer the ship to a different destination. [smile]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJHnMicpS2Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJHnMicpS2Q
Maybe?
I don't think it's a possibility, It is real. Of cource they play the game on the world board. That's how life works for the elites. We are the humble rubble at the bottom. Don't you know that yet? They need the slaves to row the boat. And before you say it. "Free Energy" We know! :D ;D
Now, is some other power pulling thier puppet strings? Maybe, How far up do the strings go is what forums are for. Everyone is trying to find that out and cut them. Are we growing up?
Now if I can only start that TAP with giving me free beer and wine, At least I will be a happy camper. lol :-* , Deuem
Well, Deuem, I foresee a day when EVERYONE may, if They CHOOSE, have a beer, a toke, a (fill in the blank as long as They are not breaking the three ancient Laws) when They choose. There may be a shortage for a while of one thing or another as supply and demand even out on some things, but I know We could supply good, organic, abundant food to ALL on this planet.
I also see great works emerging in all sciences and arts. Even if the vast majority of Humans choose to "go fishing," enough will spring forth to keep things flowing. We Humans are problem-solvers, and when a problem does present itself, Those who care WILL do Their best to solve it. With the interweb, Those who care about fairness will override Those who would be unfair.
Ah, just sayin', that if there are any ET listening, I think I have a solution to consider. [smile]
a little more info here
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/we-have-technology-find-alien-life-scientists-tell-congress-2D11702860#
We have the technology to find alien life, scientists tell Congress
Tanya Lewis Space.com
1 hour ago
X
Epsilon Eridani b orbits an orange sun-like star only 10.5 light-years away from Earth. It is so close to us telescopes might soon be able to photograph it. It orbits too far away from its star to support liquid water or life as we know it, but scientists predict there are other stars in the system that might be good candidates for alien life.
For thousands of years, humans have been wondering whether there's life elsewhere in the universe. Now, the technology finally exists to search for it.
To find extraterrestrial life, be it microbes or intelligent life, scientists need telescopes capable of detecting Earth-like planets in Earth's neighborhood and ways to detect biological signatures of life or signs of alien technology. While some of these tools already exist, astrobiologists asked the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to invest in the next chapter of the search for life beyond Earth.
"This is the first time in human history we have the technological reach to find life on other planets," Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at MIT, said at a House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing today. "People will look back at us as the (generation) who found Earth-like worlds." [9 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life]
Are we alone?
Astrobiology — the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe — has taken a leap forward over the past few years. Members of the science committee expressed enthusiasm for the field's progress.
"Astrobiology has become a crosscutting theme of all NASA space science endeavors," and continued funding is important, said Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D., Texas).
The Kepler mission has identified more than 3,500 potential planets outside Earth's solar system, including 10 that are Earth-size and lie within their star's habitable zone. And the space-based Hubble and Spitzer telescopes recently imaged the atmospheres of an exoplanet directly.
Meanwhile, the Mars rover Curiosity has found evidence that past conditions on the Red Planet could have supported life. Here on Earth, scientists have found examples of microbes living in the most extreme environments imaginable, from volcanic lakes to glaciers. Finding life in such unlikely places suggests it could exist in harsh environments on other planets,
After 50 years, humanity is now in an era when it can provide data for whether life exists elsewhere in the universe, Mary Voytek, NASA's head of astrobiology, told members of Congress.
The search ramps up
A key part of these efforts will be to look for biological signatures in the atmospheres of other planets. For example, oxygen doesn't last long by itself, so the presence of oxygen would indicate living organisms were producing it. Another necessity for life on Earth is water, and scientists just announced they have found signatures of water in the atmospheres of five planets (although they are superhot, Jupiter-size planets).
NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) telescope, set to launch in 2017, will search for exoplanets using the transiting method the Kepler mission used to detect planets crossing in front of their host star. The James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2018, will be able to peer more closely at some of the planets detected by TESS.
Ultimately, scientists want to image planets directly, but this requires blocking out light from a star so that a planet would be visible. Using a telescope attachment called an internal coronagraph is one way to do this; another way is to build a star shade, a large object shaped like a flower that could be moved independently in space. Scientists need to try both methods to find one that works, Seager said.
The most optimistic estimate for finding life would be within a decade, using the James Webb telescope, Seager said. But she said that a more realistic approach is needed, including a next-generation telescope to succeed the James Webb telescope.
Then there's the prospect of intelligent life. Space historian Stephen Dick, currently an astrobiology scholar at the Library of Congress, called for renewing efforts to look for intelligent life via the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
"No bio-signatures would be more important than a radio signal — especially if they have something to say," Dick said.
And if scientists find life out there, then what?
"The plan is to confirm it first, then tell everybody," Dick said.
Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The Search for Life on Mars (A Photo Timeline)
The Search For Another Earth | Video
7 Greatest Alien Planet Discoveries by NASA's Kepler Spacecraft (So Far)
Goerge Ricker on MIT
http://space.mit.edu/people/ricker-jr-george-r
Transiting Exploplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) (George Ricker)QuoteUploaded on 17 Nov 2011
Using an array of telescopes, TESS would perform an all-sky survey to discover transiting exoplanets, ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, in orbit around the nearest and brightest stars in the sky. The mission's primary goal would be to identify terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of nearby stars.
George R. Ricker is currently director of the CCD Laboratory in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. He obtained a BS in physics from MIT in 1966, an MS in astronomy in 1967 from Yale University, and a PhD in physics in 1971 from MIT. Since 1971, he has been a member of the staff and research faculty at MIT, where he presently serves as senior research scientist.
Dr. Ricker was the principal investigator (PI) for the international High-Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) mission—a small satellite incorporating instruments from France, Japan, and the United States that flew successfully from 2000 to 2006. HETE was the first satellite mission entirely devoted to the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).
To learn more, please visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/appel...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAy94wPS-zY
Big crazy what IF here....
What if something like the SG does infact exist and this is a mitigation program into using visual aid's to determine whether the button is pressed *EDIT* to travel to another world, or NOT :D
Thinking out loud for fun, not saying that is happening, just entertaining the idea of how I may go about it :D
When there is no admission by our government/NASA/other agencies of finding life/evidence of life right here in our own Solar System, shouldn't we consider any talk of looking for it elsewhere mostly B/S?? With what little I have seen, I know alien life was/is right here amongst us in our solar system. And, with what I have seen that NASA et al has taken great pains to hide, THEY KNOW IT TOO!
NASA knows it "in spades", and they have known it for a long time. It is utter nonsense on their part for them to continue this charade (a blatant pretense or deception, especially something so full of pretense as to be a travesty) with the people of this country, and with the people of this world. This charade impinges upon all of us, relative to our understanding of the real reality of life and lives, both here and out there. :o :o :o