Lifeboat Foundation

“Certainly,” says Christof Koch, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and prominent figure in the field of consciousness studies. “Any complex system, whether evolved on Earth or elsewhere, could be conscious.” What that consciousness might look like is another matter entirely. Could aliens exhibit empathy, self-awareness, love, hate, or fear?

To answer these questions, consider panpsychism, an ancient cosmic theory that suggests consciousness could be a ubiquitous feature of the universe, akin to gravity or charge. This idea, dating back to ancient Greek philosophers like Thales and Plato, has seen a resurgence in the 21st century as mainstream scientific approaches struggle to fully explain consciousness.

By analyzing the images obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers has managed to identify more than 1,000 new star cluster candidates in the Cigar Galaxy. The finding was reported in a research paper published August 8 on the pre-print server arXiv.

This throws a curveball in my brain regarding UAPs.

A new study suggests Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean.

Adding or removing neutrons from an atomic nucleus leads to changes in the size of the nucleus. This in turn causes tiny changes in the energy levels of the atom’s electrons, known as isotope shifts. Scientists can use precision measurements of these energy shifts to measure the radius of the nucleus of an isotope.

An international team of astronomers has reported the discovery of a new brown dwarf, which received designation TOI-2490 b. The newfound object is about 74 times more massive than Jupiter and orbits a sun-like star on a highly eccentric orbit. The finding was detailed in a paper published August 8 on the pre-print server arXiv.

“These are the oldest rocks that may have been deposited by water, that we’ve ever laid hands or rover arms on,” said Dr. Benjamin Weiss. “That’s exciting, because it means these are the most promising rocks that may have preserved fossils, and signatures of life.”

Did life once exist on Mars, and if so, where will we find it? This is what a recent study published in AGU Advances hopes to address as a team of several dozen international researchers led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) investigated rocks samples obtained by NASA’s Perseverance (Percy) rover obtained in Jezero Crater on Mars, and which allegedly contain minerals only found in water. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the conditions for life to have emerged on the Red Planet long ago, along with identifying what evidence could be used to find life elsewhere in the solar system.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data obtained from seven rock samples collected by Percy along Jezero’s western slope, which scientists have hypothesized was an ancient lake long ago. After examining Percy’s images of the surrounding area and the chemical analyses from the rock samples, the team determined that the rocks contain evidence of water, meaning this location likely contained a lake long ago. However, the potential for this lake having life is still unknown since the team did not identify evidence of organic matter within the samples. Despite this, the team determined that the rocks were created more than 3.5 billion years ago, long before life emerged on the Earth.

Continue reading “NASA’s Perseverance Rover Uncovers Water-Borne Minerals in Mars’ Jezero Crater” »

Why we should look in caves for life, especially on Mars. For more info, see my new blog on BigThink with Link on:

Posted on Big Think.

“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the solar nebula,” said Dr. Anicia Arredondo. “Hydration that is endogenous could suggest that Psyche is not the remnant core of a protoplanet.”

Could a metallic asteroid contain water and what can this teach us about the asteroid’s formation and evolution? This is what a recent study due for publication in the Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) investigated whether the metallic asteroid Psyche —which is one of the largest objects in the main asteroid belt—could contain evidence of water and hydration.

This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of asteroids and what this can teach us about the history of the solar system. This study also comes as NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is currently en route to the Psyche asteroid and is scheduled to arrive in August 2029.

Continue reading “Webb Telescope Unveils Evidence of Water and Hydration on Asteroid Psyche” »

Scientists have found a hidden ocean on Mars. It is a reservoir of liquid water deep in Mar…