For water just add starlight and hopes and fears of contacting ETI

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:g Stars - ESA's Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that ultraviolet starlight is the key ingredient for making water in space. It is the only explanation for why a dying star is surrounded by a gigantic cloud of hot water vapor. See article.g Abodes - Astronomers have measured the temperature of a young gas-giant planet and found that its atmosphere is unlike that of any previously studied extrasolar planet. Such observations help astrobiologists understand the properties of extrasolar planets and will aid in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system. See article.g Life - Scripps Research Institute scientists have identified two proteins with potential to be important targets for research into a wide range of health problems, including pain, deafness, and cardiac and kidney dysfunction. See article.g Cosmicus - Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led a Northwestern University research team to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible. See article.g Aftermath - Here’s an interesting book that is slated ...