Free Republic

Back in April we told you about the shuttering of the Allen Array and the difficulties that E.T. would have phoning home. Well, if you happen to be in touch with the lovable alien, let him know to load up a few more minutes on his long distance card because SETI is back, on the strength of private donations. Forty-two radio telescope dishes near Mount Shasta will again start listening for sounds of intelligent life in the universe this fall after donors — including actress Jodie Foster — came up with more than $200,000 to save the Mountain View-based SETI...

The Veritas Riff is a group of friends who combine deep faith with world-class expertise in subjects ranging from politics, science, culture, business, medicine, and more. They offer their informal take on the big questions facing us all. I'm the host of the Veritas Riff, Curtis Chang.For centuries, humans have asked whether life exists on other planets. In the last decade or so, astrophysicists have made actual progress in answering that question. As more exoplanets—planets outside our solar system—are discovered, the chances of locating extraterrestrial life rises. But how would the discovery of extraterrestrial life impact religion, and particularly Christianity?Today...

Is it possible that there is intelligent life out among the stars? And if there is, what would be the theological implications of this fact? Many Christians have assumed that there could not be intelligent extraterrestrials, and that if some were discovered then this would somehow constitute a challenge to the Christian faith. But that apparently wasn't the view of Larry Norman, the father of Christian rock. Norman always sang about interesting, relevant and unusual topics. In his classic song "UFO" (off the album In Another Land) he likens the returning Christ to an "unidentified flying object". In keeping with...

NASA Discovers Life's Building Blocks Are Common In Space NASA news release October 11, 2005 Infrared image of spiral galaxy M-81 taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The red traces the emission from PANHs. Image courtesy of NASA A team of NASA exobiology researchers revealed today organic chemicals that play a crucial role in the chemistry of life are common in space. "Our work shows a class of compounds that is critical to biochemistry is prevalent throughout the universe," said Douglas Hudgins, an astronomer at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. He is principal author of a study detailing...