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Game Theory Helps SETI Search for Alien Civilizations

SETI can be more effective the more the targets in the search are refined. SETI's newest survey effort uses game theory to inform its search. It's based on the idea that other ETIs would almost certainly use the transit method to detect habitable worlds like Earth. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/mT2PkZQ via IFTTT

Giant Impacts Help Rocky Planets Retain Their Atmospheres

For a long time, planetary scientists thought that giant impacts drove a young planet's atmosphere away into space with all the heat they generated. But it turns out the opposite could be true. The mass a young planet gains through a giant impact increases its gravitational hold on its atmosphere. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/SCQPe1M via IFTTT

A Virtual Lifeless Earth Will Help Scientists Find Life on Exoplanets

Researchers have created a model lifeless Earth that couples the atmosphere with interior planetary processes. The model can reproduce Earth's modern habitable state without including life, showing that a planet that appears habitable isn't necessarily inhabited. The tool will be useful when and if the Habitable Worlds Observatory is launched, by helping identify false positives. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/ibKhFjX via IFTTT

Students Test Prototype Landing Pad to Make Lunar Operations Safe

This summer, a team of students and researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville successfully conducted three rocket-motor firing tests on a prototype lunar landing pad. The tests showed the prototype’s ability to capture and redirect rocket exhaust through an integrated vent system, marking an important milestone in developing landing infrastructure for future Moon base operations. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/0XkvuJ8 via IFTTT

What Will Politics Look Like on Other Planets? It's Likely to Be a Mishmash

When we make our home on other worlds, who will be in charge? Will it be an emperor? A billionaire? A rebel alliance? Or none of the above? Astrobiologist Jacob Haqq Misra runs through the legal and political options. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/FOjCWDN via IFTTT

Stubborn Asteroids Around White Dwarfs Resist Becoming Dust

Astronomers are finding more dusty disks around white dwarf stars, and some of them are home to asteroids. But how these rocky asteroids are turned to dust and form these rings isn't clear. New research shows that the white dwarf's gravity alone can't shred them to dust. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/jeRhfqE via IFTTT