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<title>Techdirt. Stories filed under &quot;physicists&quot;</title>
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<image><title>Techdirt. Stories filed under &quot;physicists&quot;</title><url>http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gif</url><link>http://www.techdirt.com/</link></image>
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<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:00:00 PDT</pubDate>
<title>DailyDirt: What Is This Thing Called Life?</title>
<dc:creator>Michael Ho</dc:creator>
<link>http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110106/15384112555/dailydirt-what-is-this-thing-called-life.shtml</link>
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<description><![CDATA[ Finding life elsewhere in the universe would be a remarkable event. But obviously, we haven't had much luck so far. Still, there are plenty of folks trying to look at the universe as half-full (instead of mostly empty?). Here are just a few quick links that support the optimistic view that we're not alone.
<ul>
<li> <a title="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/05/who-needs-a-moon.html" href="http://bit.ly/klYFAt">Astrophysicists have run some simulations that indicate that Earth-like planets without a moon might still harbor conditions suitable for life as we know it.</a> Previously, astrobiologists assumed that ETs would need to live on a planet that had a moon like ours... but what do astrobiologists know, eh? [<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/05/who-needs-a-moon.html">url</a>]</li>
<li> <a title="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/06/does-life-exist-on-distant-moons.html?" href="http://bit.ly/ithqMI">Other computer models suggest that life might exist on moons of gas giant planets.</a> Simulations like these should probably include an enormous grain of salt, though... [<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/06/does-life-exist-on-distant-moons.html?">url</a>]</li>
<li> <a title="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/12855775" href="http://bbc.in/jx5ydH">The tardigrade, aka the water bear, is an interesting little creature and one of the few animals proven to be able to survive exposure to the vacuum of space.</a> Tardigrades are called the "hardiest animal on earth" because they can exist for months in an anhydrobiotic state. [<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/12855775">url</a>]</li>
<li><b>To discover more interesting biological curiosities, <a title="http://www.stumbleupon.com/to/stumble/topic:46" href="http://bit.ly/fPAS5B">check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe.</a></b> [<a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/to/stumble/topic:46">url</a>]  <a title="what's this?" href="#" class="whatsthis help_ddstumble">&nbsp;</a>
</li>
</ul> 

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