Have you ever wondered what could happen when we discover another communicating species outside the Earth? This book addresses this question in all its complexity. In addition to the physical barriers for communication, such as the enormous distances where a message can take centuries to reach its recipient, the book also examines the biological problems of communicating between species, the problems of identifying a non-Terrestrial intelligence, and the ethical, religious, legal and other problems of conducting discussions across light years. Most of the book is concerned with issues that could impinge on your life: how do we share experiences with ETI? Can we make shared laws? Could we trade? Would they have religion? The book addresses these and related issues, identifying potential barriers to communication and suggesting ways we can overcome them. The book explores this topic through reference to human experience, through analogy and thought experiment, while relying on what is known to-date about ourselves, our world, and the cosmos we live in.

Everyone has heard of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." But what about close encounters of the fatal kind? The field of UFOs is rife with unsettling examples of suspicious deaths. Accounts of accidents that might not have been accidents after all, abound. Researchers and witnesses have vanished, never to be seen again. Conveniently timed heart attacks are reported.
Out-of-the-blue suicides that, upon investigation, bear the distinct hallmarks of murder, are all too common. And grisly deaths at the hands of both extraterrestrials and government agents have occurred.
Highlights of "Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind" include:
The strange saga of the incredible melting man.
The UFO-related death of the first U.S. Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal.
The mysterious disappearances of military pilots and their connection to UFOs.
The connections between national security and the sudden deaths of UFO investigators.
Getting too close to the cosmic truth about alien abductions, Roswell, and what the government really knows about UFOs can--clearly--be a deadly business. The government's latest admission of the existence of Area 51 is barely the tip of a very big iceberg.

This book introduces the Statistical Drake Equation where, from a simple product of seven positive numbers, the Drake Equation is turned into the product of seven positive random variables. The mathematical consequences of this transformation are demonstrated and it is proven that the new random variable N for the number of communicating civilizations in the Galaxy must follow the lognormal probability distribution when the number of factors in the Drake equation is allowed to increase at will. Mathematical SETI also studies the proposed FOCAL (Fast Outgoing Cyclopean Astronomical Lens) space mission to the nearest Sun Focal Sphere at 550 AU and describes its consequences for future interstellar precursor missions and truly interstellar missions. In addition the author shows how SETI signal processing may be dramatically improved by use of the Karhunen-Loève Transform (KLT) rather than Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Finally, he describes the efforts made to persuade the United Nations to make the central part of the Moon Far Side a UN-protected zone, in order to preserve the unique radio-noise-free environment for future scientific use.

The aim of this book (and subsequent volumes issued annually) is to provide an annual astronomy review suitable for the popular science level reader. It will be published every year in September in a format suitable for an appeal to the Christmas market. The book will cover all major astronomical news on topics beyond the Solar System and place them in the context of the longer term goals that astronomers and astrophysicists around the world are aiming for. The target is to capture the excitement of modern astronomical research enabling reader to stay up-to-date with its rapid pace and development.

Sir Isaac Newton famously said, regarding his discoveries, "If I have seen further it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." The Evolving Universe and the Origin of Life describes, complete with fascinating biographical details of the thinkers involved, the ascent to the metaphorical shoulders accomplished by the greatest minds in history. For the first time, a single book can take the reader on a journey through the history of the universe as interpreted by the expanding body of knowledge of humankind. From subatomic particles to the protein chains that form life, and expanding in scale to the entire universe, this book covers the science that explains how we came to be. The Evolving Universe and the Origin of Life contains a great breadth of knowledge, from astronomy to physics, from chemistry to biology. It includes over 350 figures that enhance the comprehension of concepts both basic and advanced, and is a non-technical, easy-to-read text at an introductory college level that is ideal for anyone interested in science as well as its history.

This review gathers astronomers, geologists, biologists, and chemists around a common question: how did life emerge on Earth? The ultimate goal is to probe an even more demanding question: is life universal? This not-so linear account highlights problems, gaps, and controversies. Discussion covers the formation of the solar system; the building of a habitable planet; prebiotic chemistry, biochemistry, and the emergence of life; the early Earth environment, and much more.

In The Earth as a Distant Planet, the authors become external observers of our solar system from a distance and try to determine how one can understand how Earth, the third in distance to the central star, is essentially unique and capable of sustaining life. The knowledge gained from this original perspective is then applied to the search for other planets outside the solar system, or exoplanets. Since the discovery in 1992 of the first exoplanet, the number of planet detections has increased exponentially and ambitious missions are already being planned for the future. The exploration of Earth and the rest of the rocky planets are Rosetta stones in classifying and understanding the multiplicity of planetary systems that exist in our galaxy. In time, statistics on the formation and evolution of exoplanets will be available and will provide vital information for solving some of the unanswered questions about the formation, as well as evolution of our own world and solar system. Special attention is paid to the biosignatures (signs of life) detectable in the Earth's reflected spectra and the search for life in the universe. The authors are experts on the subject of extrasolar planets. They provide an introductory but also very much up-to-date text, making this book suitable for researchers and for advanced students in astronomy and astrophysics.

The Mars Science Laboratory is the latest and most advanced NASA roving vehicle to explore the surface of Mars. The Curiosity rover has landed in Gale crater and will explore this region assessing conditions on the surface that might be hospitable to life and paving the way for later even more sophisticated exploration of the surface. This book describes the mission, its exploration and scientific objectives, studies leading to the design of the mission and the instruments that accomplish the objectives of the mission. This book is aimed at all those engaged in Martian studies as well as those interested in the origin of life in other environments. It will be a valuable reference for anyone who uses data from the Mars Science Laboratory. Previously published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 170/1-4, 2012.

Explores the role of ETs in the military, government, technology, history, and the coming new age
- Surveys contact with ETs, abductions, alien technology and exopolitics, genetic tampering by ETs, and the history behind the Nazis and UFOs
- Contains interviews with Jesse Marcel, Michael Salla, Paul LaViolette, Robert Bauval, Helen Wambach, and others at the forefront of the ET-derived New Science movement
The extraterrestrial presence on Earth is widening and, as we enter the Aquarian Age, will be admitted officially, causing shock and an urgent universal need to understand the social and technological changes derived from our space brothers. A primer for the explosive advances humanity will experience scientifically and spiritually in the coming years, this compendium explores the ET phenomenon and its influence on humanity past and present.
The book surveys contact with ETs and abduction accounts, unexplained public and undisclosed military technology from aliens including anti-gravity devices, exopolitics (the influence of ETs in human affairs), the Iraqi Stargate, the Hybrid Project of alien interbreeding by abduction, Nazi ties to UFOS and their secret underground base in Antarctica, government cover-ups of alien interactions including Roswell, and the transformation triggered by the Hale-Bopp comet. Based on interviews with people who are witnessing the coming changes as well as those visionaries who are actually bringing them about--including John Mack, Major Jesse Marcel, Paul LaViolette, Robert Bauval, Michael Salla, and Helen Wambach--this book sketches out a breathtaking vision of the planetary revolution just around the corner.

This book addresses important current and historical topics in astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth, including the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The first section covers the plurality of worlds debate from antiquity through the nineteenth century, while section two covers the extraterrestrial life debate from the twentieth century to the present. The final section examines the societal impact of discovering life beyond Earth, including both cultural and religious dimensions. Throughout the book, authors draw links between their own chapters and those of other contributors, emphasizing the interconnections between the various strands of the history and societal impact of the search for extraterrestrial life. The chapters are all written by internationally recognized experts and are carefully edited by Douglas Vakoch, professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute. This interdisciplinary book will benefit everybody trying to understand the meaning of astrobiology and SETI for our human society.

In the twenty-first century, the debate about life on other worlds is quickly changing from the realm of speculation to the domain of hard science. Within a few years, as a consequence of the rapid discovery by astronomers of planets around other stars, astronomers very likely will have discovered clear evidence of life beyond the Earth. Such a discovery of extraterrestrial life will change everything.

Knowing the answer as to whether humanity has company in the universe will trigger one of the greatest intellectual revolutions in history, not the least of which will be a challenge for at least some terrestrial religions. Which religions will handle the discovery of extraterrestrial life with ease and which will struggle to assimilate this new knowledge about our place in the universe? Some religions as currently practiced appear to only be viable on Earth. Other religions could be practiced on distant worlds but nevertheless identify both Earth as a place and humankind as a species of singular spiritual religious importance, while some religions could be practiced equally well anywhere in the universe by any sentient beings.

Weintraub guides readers on an invigorating tour of the world s most widely practiced religions. It reveals what, if anything, each religion has to say about the possibility that extraterrestrial life exists and how, or if, a particular religion would work on other planets in distant parts of the universe."