The New scientist of 7th May 2011 had several interesting articles ranging from a guide to humanities search for alien life to how light can effect our health and a consideration of the limits of knowledge.
The search for alien life looked at the methods we use to find planets that have the potential to support life, but the thing I found most interesting followed the detail and was covered by the headline “Are we Unique?” The question was considered by Caleb Scharf (Director of Columbia Astrobiology centre in New York). The stand out thought here was that although it may seem inevitable, it could be that we are an extreme rarity “a Goldilocks event in time, space and the roulette wheel of evolutionary history”.
Personally I believe that although the odds of life existing elsewhere are fairly high (see details page of blog for more on this), we are in fact that extreme rarity. Now although that’s my belief, I also believe that the discovery of life elsewhere could be the “kick up the backside” mankind needs to make us realise we are one species not many disparate groups. It could be what we need to really see the best of mankind. There should be a deal more about this to follow when I get onto Carl Sagan.
The limits of knowledge article is worth a read if you can get access to the New Scientist, putting forward several interesting points.
The article that really caught my eye was how light can have a major impact on our lives, especially sleep patterns and health. As some-one who suffers from sleep problems it gave an interesting insight into how we require different intensities of light during the day and light of different wave lengths at night. It seems that all our light pollution can be having serious effects for us all. There were also some useful tips about light and achieving a good nights sleep (see details page).
