Recently, NASA landed its latest Mars rover, Curiosity, on the red planet.  Its primary objectives:  detect the chemical building blocks of life, measure radiation, and search for evidence water, the crucial catalyst for life.  Meanwhile, the blue planet orbited into the center of the Olympics Universe.  Human traits that will prolong the hospitality of what iconic astronomer Carl Sagan called the "Pale Blue Dot," were flourishing during an epic sports extravaganza in London.  Curiosity is one element of humanity's most profound search in our history:  to discover our place among the stars.  In a mind-bogglingly huge universe with multiple billions of stars and billions of planets, there are probably quite a few rocky orbs with an oxygen-rich atmosphere that could host life.  Yet, famed physicist Enrico Fermi, pondered why, given the high probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilization, there's no direct evidence.  As a...(Read Full Post)