Travelers in the Night Eps. 669 & 670: Seeds (356) & Laser Surfing (364)

<p>Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( <a href= "https://twitter.com/Nmcanopus">@Nmcanopus</a> ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. <a href= "http://travelersinthenight.org">travelersinthenight.org</a></p> <p><strong>Today's 2 topics:</strong></p> <p>- When a fleet of interstellar spaceships leaves our solar system for a planet circling a nearby star the most important of all of the riches that human explorers will carry with them will be libraries of our planet's DNA and the seeds of plants. They are the connection between past life, the inorganic world, and future life.</p> <p>- When we find a planet which appears to have the chemical signs of living organisms in its atmosphere, the desire to take a close up look at it will be hard to contain. Laser propelled ultra light space probes could be sent to explore nearby worlds. The cost of investigating our planetary life hosting neighbors is likely to be less than what the US is planning to spend upgrading its nuclear weapons.</p> <p> </p> <p>We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Just visit: <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy">https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy</a> and donate as much as you can!</p> <p>Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Every bit helps! Thank you!</p> <p>------------------------------------</p> <p>Do go visit <a href= "http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop">http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop</a> for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!</p> <p><a href= "http://cosmoquest.org/Donate">http://cosmoquest.org/Donate</a> This show is made possible through your donations.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not