Open AccessCongress grapples with the search for extraterrestrial life
Author(s) -
Showstack Randy
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/01eo00193
Subject(s) - extraterrestrial life , planet , astrobiology , laughter , search for extraterrestrial intelligence , space (punctuation) , environmental ethics , history , engineering , astronomy , computer science , philosophy , art , biology , physics , literature , operating system
Once the laughter had subsided over jokes about the search for intelligent life on Capitol Hill, the U.S. House of Representatives Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics got down to business with a July 12 hearing about the possible existence of extraterrestrial organisms. “I don't know if little green men exist,” said Subcommittee Chair Dana Rohrabacher (R‐Calif.). “I do know that the science community is attempting to determine the existence of basic life on planets neighboring Earth, as well as planets beyond our Solar system. With the help of scientific methods, we are just now beginning to answer a question that has existed since the dawn of humankind: are we alone?”