“look for what’s detectable..”

A fun and fascinating talk by physicist Freeman Dyson from 2003 begins with George Washington at Princeton, and grow-your-own-cat [or dog] biotechnology kits, before moving on to astronomy. Specifically the possibility of life on the Galilean moons of Jupiter, and further afield – such as the newly named plutoid dwarf planet Makemake with its surface of frozen methane – rather than say.. Mars.. Via TEDtv, via the Professor.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.