“Odors can be highly transitory, depending on the air currents. If this is happening in your house, ask if there are any possessions of that deceased loved one still around. If it happens elsewhere, consider just how many millions of people use the same perfume or smoke the same brand of cigar as someone you knew.” PeopleIfsStillsUseHappensAsksHouseMillionsAirHappeningsCurrentsPossessionBrandsSmokeLoved OnesElsewherePerfumeCigarTransitoryOdorDeceased Author:Seth Shostak
“We're hard-wired by 200,000 years of evolution to be sensitive to the idea that someone might be watching us. They might be predators, after all. An uneasy feeling is perfectly natural if you suspect that someone has you in their ocular sights, whether it's a ghost or just some guy at the bus stop.” IfsYearsIdeasHardFeelingsMightGuyNaturalEvolutionSightGhostSensitiveSuspectsBusPredatorUneasyPerfectly NaturalBus StopsUneasy Feelings Author:Seth Shostak
“If this is the only planet on which not only life, but intelligent life, has arisen, that would be very unusual.” IfsWould BePlanetsIntelligentUnusualIntelligent Life Author:Seth Shostak
“If you took all the sand from all the beaches, all the desserts, and all the oceans and called that the Universe, our whole solar system would be less than one grain of sand.” IfsWholeWould BeUniverseOceanBeachSandGrainDessertSolar SystemGrains Of Sand Author:Seth Shostak
“There is a point of view among astronomical researchers that is generally referred to as the Principle of Mediocrity. ... If the Sun and its retinue of worlds is only one system among many, then many other systems will be like ours: home to life. Indeed, to the extent that this is true, we should be prepared for the possibility that, even in the Milky Way galaxy, billions of planets may be carpeted by the dirty, nasty business known as life.” IfsWorldWayLifeShouldMayHomeScienceViewsKnownPrinciplesSunPossibilityPlanetsPreparedPoint Of ViewBillionsDirtyMediocrityNastyBe PreparedGalaxyResearchersMilky Way Author:Seth Shostak
“[O]ne might ask why, in a galaxy of a few hundred billion stars, the aliens are so intent on coming to Earth at all. It would be as if every vertebrate in North America somehow felt drawn to a particular house in Peoria, Illinois. Are we really that interesting?” IfsMightWould BeEarthAmericaScienceAsksHouseStarsFeltInterestingParticularHundredBillionsAliensGalaxyNorth AmericaIllinoisVertebratesPeoria Author:Seth Shostak
