Habitable Worlds: Are We Alone?

Now, I’m not going to write a post answering that question. Instead, I invite you to explore that on your own and I’m talking about Habitable Worlds online course. It’s going to be launched soon.

HabWorlds is a powerful adaptive learning platform with scientifically accurate simulations and informative lectures, and will allow you to experience science beyond dry observations and facts.

What I like about the idea here is that the course is organized around the Drake Equation and puts together stars, planets, habitability, life, intelligence, technology, and sustainability. (Not to mention that I really enjoyed the music from this video.)

Jeno Marz
JENO MARZ is a science fiction writer from Latvia, Northern Europe, with background in electronics engineering and computer science. She is the author of two serial novels, Falaha’s Journey: A Spacegirl’s Account in Three Movements and Falaha’s Journey into Pleasure. Marz is current at work on a new SF trilogy. All her fiction is aimed at an adult audience.

19 Comments

  1. Ooh thanks Jeno! This looks a great find – I also like the music. Plus their website is pretty and well designed. I’ll have to share it with The World Building School and Guild. Do you know if this is a free course or if you have to pay for it?

  2. Interesting, I write a bit of Sci-Fi and didn’t know there was a course on modelling stellar systems.

  3. Oy, the modelling appears to be above my skill level, I’m a bit technologically impaired.

    The fun part with stellar systems is the biology is very much a part of it from the beginning, whether it’s right-handed or left-handed nucleic acids present in the initial disk or the development of self-replicating life forms.

    I’ll stop back by, both the astrobiology and system modelling look interesting even if the math loses me.

    1. Well, the math here is not that horrible if you know what you are building—you use basic calculus, formulas, and spreadsheets (or specific software with some input). Modeling is not that scary as some might think. Except, maybe, 3D atmospheric/ocean dynamics models. I haven’t gotten past setting up the environment stage myself yet.

      Cheers, J

  4. Ah, calculus, the bane of my formative years and an arch-nemesis. “Cry havoc and loose the hounds of calculus!”

    The first time I posited a stellar system (several years ago, using a large quantity of paper and several pencils) I finally resorted to use of the ‘Stellar Dartboard’ — once I was able to find a calculator I found my initial assumptions weren’t that far off.

    Once I get through the current project I’ll be able to get a better idea of how the tools in question work.

    Regarding the atmospheric / oceanic models versus environments, the three are inextricably interrelated, as one part alters the others alter as well. In order to properly visualize the connections, you’d probably need one of the IBM arrays that can graphically model catastrophic fission or fusion events.

    1. Well, no need for an array. MITgcm works fine on a laptop/desktop. You’d need Linux (Ubuntu 10.10 would do fine) and some average processing power. Any modeling takes time.

  5. Apologies, I remember computers with punch cards and I guess some of the software has gotten better.

    I suppose if I understood the math better, what I ‘run through’ with my visual cortex would better match what the computers come up with.

    Oh well, back to the salt mine, have a great afternoon.

  6. Ah, came up for air so to speak and saw the reply email.

    You’ve an interesting subject board, why would people rarely stop by?

    1. Because I post rarely (I’m not that an avid blogger); gaining readership is hard task. So anyone joining the small crowd is a good thing.

  7. I understand, if forced to choose between blogging and the worlds and characters ‘waiting to have their stories’ told writing wins out.

  8. I probably should start a blog, but I doubt a morning spent going through Barycenter calculations would elicit much interest.

    The afternoon of writing though, a very different story…

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