Filling in for George, Art Bell was joined by writer and scientist David Grinspoon, for a discussion on astrobiology-related topics. Grinspoon said astronomers have confirmed that other stars, besides our own Sun, have planets in orbit around them. There could be billions of planets out there and the probability that life exists on at least some of them is high, he speculated. ... More »

Author and Anglican Priest Lionel Fanthorpe returned to talk about Knights Templar secrets and the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark may have originally belonged to the Egyptians and it could have had alchemical powers to transform energy into a mysterious "fifth element," he said. It was then taken by Moses, he suggested, and later possibly brought to Ethiopia through the Queen of Sheba, who may have had a son with King Solomon. Eventually the Ark may have been hidden at Rennes-le-Château in France by the Templars. In 1885, Saunière (mentioned in the novel The Da Vinci Code), an impoverished priest located there, suddenly came into wealth, and Fanthorpe, surmised that he may have discovered the Ark and sold it. The Templars may have just been the "tip of the iceberg," with their secrets stemming from "ancient guardians" set up by ETs, he posited. But what if these secrets became lost or distorted in some way? asked Fanthorpe. Like a powerful technology, they might do either imm ... More »

Planetary scientist David Grinspoon discussed the discoveries and data that have been coming back from the Huygens Probe which landed on Titan. In many ways, Titan is like an "alternate reality" Earth with its weather and geology resembling ours, he said. But instead of water, there are rains of liquid methane which sets up a hydrological dynamic. Though it's very cold on Titan (the sun would only appear 1/10th as large) it's possible that some type of life form that thrives on methane or other substances might exist there, he theorized. Going deeper into Titan's surface it would be warmer and there could be liquid water mixed with ammonia there, he added."I think there could be life on Venus," such as bacteria that evolved to live in the clouds there, Grinspoon speculated.He was enthusiastic about the renewed interest in our moon and the new photos coming in from ESA's SMART-1. "We've only scratched the surface" and there are many mysteries to yet uncover on our moon, he said. ... More »

During the first hour, planetary scientist David Grinspoon discussed the Huygens probe landing on Saturn's moon, Titan. He thinks the fact that the probe survived its descent may indicate the landing surface was liquid or icy slush. According to Grinspoon, "Titan is an active world" where it rains methane and, as recent photos show (see Huygens probe article below), liquid flows through drainage channels. He theorized that if Titan were warmed, it could prove to be an "incubator for life."In hour two of the program, George welcomed Richard C. Hoagland of Enterprise Mission, who admitted Titan "does not belong in the Saturn system." Because of its unique nature and the presence of "organic gunk" in its atmosphere and on its surface, Hoagland hypothesized that Titan was terraformed by an advanced alien race. He believes Titan may provide further evidence that somebody "tinkered" with our solar system.George hosted Open Lines for the last two hours of Friday night' ... More »

Tuesday's main guest, Planetary Scientist David Grinspoon chatted about his unconventional new book Lonely Planets, which delves into the origin of life on Earth, as well as conjectures on what life might be like elsewhere. For instance, he suggested that a group of beings that survive for a million years would "become virtually immortal," and that as the universe goes on there will be more of these civilizations. Grinspoon conceptualized of the universe as "a conscious entity," and was open to the idea that consciousness rather than matter might be the primary element. He discussed the notion of "astrotheology," outlining our (and potentially other planets') quest to know that we are not alone in the universe.He also touched on the possibility of a Planet X in our solar system, and after being told that it was allegedly on a 3,600-year elliptical orbit, he said its location could be theoretically modeled. Grinspoon also shared his experience attending Steven Greer's Disclosur ... More »