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 Disclosure gathering, where he experienced "cognitive dissonance" because he found the speakers to be intelligent, yet he thought some of their claims such as "there are cities on the moon," to be things he couldn't accept as being true.

Neanderthal Update

Tuesday's first hour guest, author Lloyd Pye commented on the latest research about Neanderthal skulls, which shows they appear to be an entirely different species than modern humans. Though he suggested there may have been some limited interbreeding between the two species, he believes this new evidence indicates a further breaking down of the Darwinian paradigm. Pye also said that today's Bigfoot-type creatures are likely descendants of pre-humans. Updating the Starchild case, he reported that a Japanese lab may test the composition of the unusually strong bone of the large skull.

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Tuesday January 27, 2004