GAMES	(Some games require a Java-enabled browser) All work and no play...well, you know the rest! At Astrobiology: The Living Universe, we realize that learning can sometimes be a chore. If you need some excitement, try some of the games featured below. Not only are they fun to play, they all have educational value too!
The Game of Life
	The Game of Life was originally created by Cambridge University mathematician John Conway. It is a form of 'cellular automaton', which is basically a fancy way of saying 'simulated celluar life'. The game consists of a collection of cells which, based on a few mathematical rules, can live, die or multiply. Depending on the initial conditions, the cells form various patterns throughout the course of the game. The goal of the game is to create a 'life' that not only lasts a long time, but makes beautiful patterns while 'surviving'. Although this game seems too fun to have educational value, it reinforces the fact that real life depends on certain conditions (such as a source of energy and space) to survive. This concept is covered on the Chemosynthesis page in the Origins of Life section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. Click here to play the game!
Drake Equation Calculator
	The Drake Equation was conceived by Dr. Frank Drake, a scientist involved with SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life). The equation estimates the number of alien civilizations in the galaxy that are capable of communicating with us with radio transmissions. The formula for this equation consists of a number of variables, ranging from the 'average rate of star formation in our galaxy' to 'average lifetime of a technological civilization'. In reality, we do not know the numberical values of all the variables in the Drake Equation. But at Astrobiology: The Living Universe, we give you the unique opportunity to designate numbers to those variables - allowing you to actually calculate the number of alien civilizations in our galaxy! If you would like to learn more about the Drake Equation, please visit the Drake Equation page in the Origins of Life section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. Click here to do some calculating!
Living Universe Quizzes
	Once you have read a section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe, try your hand at the quiz for that section! These quizzes consist of challenging mulitple-choice questions that test your knowledge of the material covered in the relevant section. Your quizzes are graded and your percentile is tabulated, so you can compare how well you have done with the results of others who have taken the quiz! Here are the quizzes for each section: Exobiology Section Quiz Origins of Life Section Quiz Planetary Biology Section Quiz Humans in Space Section Quiz Astrobiology in Sci-Fi Section Quiz
SIMULATIONS	(Simulations require the Flash plug-in) At Astrobiology: The Living Universe, we believe that visual aids are extremely important supplements to the learning process. For this reason, we have created a number of Flash animations that illustrate various concepts presented throughout the website.
Radial Velocity
	The main problem posed with detecting extra-solar planets is that compared to the brightness of the stars they are orbiting, they are extremely dim; planets cannot give off their own light, and so we can only 'see' planets by light that is reflected off them from their stars. Because of this difficulty, it has been necessary to develop other methods for detecting planets outside our solar system. All these methods are described on the Detecting Extra-Solar Planets page of the Planetary Biology section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. This Flash animation decribes how radial velocity works, which a method of detecting planets outside of our solar system. Click here to see the animation!
Transit Photometry
	Transit photometry is another technique for the detection of extra-solar planets. You can learn more about this method on the Detecting Extra-Solar Planets page of the Planetary Biology section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. Click here to see the animation!
Daisyworld
	The Gaia theory states that the interactions of not only all the organisms on Earth but also all of the environments of Earth put together makes the Earth 'alive'. The best way to explain the Gaia theory is through the famous Daisyworld concept. Daisyworld demonstrates an important principle, that both the abiotic components (non-living materials like rocks and atmosphere) and biotic components (living organisms) of an ecosystem regulate each other. In this concept, you have an imaginary world completely covered with the seeds of two types of flowers, white and black. The animation explains the rest! To learn more about the Gaia theory and Daisyworld, visit the Gaian Hypotheses page in the Planetary Biology section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. Click here to see the animation!
Habitable Zones
	A habitable zone is the region around a star in which liquid water could exist on a planet's surface, liquid water being one of the necessary conditions for life. Stars of different luminosities (brightness) have differently sized habitable zones. For example, a dim star would have a habitable zone that was much closer to it than a bright star. As the mass of the star increases (on the left), the habitable zone moves further and further away from the star. With our Sun, the habitable zone covers Earth and nearly reaches to Mars and Venus. If our Sun was smaller, Venus would have been habitable, and if the Sun was larger, then Mars would have been habitable. All these concepts are illustrated in the habitable zone Flash animation! To learn more about habitable zones, visit the Habitable Zones page in the Planetary Biology section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. Click here to see the animation!
Types of Civilizations
	Scientists have classified civilizations under four different types: Type 0 Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Each type of civilization varies according to their exploration of the solar system their resource utilization. All this is illustrated in the flash animation! To learn more about the different types of civilizations, visit the Types of Civilizations page in the Concepts mini-section of the Exobiology section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe. Click here to see the animation!
COMMUNICATE	At Astrobiology: The Living Universe, we encourage our visitors to be vocal, to ask questions and to interact with others! In order to foster a sense of community within our website, we have created a number of features that allow our visitors to communicate with the creators of this website, with scientists and other experts, and, most importantly, with each other!
Forums
	Our goal at Astrobiology: The Living Universe is to create an engaging and fun learning environment for people. To accomplish this goal we have developed one of the most massive, comprehensive and easy-to-use forum systems ever implemented on an educational website. Every single topic covered on Astrobiology: The Living Universe has its own forum, where visitors can ask topic-specific questions, communicate with others and contribute knowledge and information to the website. Are you ready to interact? Visit the forums!
Contact the Creators (of this website!)
	The creators of Astrobiology: The Living Universe welcome your comments, feedback, criticisms and even just friendly 'hellos'! If you would like to get in touch with either Adrian, Katie or David, feel free to do so by visiting the contact page! We look forward to hearing from you!
Ask an Expert
	If you are curious about something related to astrobiology and you have specific questions that you would like to ask, questions that aren't answered on this website, we have a solution! This is your chance to ask an expert scientist a question. Perhaps you'd like to find out more about detecting alien life, or you'd like to know what universities have courses in astrobiology. Visit the Ask an Expert page of Astrobiology: The Living Universe to pose your question, which will then be forwarded to the appropriate person who can answer that question. Interesting and relevent questions and answers will be posted on this website on the Ask an Expert page! This is an opportunity to satiate your curiosity about the living universe!
OTHER	This section of the interact page covers interactive features of Astrobiology: The Living Universe that simply don't fit under the categories above!
Interviews
	The creators of Astrobioloy: The Living Universe went out of their way to interview the greatest minds in the field of astrobiology. You can get advice on how to become a scientist and learn about ground-breaking research in astrobiology straight from the people who are conducting that research! Visit the interviews page to read the interviews!
News
	This section of Astrobiology: The Living Universe features news from around the world (and from around the universe!) about recent developments and achievements in astrobiology and related fields. The news section is updated every few weeks as we come across news-worthy items. The content of Astrobiology: The Living Universe is always evolving and changing, so bookmark this site and keep on visiting! Visit the news section!