came across this article today. don't know if it's posted before?
otherwise feel free to move it 
think it's real important to think about our place in the Universe (Multiverse?)
sooner or later, we, or our (grand)children, will face this visit from outside.
so why not studie 'their'environment a little more?
here's the article: 
www.newscientist.com...
WANTED: Rocky planet outside of our solar system. Must not be too hot or too cold, but just the right temperature to support life.
It sounds like a simple enough wish list, but finding a planet that fulfils all of these criteria has kept astronomers busy for decades. Until
recently, it meant finding a planet in the "Goldilocks zone" - orbiting its star at just the right distance to keep surface water liquid rather than
being boiled off or frozen solid.
Now, though, it's becoming increasingly clear that the question of what makes a planet habitable is not as simple as finding it in just the right
spot. Many other factors, including a planet's mass, atmosphere, composition and the way it orbits its nearest star, can all influence whether it can
sustain liquid water, an essential ingredient for life as we know it. As astronomers explore newly discovered planets and create computer simulations
of virtual worlds, they are discovering that water, and life, might exist on all manner of weird worlds where conditions are very different from those
on Earth. And that means there could be vastly more habitable planets out there than we thought possible. "It's like science fiction, only better,"
says Raymond Pierrehumbert, a climate scientist at the University of Chicago, who studies planets inside and outside of our solar system.
Distance from the nearest star is, of course, important. In our own solar system, Venus has long served as an example of what can happen if a planet
gets too close to its star. Venus is only 28 per cent closer to the sun than Earth is, but its surface is a sweltering 460 °C, hot enough to melt
lead, and it chokes under a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere 90 times the density of Earth's.
Put Earth where Venus is and it would probably end up looking rather similar. The extra solar radiation would increase evaporation from the oceans,
boosting the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. As water vapour is a greenhouse gas, this increase would set off a vicious cycle, with higher
temperatures triggering more evaporation, until the planet's surface was hot enough to boil away the oceans. At the other extreme, water on a planet
that is too far from its star will simply freeze, like on Mars.
[edit on 20/11/08 by GondelleX]
Mod Note: Excessive Quoting – Please Review This Link
[edit on 20/11/08 by Jbird]
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part two of the article:
Large c/p removed
[edit on 20/11/08 by Jbird]
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It was quite a long read. But interesting. I would like to reward your work with a star.
Bottom line is that any theory (how well thought out and how well supported by facts) would only be acknowledged by the majority if an alien would
appear in front of them and look them in the eyes.
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Yep Star and flag
Really doesnt common sense just lead one to believe that this universe must be full of life. I firmly believe within the next 100years some proof
shall be dug up confirming life is not limited to this planet, wether it be fossils from Mars or tiny microbes on Europa or somewhere else. Im afraid
though much of that will not satisfy the ATS'rs looking to shake hands with ET. To me just the tinyiest hint of life is extraordinary enough to keep
me happy, when one sits down to realise the total vastness of space we may never get to see intelligent life.
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I love this subject. One of the few branches of science where "thinking out of the box" seems to be encouraged! I think we need to think out of the
box if we want to make progress in astro-biology, since life is so adaptable and varied even on this small spec of rock that we live on.
It seems that the Goldilocks is expanding all the time. I don't know if any of you saw this, but there was an interesting article no so long ago that
suggests that even if water is frozen "solid", there is still a micro-film of liquid water that surrounds ice-crystals, where chemical reactions can
occur, which means that in theory it's possible for life to evolve without the presence of water en-mass, and under much colder conditions that
previously thought.
Here's the link to the thread I started on it: www.abovetopsecret.com...
Thanks for posting - S & F'd!
[edit on 20-11-2008 by C.H.U.D.]
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Very nice.
I have thought for a long time that life in our universe is popping up all over the place. Which would really be a problem for a lot of Humanity. We
like being "all that and box of choclates too". However should we find out we are the kid taking the short yellow bus to sit in the back of the
class we might not like that so much...
[edit on 20-11-2008 by Helmkat]
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"WHY"....."MAYBE"
are you kidding me!
Lets start with the assumption that the Universe is not only "teeming" with life but is itself alive and work backward from there.
...Science :shakes head:
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the fact that we are alive is the only evidence you need to say the universe must be teeming with life.
don't think that we are the only lucky onces.
don't think were that special 
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Originally posted by GondelleX
the fact that we are alive is the only evidence you need to say the universe must be teeming with life.
don't think that we are the only lucky onces.
don't think were that special
yeah i can't believe it's still not yet a universally (pardon the pun) accepted FACT that life is all over the galaxy and obviously all over the
universe. not only carbon based but any number of other possibilities. even objects the size of a star might have consciousness at some level.
i still remember the 80s when most scientists were dismissing the remote possibility there could be life out there... so we've made progress in the
past 30 years but still... maybe once we realize how common we are we'll stop killing each other and try to work together for our species' sakes!
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there is nothing more bonding for a species than the sudden awarness of more species....! so please unite!
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