Nice find, Slayer. S&F.
I'm still a bit burned by the non-announcement announcement regarding Curiosity's big find (yes, I know it was media hype and an overzealous
scientist), so I'm taking NASA news with a grain of salt these days.
Either way, so many variables come into play and in the end does it make a difference - many scientists believe we're stuck on this rock.
Side note - I can't remember the name of the book, maybe "True Night Falls," but the story starts off with humans in deep sleep aboard a space craft;
the craft has certain rules programmed-in to hunt for a habitable planet for its cargo. The ship cargo (humans) are getting close their expiration
(death) because as this craft got close the planet they were aiming for so it did better analysis of the ecosystem the computer realized it was too
dangerous to drop the humans there so it continued hunting for a perfect, habitable planet.
One thousand years later, the people on board are now dying so the space craft starts making adjustments to its rules and settles on a planet that's
96% perfect for humans. So it dumps the cargo there and all hell breaks loose for the people on their new planet... (don't want to ruin the story).
Anyway, finding this planet reminds of different problems that can ensue if things are not 100% habitable for people.
Edit: The book may actually be, "Black Sun Rising". Though not too sure anymore since it was awhile ago.
edit on 10-1-2013 by Jason88 because: (no reason given)
edit on 10-1-2013 by Jason88 because: fixed terrible writing