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originally posted by: Jonjonj
a reply to: TrueBrit
Perhaps it is you who should take a step back. We are at a tipping point regarding the idea of extraterrestrial life. It will not be long before the idea of life on other worlds is as commonplace as the idea of planets themselves.
originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People
originally posted by: Jonjonj
a reply to: TrueBrit
Perhaps it is you who should take a step back. We are at a tipping point regarding the idea of extraterrestrial life. It will not be long before the idea of life on other worlds is as commonplace as the idea of planets themselves.
The idea that life exists elsewhere is already commonplace among most people who have just a modest enough education to know the size and scope of the universe. Unless a person is a religious fundamentalist, or has not had the opportunity to learn about the size and scope of the cosmos, they probably believe that life almost surely exists elsewhere.
However, to make it commonplace that life is known to exist would require hard proof.
For example, I think life elsewhere almost surely exists (99.9999% sure -- as sure as I could be without having actual hard proof), but the open-minded part of me knows I can't be 100% sure until I have that hard proof.
originally posted by: ketsuko
You do realize that Venus and Mars are "like Earth?"
originally posted by: jonnywhite
originally posted by: ketsuko
You do realize that Venus and Mars are "like Earth?"
You make a good point because earth-like doesn't mean life, however:
en.wikipedia.org - Earth Similarity Index...
ESI for Venus is 0.44. Mars is 0.7. Several exoplanets have higher scores.
Note Titan's ESI is 0.242. In that sense, it's very misleading. However, for that we have the Planetary Habitability Index:
www.bbc.com - Most liveable alien worlds ranked...
Titan's PHI is 0.64. Mars is 0.59. Venus is 0.37.
Note the above link is circa 2011. And PHI looks more at the traits of the surface and atmosphere--which might be currently unknown for some of the exoplanets. It might be a while before we have a comprehensive list? And formerly low ESI scorers might gain attention. So some of the exoplanets on these lists might be more famous in the future.
And OP I agree it's great news. But your title is dumb. And you didn't even offer a link. Here's one--it's 9 hours old:
www.nature.com - NASA spies Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting Sun-like star...
originally posted by: neoholographic
HAS BEEN IN IT'S HABITABLE ZONE FOR 6 BILLION YEARS
EARTH SIZE PLANET
AROUND G2 STAR LIKE THE SUN
385 DAYS PER YEAR ORBIT
originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance
originally posted by: neoholographic
HAS BEEN IN IT'S HABITABLE ZONE FOR 6 BILLION YEARS
EARTH SIZE PLANET
AROUND G2 STAR LIKE THE SUN
385 DAYS PER YEAR ORBIT
No matter how many times you repeat that, it still doesn't make it anywhere near as big of a deal as you seem to think it does. Most astronomers (and educated people) have suspected that Earth-like worlds are rather common for many, many years. This discovery is nice in that it supports those assumptions, but that's about the end of it.
Just because a planet is in a "habitable zone", is rocky (like the Earth), and orbits a similar star to ours, does not, in any way, mean that it has life on it.
originally posted by: neoholographic
HAS BEEN IN IT'S HABITABLE ZONE FOR 6 BILLION YEARS
EARTH SIZE PLANET
AROUND G2 STAR LIKE THE SUN
385 DAYS PER YEAR ORBIT