Russrocks
10 Answers
Tommyh
Mate! We can't even get along inter-continentally. Why go to another planet looking for trouble.Earth is still big enough for me.
| 12 years ago. Rating: 12 | |
lindilou
As cool as it sounds,we still have so many secrets to reveal...astronomers have recently discovered many possible planets but we haven't the means (as in technologies and the ability to transcend dimensions of time and space) of reaching these places...yet!
| 12 years ago. Rating: 11 | |
melandrupert
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of extraterrestrial life. This interdisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry, laboratory and field research into the origins and early evolution of life on Earth, and studies of the potential for life to adapt to challenges on Earth and in outer space. Astrobiology addresses the question of whether life exists beyond Earth, and how humans can detect it if it does.[2] (The term exobiology is similar but more specific — it covers the search for life beyond Earth, and the effects of extraterrestrial environments on living things.
Astrobiology makes use of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, molecular biology, ecology, planetary science, geography, and geology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from the biosphere on Earth.[4][5] Astrobiology concerns itself with interpretation of existing scientific data; given more detailed and reliable data from other parts of the universe, the roots of astrobiology itself—physics, chemistry and biology—may have their theoretical bases challenged. Although speculation is entertained to give context, astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scientific theories.
Earth is the only place in the universe known to harbor life.[6][7] However, recent advances in planetary science have changed fundamental assumptions about the possibility of life in the universe, raising the estimates of habitable zones around other stars and the search for extraterrestrial microbial life.[8] The possibility of life on Mars, either currently or in the past, is an active area of research.from wiki
| 12 years ago. Rating: 11 | |
daren1
digger
jhharlan
keviny
clu
doolittle
Russrocks
NASA's 'astonishing' find: 54 planets that can sustain human life The space agency has identified dozens of planets that may be hospitable to earthlings. Could intelligent life be living on one of them?
In the past, scientists have had trouble spotting faraway planets where life could exist as we know it on Earth. But thanks to the Kepler telescope, which has been orbiting the sun since 2009, NASA has detected an "astonishing" 1,235 possible planets outside the Earth's solar system — and 54 of them have conditions conducive to liquid water, meaning they might be habitable. The discovery has astronomers giddy, because until now only two known planets were thought to be in the "Goldilocks zone," where conditions are just right for supporting human life.
How did scientists find the planets? Kepler, an orbiting NASA telescope, has been gazing into a small section of sky near the Northern Cross. By measuring the brightness of the 156,000 stars that reside there, Kepler can detect whether planets are crossing the stars' paths. Kepler is able to detect much smaller objects than its predecessors, and a significant number of the planets it has found are only slightly bigger than Earth. Scientists are not completely sure that all the objects they've discovered are planets — they still need to make sure that intergalactic optical illusions aren't responsible for what they're seeing. But preliminary statistical steps show that 85 to 90 percent of the objects Kepler uncovered are real planetary bodies, not aberrations.
What are the chances of finding another Earth? "This is the first big step" toward answering that ancient question, says Sara Seager at M.I.T., as quoted by The New York Times. At first glance, says Dennis Overbye at the Times, not one of them appears to be a "cosmic Eden fit for life as we know it." The fact that scientists have found so many planets in such a short time has fostered optimism about finding one that is habitable.
Sources: NY Times, Huffington Post, CBS News, Christian Science Montior
| 12 years ago. Rating: 4 | |
