The New Earth

The New Earth

by Rick S Apr 24, 2007 10:44PM PDT

<b>Found 20 light years away: the New Earth</b>

It's got the same climate as Earth, plus water and gravity. A newly discovered planet is the most stunning evidence that life - just like us - might be out there.

Above a calm, dark ocean, a huge, bloated red sun rises in the sky - a full ten times the size of our Sun as seen from Earth. Small waves lap at a sandy shore and on the beach, something stirs...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=450467&in_page_id=1965

Discussion is locked

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Life - just like us..

by EdH Apr 25, 2007 12:00AM PDT

Not very likely, but life NOT like us is more what I would expect. Intelligence would be a bonus.

Either way, very interesting.

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"Life - just like us..

by drpruner. Apr 25, 2007 1:12AM PDT

Now, that is bad news.

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reply to: "Life - just like us..

by caktus Apr 25, 2007 12:42PM PDT

Maybe smarter!

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I didn't realize....

by Angeline Booher Apr 25, 2007 12:25AM PDT

.... that an earth-bound like the Chilean telescope was "good" enough to "see" outside of our solar system. I do understand that the universe is so vast that only a small portion has been "explored".

I have difficulty in comprehending infinity, and how many solar systems are "out there". How far in the future, if ever, it would be possible to travel at the speed of light there must be so much more to amaze.

This is a silly thing to say , but sometimes I've wondered if all building blocks of life are the same as ours on earth. But from the findings in the article, they seem to be.

Angeline
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email
semods4@yahoo.com

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Clarification...

by EdH Apr 25, 2007 12:42AM PDT

All the stars that you see in the sky are outside of our Solar System, so seeing things outside it is no trick at all. But that telescope can't see the planet directly. It can only deduce its existence by its effects on the star.

The planet was discovered by the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile, which has a special instrument that splits light to find wobbles in different wavelengths. Those wobbles can reveal the existence of other worlds.

And remember as well, that what they are detecting is over 20 years old, so for all we know it's not even there any more.

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Not only are the optics and sky clarity

by drpruner. Apr 25, 2007 1:14AM PDT

very good, but I'm told they now "computerize" the view to make it even clearer.

Of course, I still think the moon landings were faked ...

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It's an interesting story for science fiction, but stories

by Kiddpeat Apr 25, 2007 1:05AM PDT

are not a very good basis for science. The problem is that many think that stories are science. They aren't. They are stories. Speculation. Figments of the imagination.

Note the frequent use of words like 'may be', 'what is possibly', 'could be covered', 'may support life', 'appears to confirm', 'it may be', 'It probably has', and 'will most probably'. In other words, they don't know if ANY of this is true. It's a story; a speculation.

Global warming and other popular theories are much like this. Stories piled on top of stories trying to build an illusion of knowledge. These 'works' do not enhance the credibility of science. They may help increase funding for certain projects.

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by caktus Apr 25, 2007 12:27PM PDT

First two America's. Now, two Earth's.

What next?

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