Looking For Earth-Like Exoplanets 73
Discover Magazine is running a story detailing the search for planets like Earth orbiting other stars. While we've been able to locate a few "super earths" so far, none of them really compare in size or the potential for habitability with our own world. Fortunately, advances in data analysis and new space-based telescopes — such as Kepler, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the already-launched CoRoT (PDF) — have some astronomers predicting we'll find such an exoplanet by 2010, and a habitable one by 2012. Earth-based telescopes are also in the hunt, though the article notes, "even if a habitable Earth-like world is found first from the ground, it will most likely take a space observatory to search for the chemical signals that tell us what we really want to know: Is anything living out there? If the planet is one that can be observed transiting, it just might be possible to provide a hint of an answer in the next few years."
Super Earths??? (Score:4, Funny)
The future is 2012 (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The future is 2012 (Score:3, Funny)
Yes. It will be like a whole new world.
Re:But... (Score:4, Funny)
Increase the rotational speed of the planet so much that the centripetal force counteracts gravity. Then, with giant nets, catch the oil as it floats up from the surface. Then, pump it through a hose and squirt it back to a giant funnel sitting outside earth. I mean, our only other alternative is NON-fossil based fuels, and that's just CRAZY!
Re:Wow... An article about planets that isn't... (Score:4, Funny)
Why such a low upper limit on gravity? Lichen don't care what they weigh.