Other Solar Systems Could Be More Habitable Than Ours

A reader sends word of new research out of Ohio State University into the possibility of life arising in other star systems: "Scattered around the Milky Way are stars that resemble our own sun—but a new study is finding that any planets orbiting those stars may very well be hotter and more dynamic than Earth. That's because the interiors of any terrestrial planets in these systems are likely warmer than Earth—up to 25 percent warmer, which would make them more geologically active and more likely to retain enough liquid water to support life, at least in its microbial form. ... 'If it turns out that these planets are warmer than we previously thought, then we can effectively increase the size of the habitable zone around these stars by pushing the habitable zone farther from the host star, and consider more of those planets hospitable to microbial life,' said Unterborn, who presented the results at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco this week."

Re:Nuclear Program Reducing Plate Tectonics?

[cusco]

My meteorology instructor said, "Take a basketball, and assume the Earth is that size. The bumps are higher than Everest and the valleys are deeper than the Challenger Deep, but it will do. Dunk it in a bucket and pull it back out. See that sheen of water on the surface? That's the breathable atmosphere." That's always stuck with me.