Planet System Similar to Ours Revealed

Now if one is inhabitable, it's on. Most extra solar planets that have been found are gas giants.

 

awesome

 

*yawns*

 

Great, first Iraq, next Iran, and waiting in the wings: Cancri.

Sorry Cancri but resistance to American Democracy is futile.

 

Great, now we have a new planet to screw up horribly.

 

Props to Galactus for keeping us up-to-date on what's going on in the cosmos.

 

Crisis on Infinite Earths?

 

I guess a true gourmet always knows what's on the menu.

 

Any sign of Klingons?

 

Yeah, exactly, we're good at screwing things up

 

I know, soon we'll have factories, cars and evil gas stations polluting the gas giant. THINK OF THE POLAR BEARS!

-- FunBob

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

Pics? PICS? PICS?

Since when did all the hype get the IQ of Toven?

 

There may not have been pictures with the article. He attempted to post a source, so I don't get what the problem is.

 

DINNER TIME!!!

 

you know... i never have and never will understand what defines "habitable"

i've had this conversation with a friend of mine, who is big on science and stuff. while he doesn't neccesarily agree with me, he does understand where i'm coming from.

this universe is WAY too big to define everything that happens in it to the way it happens on earth. my point? in this huge universe, how do we know that there isn't some creature out there who thrives on gas planets? an environment that we would deem uninhabitable?

look at our own planet! we have way too many different types of life on our own planet, that thrive in different circumstances, that other creatures on this planet couldn't survive in, for me to believe that there is one narrow definition of what is habitable and what is not.

i just can't wait until we get invaded by the gassy snow monsters of pluto so i can point and laugh at all the scientists who thought that a planet had to be exactly like earth for life to exist on it.

 

And people still believe we're the only hospitable planet in the universe.

 

^It's their way of dealing with the fact that humans are not special.

 

cool!

 

Well, for all the diversity of life on our planet, they're all governed by some basic biological rules (i.e., there is a biological definition of life). Unofficially, for instance, pretty much everything on this planet relies on water, in one form or another. Water almost entirely facilitates life on this planet. So when you say, "look at our own planet! we have way too many different types of life on our own planet, that thrive in different circumstances," keep that in mind.

Having said that, I agree with you, for the most part. There could be many forms of life that follow the biological definition, but are far removed from anything that we see here due to the constraints of their environment. Water, in our case, is most certainly an environmental constraint of this planet, but not on other planets.

I remember debating this with Honey Vibe once, and she said that I was shifting the definition of life (I was discussing Silicon-based vs. Carbon-based lifeforms), when in fact I was solidly adhering to the biological definition, which says nothing about all lifeforms having to be analogous to the types we see on this planet.

 

I think when they say habitable, they mean habitable to carbon based life forms, such as every species on this planet.

 

This is very interesting news, the universe is a vast and mysterious place. It's only obvious that there would be other planets orbiting other suns, and they've already found a few planets similar to earth. And hopefully, sometime in the future we'll be able to visit these planets, and perhaps one day find other lifeforms.

Also, when they say habitable, I believe they're referring to the "habitable" zone, as in the planets position where it isn't to cold, isn't to hot, but just right! As in earth, being the third rock from the sun where liquid water can exist giving way to life.

Habitable Zone

But who says the requirements for life are the exact same on earth, who knows, perhaps there are other ways life can evolve and thrive. Only time will tell.

 

that's exactly my point.

the universe is way too big, and we know way too little, to be able to say for sure and for certain that there aren't species of life in the universe that rely on environments that we see in our own solar system, like venus, or jupiter or something.

i just refuse to believe that jupiter CAN'T support life.

the type of life we see on earth? obviously. but the universe is way too big for me to say that there isn't something out there that lives in those kinds of environments.

all life -that we know of- relies on water in some way or another. but the planet earth is but 1 small planet in a very huge universe that we don't know much of anything about beyond our own planet, and we don't even know all there is to know about our own planet.