Major Discovery: New Planet Could Harbor Water and Life

[dreamer]

An Earth-like planet spotted outside our solar system is the first found that could support liquid water and harbor life, scientists announced today.

link SPACE.com -- Major Discovery: New Planet Could Harbor Water and Life
Do you think there is any other life out there?.

[tman_ndsu08]

Why is water required?

[InTheFlesh?]

It is only required for life on earth as we know it, not necessarily for all life any where.

It's really useful as a solvent, enabling transport of nutrients around organisms, as well as the efficient storage of said nutrients inside cells.

Also reactions can take place due to the fluidity of water, but the relatively high concentrations of reactants inside a solution.

It is also useful for photosynthesis on earth, there by the creation of sugary goodness for life.

We need it as a solvent and for breaking down big chemicals in our food.

(I don't think I am b.s-ing here but feel free to correct me)

But isn't the planet trillions of miles a way, aka out our way a bit.

[Praxius]

Impressive that there is water..... other life? That can be good and bad.... depending on how evolved they are compared to us, and how mature as a human species we can be to interact with them.

The main thing that's so important with the finding of water on the planet, is that it's a big step in allowing us to adapt to the planet and colonize sometime down the road...... This was why there was a big stink about water being found on Mars.... not just because there might have been living creatures at one time on Mars, but also because many organizations in the space exploration genre, have been trying to put together theories and methods for colonizing Mars with humans.

I just hope that if there is life on that planet..... they're a bit more decent then us.

[DEEJ85]

Interesting how this planet id 50% bigger then our earth and has a solar year of only 13 days.

Imagine how strange that would be if the earth was that much bigger then it is now, or having a year last less then 2 weeks? Gravity would be more intense there. Any species would have stronger musculature (or their equivalent) then us, making them quite strong if they were placed on earth. I wonder if the planet rotates like ours does. Do this planet have alternating day and nights?

We have yet to get a really good look at this planet, all we know is that it is in within the range that life on earth would need to survive. Its a small chance, but one of the biggest we have found yet.

[Praxius]

Yeah and as I said, I hope if there is life there, they're friendly..... being from a planet twice our size, I imagine there'd be twice as many of them there, and bigger.... I think we'd get the boots put to us, lol.

[DEEJ85]

Even if there is life on the planet, its a low probability that it is intelligent life let alone if they are technologically advanced.

I hope there is at least basic life or life promoting conditions.

apparently 20.5 light years away from earth. How long would it take our technology to get there?

[RickSp]

Folks, there is no evidence of water or life on the planet. All that the scientists have said is that the planet possibly "could support liquid water and harbor life". It is possible. No more, no less.

[Slevin57]

I think the best case scenerio for life on another planet would be that they are very similar to us.

I wouldn't want superior beings, and I wouldn't want inferior beings.

I always thought that if they got to Earth first, it probbaly meant they were more advanced than us.

I think we look for water planets because of it's potential to spread human life, not necessarily to find another species. Though, it would open up a new world of possibilities.

Oh, and I'd be on the first ship to go.

[DEEJ85]

how many kilometers (or miles) are in a light year?

[RickSp]

Quote by: Slevin57 I think the best case scenerio for life on another planet would be that they are very similar to us.

Given that the planet in question has a mass five times larger than that of Earth and therefore gravity five times as strong, if indeed life exists on it, that life will be significantly different than that on earth.

[RickSp]

Quote by: DEEJ85 how many kilometers (or miles) are in a light year?

9,460,730,472,580.8 km

[DEEJ85]

the article says that the planet is about 20.5 lightyears away.

going by the distance provided to me from RickSp

then the planet is 193,944,974,687,900.25 kilometers away. my calculations could be slightly off since its a huge number.

what is the top cruising speed of our spacecraft? How long would it take to get there? Is there any alternate method of propulsion we can use to lessen the time it takes to get there?

[RickSp]

Einstein's theoretical maximum speed is that of light. Scientists have speculated on designs that could reach 10% of light speed. Various theories provide for closer to light speed travel and even faster than light speed travel though for now warp speed only exists on Star Trek reruns.

Even if you could get to the planet, a radio message traveling at light speed would take over twenty years to be received and another twenty years to get a reply.

[Slevin57]

Finally response times the US Postal Service can handle.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: RickSp Einstein's theoretical maximum speed is that of light. Scientists have speculated on designs that could reach 10% of light speed. Various theories provide for closer to light speed travel and even faster than light speed travel though for now warp speed only exists on Star Trek reruns. Even if you could get to the planet, a radio message traveling at light speed would take over twenty years to be received and another twenty years to get a reply.

Mind boggling, isn't it?


This is the reason I wonder why the dreamers persist in this particular dream. SIT DOWN, your not going anywhere! Your stuck here in the mess you helped create.

Quote by: Slevin57 Finally response times the US Postal Service can handle.

Har har har. Though truthfully, I doubt they could compete in that market either.

[5010]

Quote by: DEEJ85 Interesting how this planet id 50% bigger then our earth and has a solar year of only 13 days.

Hmm... I wonder what the chances are that something orbitting that close is in tidal lock with the star? If so, it would have 1 side facing at all times. All hope for liquid water is lost unless it is rotating.

[DEEJ85]

Exactly, there are countless variables that have to be just right and these things must also be cumulative existing at the same time. We may have found 2-3 of these variables the way they need to be, but it is still a long shot.

I'm also guessing that with the fasted propulsion technology we have, it would take millions if not billions of years to get there by spacecraft. That is if there is anything worth going there for.

[ZNFYRH]

DEEJ85,

It's not about speed. It's about acceleration.

More specifically, it's about the fuel efficiency of the device providing the acceleration.

Couple that with the ability of the traveling species to tolerate magnitudes of their own gravitational force.

What is boils down to is if you can accelerate harder and longer, then you get there sooner.

[Derach]

Quote by: Slevin57 I think the best case scenerio for life on another planet would be that they are very similar to us.

How do you figure? ... For instance, cockroaches have been a FAR more successful creature on earth than humans. I think bacterial life is statistically more likely to evolve and sustain itself because it is unlikely to wipe itself out. No other species on earth has had such a penchant for killing itself as have humans. If human-like life has ever evolved anywhere else, there is a good likelihood it has rendered itself extinct. Look at all the species that has ever been known to exist on earth .... and exactly ONE of those species has ever even expressed an INTEREST in interplanetary travel. I would say the best case for life elsewhere is a very simple organism that can derive energy from whatever source is plentiful on that planet. Unlikely to develop into human-like organisms.