http://www.thestar.com/news/world/ar...for-study?bn=1

I think it looks shiny. No but seriously, what could come out of their study? Could it be a possible candidate for life?

Reminds me of waterworld, good movie

Even if it was, do you know how far 40 light years is? 2012 will end us before we could even reach the 1st light year. GG

Originally Posted by aznsensation

Even if it was, do you know how far 40 light years is? 2012 will end us before we could even reach the 1st light year. GG

I believe 40 light years is about 40 light years away.

But seriously, you've got to change your dp, it's too hard to tell if you're serious or not.

Related to the topic at hand: It may just be my tendency to skim over headlines in the news, but isn't there a discovery similar to this almost every other week? And doesn't it almost always end up being too inconclusive or too inconceivably far away to take any further interest in? I could be horribly wrong about this, forgive me if I am.

Originally Posted by aznsensation

Even if it was, do you know how far 40 light years is? 2012 will end us before we could even reach the 1st light year. GG

RememberTwce answered your question very well.

Originally Posted by RememberTwce

I believe 40 light years is about 40 light years away.

But seriously, you've got to change your dp, it's too hard to tell if you're serious or not.

Related to the topic at hand: It may just be my tendency to skim over headlines in the news, but isn't there a discovery similar to this almost every other week? And doesn't it almost always end up being too inconclusive or too inconceivably far away to take any further interest in? I could be horribly wrong about this, forgive me if I am.

You're right, but I just wanted to share this article cause the planet looks really shiny.

When i first read this, i read underwater plant and wasnt sure why you were so excited from it...

they keep discovering new planets, the only obvious problem is that the ones that have a possibility of sustaining life are ridiculously far away. like the first satellites they sent into deep space are just reaching the edge of our solar system now, no person could survive one of those journeys, and even if we could send ships that go the speed of light with robots today, it would take a min of 80 years to have the slightest idea what they are doing.

still interesting nonetheless

Depending on how far it is from Earth, it might not even exist now.

Well, it doesn't always have to be habitable by us to be interesting. We know that somewhere in the universe, water, the right amount of heat and the presence of an atmosphere gave birth to carbon based life forms (us). If we find other places in the universe that have a similar composition, we might find other life like us.

I never understood the "gravity" of this point when I was younger, so let me explain. All the elements that make us up had their precursors in the Big Bang. When stars were formed out of hydrogen, they started the process of nuclear fusion. As stars age, they create heavier and heavier elements (including iron). Supernovae allow these stars to explode and distribute the elements they created in space. It's like candy from Nestle being scattered into the street when the factory goes out of business. Imagine taking that candy and making a whole world of candy people, candy cars, candy life, etc.

That's how life on Earth formed, because it built up on elements released by dying stars. That process is happening all throughout the universe. Which means similar elements are continually being released into space, arriving on other planets, and creating conditions for life.

That's why these planets are a huge topic. Life happened at one place, it can happen again. It's like rolling a dice and getting it to land on a corner, instead of any number, just because of the setup around it (the friction, the objects, etc). If it happened once, it can happen again.