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GLIESE 581 g. Some call it the "goldilocks planet"- apparently it's not too hot / not too cold and might just be able to sustain life. The atmosphere and gravity of the planet are quite similar to Earth's.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...=feeds-newsxml
What do guys think? Believe there could be life there?
Eh, maybe. Do they know if it has liquid water or an atmosphere that isn't made of hydrochloric acid?
They just say "It appears to have an atmosphere".Quote:
'Given the ubiquity of water, it seems probable that this thing actually has liquid water. On the surface of the Earth, everywhere you have liquid water you have life,' Vogt added.
well of course any planets of a size equal to or bigger than the earth are prone to have an atmosphere due to their gravitational pull but it isnt any conclusive evidence to whether the atmosphere that the planet has is capable of supporting life.
Hmm... now this article talks about Gliese 481 C and sounds a bit more promising. There's almost definitely water there.
True. They don't know much about it yet, obviously, but hey, journalists love speculation about this stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayne
:lol: Very true.
It is the greatest hubris to assume that all life has requirements similar to ours. A different form of life could have very different requirements.
For example, did you know that there is a type of bacteria that can only survive at the boiling point? There are acidic hot springs bacteria and even radioactive waste bacteria. Who is to say that in several millenia it won't be such hardy creatures that populate our planet?
With this in mind, why assume that all life in the entire wide universe has requirements similar to ours?
It is preposterous to assume that if there is life out there, that they have requirements even similar to ours. In fact, our atmosphere might be toxic to them. It is very likely to be so, if there is advanced life.
There could be life forms out there. It is absurd to think that we are the most advanced.
So sure, we found a planet similar to ours, that we could potentially inhabit. What about all the other planets we've found? They are just as likely to hold life, and life that is quite different to us.
Who is to say that said life requires water? what ego!
Interesting. It is thought that in order to have on atmophere you need either a strong magnetic feild ex. earth or a constant release of gas ex. venus or some of Jupiter's moons. Without either you atmosphere simply gets blown away.
So we could have a venus on our hands.
Well actually, unless you have some liquid suitable for transporting whatever the life form uses in the place of proteins, life can't really get going. Other things that are important to consider include respiration and the difficulties that come from changing the ingredients. For sure you might not have to use oxygen, hydrogen and carbon compounds, but others might make the task harder. The reason we're looking for planets like ours is because we know for a sure fire certainty that a planet like ours should be capable of supporting life because at least one of them does and we can prove it. Any other ways life can get started and keep a grip would be speculation, and trying to find a planet suitable for supporting life in a way you don't understand is less likely to be successful.
Problem is, there's no reaching this planet unless by light speed and it's about 2 lightyears away. I think we're better off terraforming Mars. I mean, it's right the fuck next door, and we're already on the cusp of a weather control system, and I think it's a lot more practical than this silly pipe dream of traveling faster than light to a solar system we're unfamiliar with.
If we can develope sleeper cells its won't be that bad. I know its 300,000 years away by conventional means but in the grande sceme of things its not that bad.
we could just slow down light particles so that we can move faster then them.
and I'm back ;)
The speed of light is a fixed quantity. Changing the speed of photons doesn't change the speed of light. Also, welcome back.
We'd need to learn how to navigate wormholes before we even think about finding a shortcut to this goldilocks planet. My money's still on mars or europa.
i know that. but i still find it odd that we can slow down photons. it kinda reminded me of futurama.
Well we have to assume we're the most advanced lifeforms, or at least as advanced as any other planet. Otherwise they would have come to us by now.
We probaby are the most advanced life forms out there that aren't now some sort of energy or in hiding.
Um...Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauer
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/9964/postervv.jpg
From:
ShadowRaven
2 lightyears would be 20 years away if we built an Orion spacecraft. These are about the size of a city so living on one shouldn't be an issue even without hibernation. Plus you have to factor in time dilation due to traveling at 10% the speed of light. In all, reaching a planet that far away is perfectly within our grasp if we were to do so with the intent of settling there. We have the technology, we just don't have the interest.
Perhaps. The Chinese will probably ge there before we do...
Er, I'm not quite sure about that. First off you don't mention any necessities; how are you going to feed an entire city in space? Scrap that; where's the oxygen going to come from? If the answer to both those questions is gardens, likely 75%+ of the ship will need to be nothing but plants. Also, for any long-term mission like the one you're describing, it becomes imperative that we find some source of artificial gravity. And electricity? If you're going outside the bounds of our solar system, then solar power might not be reliable.Quote:
2 lightyears would be 20 years away if we built an Orion spacecraft. These are about the size of a city so living on one shouldn't be an issue even without hibernation. Plus you have to factor in time dilation due to traveling at 10% the speed of light. In all, reaching a planet that far away is perfectly within our grasp if we were to do so with the intent of settling there. We have the technology, we just don't have the interest.
So in a way, you are right. We do have the technology to get there. But human interest in getting there is only one in long list of problems we've got going before such a mission becomes viable.
From:
ShadowRaven