Potentially habitable planet found

[SLCPUNK]

Very cool.  I just bought a condo there!

Amazing isn't it? There are already pre-construction sale condo ads on craigslist!

[GNRreunioneventually]

Very cool. I just bought a condo there!

Amazing isn't it? There are already pre-construction sale condo ads on craigslist!

ok we've heard enough of the smartass things on this thread. I laughed the first time now your killing it. This is turning into a somewhat intelligent thread here if you have nothing to add then just watch or ask questions if you don't understand or something or what ever.......

[Gordon Gekko]

Seems to be ideal. In the winter, all the elderly Jewish people could fly down to the hot planet so we wouldn't have to deal with their driving.

[polluxlm]

and what would a ship and person be made up of? matter.

Not necessarily. Matter is bottom line energy with different frequencies, so it is theoretically possible to transfer matter into pure energy.

[Robman?]

and what would a ship and person be made up of? matter.

Not necessarily. Matter is bottom line energy with different frequencies, so it is theoretically possible to transfer matter into pure energy.

but what are you gonna change it into? light energy? Thats actually a creative idea.

[polluxlm]

and what would a ship and person be made up of? matter.

Not necessarily. Matter is bottom line energy with different frequencies, so it is theoretically possible to transfer matter into pure energy.

but what are you gonna change it into? light energy? Thats actually a creative idea.

It's not my idea. I saw it on some NASA videos about their 'Tether' project. You saw nothing in bright light or infared, but when they used cameras to detect the ultra violet spectrum you could see several shaped objects coming and going around the 'Tether'. It all ended with the 'Tether' getting an overload of electricity and breaking in half. It was explained by a physician that the nature of the objects meant that they could have been made from pure energy.

The conclusion was that these objects could infact be alien crafts. Hard to believe, sure, but check out the video on google. The first one seems to have been removed, but you can find part 2 here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8524267568796529301&q=the+case+for+nasa+ufo%27s

[Doc Emmett Brown]

Hmm...I saw Brian Greene speak on string theory back when I was in college and while impressive, it struck me as failing  to ultimately reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics.  Then again, that was seven or eight years ago, so perhaps it's advanced considerably?

That's cool you saw Mr Greene.  Last week I saw Hawking give an informal talk about the progress being made in reconciling relativity and QM, but the solution is still elusive.  In freshman year, physics students take the basic introduction to special relativity, and there's no probability involved at all.  All the equations are determinisitic. Sophomore year brings intro to QM, and now all of a sudden, all the questions are prefixed by 'What is the likelihood of...'.  There is an abrupt jump in the mode of thinking. 

Take for instance, Einstein's gedanken experiments, and compare to the situation of an electron tunneling through a barrier.  It used to be that we (as macro humans) could more easily relate to the thought experiments rather than tunneling which is a probabilistic event.  But computers have changed all that - as the chips become smaller, we approach the laws of QM and have the chance to explore it and test our understanding of it.   It seems we've made much more progress on one end than the other.  We need the ability to travel large distances and create large masses that bend space-time.

[LeftToDecay]

Bleh. 20 light years away. Atleast my layman's brains fail to see how space exploration could ever benefit from this discovery in a maningfull way.
12 hours of fame as various news medium covered the discovery, then 2 months of 4 page articles&speculation  in (identical) science magazines and then..that's us done and everyone can forget it is there.
20 light years.it could take good few hunred years  til we even have space mounted telescopes efficient enough to actually "see" something that far away.
Manned flights to mars, pernament self sufficient base(s) in mars/moon would be such a turn on. a "potentially habitable" planet 20 light years away.pffff.
Our own neighbours(atleast Venus&Mars) would measure as major freakin jackpots on the same "potentially habitable" scale.

[MCT]

So what do we do, LTD? Do we shun our human nature and stop reaching for the stars?

Also, your "layman's brains" should read more. The benefits are substantial and the implications, profound.

[GNRreunioneventually]

first off LTD Venus is to cloes to the sun so its to hot 2ndly Mars has a week atmosphere so we'd all die of cancer from the radiation within a short time of our arrival. Coures i don't know maybe if we planted a few trees there, the amount of oxygen would rise and the atmosphere growing thicker. Right?

i'm not sure about the last part of my statment though

[freedom78]

first off LTD Venus is to cloes to the sun so its to hot 2ndly Mars has a week atmosphere so we'd all die of cancer from the radiation within a short time of our arrival. Coures i don't know maybe if we planted a few trees there, the amount of oxygen would rise and the atmosphere growing thicker. Right?

i'm not sure about the last part of my statment though

Mars could be terraformed to create a breathable atmosphere, though the habitability of Venus seems less likely, to me.  And, Mars has ice which, if the temperatures were raised by creating a greenhouse effect, could help to support life.  As far as human habitation off of Earth goes, Mars makes the most sense (not that this new planet isn't exciting, but we certainly won't be there any time soon).

[GNRreunioneventually]

first off LTD Venus is to cloes to the sun so its to hot 2ndly Mars has a week atmosphere so we'd all die of cancer from the radiation within a short time of our arrival. Coures i don't know maybe if we planted a few trees there, the amount of oxygen would rise and the atmosphere growing thicker. Right?

i'm not sure about the last part of my statment though

Mars could be terraformed to create a breathable atmosphere, though the habitability of Venus seems less likely, to me.? And, Mars has ice which, if the temperatures were raised by creating a greenhouse effect, could help to support life.? As far as human habitation off of Earth goes, Mars makes the most sense (not that this new planet isn't exciting, but we certainly won't be there any time soon).

i'll agree to that. I'd say the soonest we, as humans, have of getting there would be by the year 2080 or 2120 assuming that Einstien is right about us not being able to go faster than the speed of light. 20-30 years to get the amount of money to build a new ship then another 20-30 years to build it to be flawless. Another 5-10 years to train people to go up in the ship fix it if shit goes wrong ect. and another 40-50 to actually lift off and get there.

What do you all think?

[freedom78]

i'll agree to that. I'd say the soonest we, as humans, have of getting there would be by the year 2080 or 2120 assuming that Einstien is right about us not being able to go faster than the speed of light. 20-30 years to get the amount of money to build a new ship then another 20-30 years to build it to be flawless. Another 5-10 years to train people to go up in the ship fix it if shit goes wrong ect. and another 40-50 to actually lift off and get there.

What do you all think?

Considering we haven't gone anything CLOSE to the speed of light, I'd say that's a VERY generous estimate.  A manned craft has yet to go to another planet that's nearby, so going to this place anytime soon (within 100 years) seems really unlikely.  I'm willing to bet that before we spend trillions sending people there, we'll send some sort of deep space probe...after all, you'd hate to get there and realize that it's not habitable.

"Fuck!  We've traveled all this way, the planet's not habitable, and we only have 3 boxes of Rice-a-roni left!"

[LeftToDecay]

So what do we do, LTD? Do we shun our human nature and stop reaching for the stars?

To quote myself here,

Manned flights to mars, permanent self sufficient base(s) in mars/moon would be such a turn on. a "potentially habitable" planet 20 light years away.pffff.

Meaningful steps onwards in space exploration are always great news. Getting confirmation that in theory habitable planets existhere and there in space doesn't do anything to space exploration.
Any scientist could have told you(prior this discovery) that odds of habitable planets not existing, considering the vast amount of different types of stars out there, are virtually zero.
I can pretty much guarantee to you, right here and right now, that by the time we have made so gigantic leaps onwards is space research that we can actually see this planet somehow(feel free to understand the term "see" in any way you like here), we have millions of more interesting things to look at.
We, as a mankind, are currently on a stage where we need major steps onwards in the field of the technology space exploration is done with in order to keep doing space exploration that actually goes/leads to somewhere.

[LeftToDecay]

first off LTD Venus is to cloes to the sun so its to hot 2ndly Mars has a week atmosphere so we'd all die of cancer from the radiation within a short time of our arrival.

My point was that if we lived some 20 light years away from our current solar system and looked at here and discovered Venus/Earth/Mars they'd all look very much potentially habitable.

Of course, we couldn't actually see any of the 3 planets. Them being 20 lightyears away and all. We would just have to assume they are there judging from the way light coming from the star they orbit acts.This would give us absolutely no ways to have detailed info of their atmosphere or conditions in general. All we'd know about the planets would be their size, how close to the sun they orbit and their gravity.Then we could start guessing and assuming things based in those 3 factors, plus the nature of the sun they orbit.
The immense heat in Venus is mostly caused due to it's "own" conditions, not sun.If it was up to sun the temperature on Venus "should" be around 40-70 C or so. Instead of the immense 600-700 C or whatever it actually is.

[GNRreunioneventually]

i'll agree to that. I'd say the soonest we, as humans, have of getting there would be by the year 2080 or 2120 assuming that Einstien is right about us not being able to go faster than the speed of light. 20-30 years to get the amount of money to build a new ship then another 20-30 years to build it to be flawless. Another 5-10 years to train people to go up in the ship fix it if shit goes wrong ect. and another 40-50 to actually lift off and get there.

What do you all think?

Considering we haven't gone anything CLOSE to the speed of light, I'd say that's a VERY generous estimate.? A manned craft has yet to go to another planet that's nearby, so going to this place anytime soon (within 100 years) seems really unlikely.? I'm willing to bet that before we spend trillions sending people there, we'll send some sort of deep space probe...after all, you'd hate to get there and realize that it's not habitable.

"Fuck!? We've traveled all this way, the planet's not habitable, and we only have 3 boxes of Rice-a-roni left!"

thats very true

first off LTD Venus is to cloes to the sun so its to hot 2ndly Mars has a week atmosphere so we'd all die of cancer from the radiation within a short time of our arrival.

My point was that if we lived some 20 light years away from our current solar system and looked at here and discovered Venus/Earth/Mars they'd all look very much potentially habitable.

ok i see your point now, thats true too. I really have no idea how they can tell if its habitable or not by just looking at it, its probably the type of lens they use or something.........



hopefully we have a CHINESE DEMOCRACY before we start going to other planets

[MCT]

So what do we do, LTD? Do we shun our human nature and stop reaching for the stars?

To quote myself here,

Manned flights to mars, permanent self sufficient base(s) in mars/moon would be such a turn on. a "potentially habitable" planet 20 light years away.pffff.

Meaningful steps onwards in space exploration are always great news. Getting confirmation that in theory habitable planets existhere and there in space doesn't do anything to space exploration.
Any scientist could have told you(prior this discovery) that odds of habitable planets not existing, considering the vast amount of different types of stars out there, are virtually zero.
I can pretty much guarantee to you, right here and right now, that by the time we have made so gigantic leaps onwards is space research that we can actually see this planet somehow(feel free to understand the term "see" in any way you like here), we have millions of more interesting things to look at.
We, as a mankind, are currently on a stage where we need major steps onwards in the field of the technology space exploration is done with in order to keep doing space exploration that actually goes/leads to somewhere.

You're failing to see the bigger picture and prattling on about practicality here and impracticality there and whatnot, and it's hardly lending credibility to your line of thinking.

Getting confirmation that in theory habitable planets exist here and there in space doesn't do anything to space exploration.

Sure it does. It pushes.

For one thing, the probability of extraterrestrial life is fascinating. And to confirm it would put Humanity in perspective in relation to the Universe. Cherished notions would crumble, religious and societal institutions of all sorts would scramble to adapt, new ones would crop up, governments would react, and the informed citizenry would fundamentally change. Essentially, life would change.

Of course, things would still go on as they do. You'd still work your job, pig out on pizza, buy new clothes, protest the seal hunt, what have you. The world wouldn't fall into anarchy. But on an individual level, somewhere deep inside, people would change. And this would grow into a collective change as we came together as a species, embraced our own nature and walked through the door of discovery. And this, in a general sense, would push space exploration across board.

Also (and I get that you're looking at more practical and short-term considerations) it should be noted that our sun has a finite lifespan. And at some point in the next 10 billion (?) years, if we're still around, it wouldn't hurt to have a new planet or 50. And what's wrong with looking right now?

^I deliberately ignored the obvious technological evolution that would continue through the years and the possibilities that would go along with it for the sake of making a point.

Any scientist could have told you(prior this discovery) that odds of habitable planets not existing, considering the vast amount of different types of stars out there, are virtually zero.

Basically, don't waste my time, right?

Based on that, a news anchor is wasting my time if he's presenting a story about a giant squid finally being caught on camera. We already knew they were lurking around down there in the depths. We've seen them washed up on beaches and all digested in a sperm whale's belly. And that should be enough. Who cares if this is the first time we've ever seen a live one doing it's thing. It's unimportant. And we shouldn't care or waste money and/or time on it.

I don't buy it. Sorry.

I can pretty much guarantee to you, right here and right now, that by the time we have made so gigantic leaps onwards is space research that we can actually see this planet somehow(feel free to understand the term "see" in any way you like here), we have millions of more interesting things to look at.

http://www.terrestrial-planet-finder.com/index.html

Seems like your short-term practicality argument vs the long-term impracticality of the search for habitable planets just took a hit. It's not all so far away that we'll have no room left on the plate...

We, as a mankind, are currently on a stage where we need major steps onwards in the field of the technology space exploration is done with in order to keep doing space exploration that actually goes/leads to somewhere.

A more apt description of our current state of affairs is that we are currently at a stage where the world is replete with problems and we are unable to focus on any given thing as much as we should. As such, space exploration in general becomes a budgetary juggling act.

But I think we're doing pretty good with what we've got.

[Axlfreek]

^i love this guy 

[Axlfreek]

The search for life gets serious

Posted on Friday, 27 April, 2007 | 7:17 | Comments: 0
Swiss scientist Michel Mayor, who heads the European team that announced the discovery of a new potentially habitable planet, has his sights set on an even bigger target, detecting signs of extraterrestrial life. Mayor predicts that top researchers are less than two decades away from being able to detect real signs of such life -- if it exists. "There's only one thing we can do. We can do science, we can do experiments. We have the methodology, the ability to do this simply on science, so let's do it,'' the University of Geneva scientist said Wednesday. Mayor, who was credited in 1995 with co-finding the first planets outside our solar system, said the scientist in him was unsure of the presence of other life forms in our universe. "But, personally, I feel comfortable with the idea of life existing elsewhere,'' the 65-year-old said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Leading astronomers are describing the discovery of the new planet as a big step in the search for life in the universe because it is just the right size, might have water in liquid form, and in galactic terms is relatively nearby at 120 trillion miles away.

But there is still a lot that is unknown about the new planet, named 581 c, discovered by the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile. The telescope, which Mayor helped design, has a special instrument that splits light to find wobbles in different wave lengths, revealing the possible existence of other worlds. "It is an absolutely fantastic instrument with great precision,'' Mayor said, but added that the planet's diameter, atmospheric makeup and contents have yet to be confirmed.

 

[GNRreunioneventually]

hey nice find Axlfreek where'd ya get it?