New planet could possibly contain life!

[Muzic]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 ... lanet.html

:D

[AF]

hmm, a large planet 5x the size of earth orbitting a red dwarf in a 15 day year with a large jupiter size planet orbitting even closer to the sun. I'm not sure that any life there would be comfortable.

[Quanto042]

You need to understand that life can exist outside our general concept of what is required to create life.

So long as organic chemicals are being generated, and said planet can generate a bit to electricity (lightning for example) life can pop up anywhere. Even on a world like Titan.

[Candleman]

If there is life on that thing it'd probably blow humanity's mind.

[Muzic]

I wonder how many Xenophobs there are on earth...

[Felix the Cat]

hmm, a large planet 5x the size of earth orbitting a red dwarf in a 15 day year with a large jupiter size planet orbitting even closer to the sun. I'm not sure that any life there would be comfortable.

You misread the article... the "hot Jupiter" in question orbits a different star.

Gliese 581 does have one other planetary companion, which is about the size of Neptune. (which is a lot smaller than Jupiter)

[Zoombie]

I was in an interesting theological discussion with christian Sci-fi writers on a writing forum. Basically it tusn out that a fringe bit of christians think aliens fall, theoloigcally speaking, under the same relm of angles and deamons.

Huh.

We also concluded that Jesus was a vulcan. And by that we mean that on Vulcan, Jesus would show up as a vulan. I was immideatly struck by the image of Jesus appearing on a Jovian planet as a floating gassbag and started giggling.

So I ended the theological discussion with, "Well it was fun, but I don't belive a word of it. Toodles."

[AF]

[quote="article"]Two other planets are known to inhabit the red dwarf system. One is a 15 Earth-mass ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£hot-Jupiter├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼

[Felix the Cat]

[quote="AF"][quote="article"]Two other planets are known to inhabit the red dwarf system. One is a 15 Earth-mass ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£hot-Jupiter├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼

[AF]

You see, I didnt spend 2 hours researching this so I could have the last word like you did.

[Felix the Cat]

You see, I didnt spend 2 hours researching this so I could have the last word like you did.

Took me 15 minutes, it was interesting, and I don't have anything better to do like a paper that's due next Wednesday that comprises 50% of my grade in a vital class.

[Justin Case]

Theres probably a big chance of finding life there, intelligent life though is another matter. But even so, imagine coming to earth 70 million years ago and playing with all the cuddly dinosaurs, not too bad!

[jcnossen]

IMO It's more amazing that you can calculate the size of a planet by the amount of wobble it causes in the star. Mass, ok, but I have no idea how size can be calculated that way.
Ok I know nothing about astrophysics , but it just seems like not enough information to calculate that stuff.

Or maybe if the planet passes in front of the star, but that might never happen.

[Pxtl]

IMO It's more amazing that you can calculate the size of a planet by the amount of wobble it causes in the star. Mass, ok, but I have no idea how size can be calculated that way.
Ok I know nothing about astrophysics , but it just seems like not enough information to calculate that stuff.

Or maybe if the planet passes in front of the star, but that might never happen.

Probably just by educated guesswork. Based on the spectrum of the star they probably guess teh chemical composition of the planet. Based on the chemical composition and mass, they can guess the density and thus diameter. From there you get the gravitational pull, which, combined with it's solar input (which you know based on the locale and spectrum fo the star) gives you what you the needed information to take a wild guess at it's climate.

[Felix the Cat]

IMO It's more amazing that you can calculate the size of a planet by the amount of wobble it causes in the star. Mass, ok, but I have no idea how size can be calculated that way.
Ok I know nothing about astrophysics , but it just seems like not enough information to calculate that stuff.

Or maybe if the planet passes in front of the star, but that might never happen.

Probably just by educated guesswork. Based on the spectrum of the star they probably guess teh chemical composition of the planet. Based on the chemical composition and mass, they can guess the density and thus diameter. From there you get the gravitational pull, which, combined with it's solar input (which you know based on the locale and spectrum fo the star) gives you what you the needed information to take a wild guess at it's climate.

Indeed.

And for some planets - such as Gliese 581 b - they give multiple possible sizes, depending on whether the world is rocky or gaseous. Understandably a rocky world is smaller than a gaseous one of the same mass.

[Forboding Angel]

Regardless, it's farkin cool!

I hope that in my lifetime I will be able to see humans visiting other planets. Maybe it will never happen, but I can dream

[Felix the Cat]

Regardless, it's farkin cool!

I hope that in my lifetime I will be able to see humans visiting other planets. Maybe it will never happen, but I can dream

Other planets within our Solar System or orbiting other stars?

Both would be cool... but I think that we'll only do the first on our own* within our lifetimes**.


*Meaning, assuming no "first contact" with an advanced civilization that brings humanity into some hypothetical galactic community.

**Assuming modern day lifetimes. Personally I think that we'll have the technology to indefinitely extend the human lifetime within 50 years.

[Comp1337]

Personally I think that we'll have the technology to indefinitely extend the human lifetime within 50 years.

as long as it works through stopping aging, it will be a greater technological advance than the transistor.

If/When that happens, we will be facing global mass sterilization though. I wonder how that will affect humanity..

[Felix the Cat]

If/When that happens, we will be facing global mass sterilization though. I wonder how that will affect humanity..

Oh really?

There will be a HUGE debate, as is natural with such a HUGE advance. Naturally, each country will make its own policy.

I'd say that there will be a lot of new issues raised. Whatever treatment allows indefinite life extension will naturally be expensive at first, as all new technologies are.

There will be a massive debate within religious circles about the morality of life extension, and a debate between religious fundamentalists and the rest of society about its legality. The issue of refusing life extension will be opened; some will want to make it mandatory and will regard refusing life extension as tantamount to suicide, while others will see it as a personal choice that cannot be made for someone. The entire question of suicide will be reopened; society will have to determine whether it is a fundamental right to choose one's time of death.

There will be a huge realignment of the social structure of societies, because the old model of "education-work-retirement-death" will no longer be relevant. I'd predict that the new model would be "education-work-retirement-education-work-retirement-repeat", but it's definitely an open question.

Of course, the world will be completely different in 50 years because of the rapid, rapid, rapid pace of technology's advance. The world will be hundreds of times more advanced in 2050 than it was in 2000 than 2000 was to 1950. This advance of technology itself will encounter resistance and will create new social debates.

I'm looking forward to the future, in case you couldn't tell.

[Ishach]

If/When that happens, we will be facing global mass sterilization though. I wonder how that will affect humanity..

Oh really?

There will be a HUGE debate, as is natural with such a HUGE advance. Naturally, each country will make its own policy.

I'd say that there will be a lot of new issues raised. Whatever treatment allows indefinite life extension will naturally be expensive at first, as all new technologies are.

There will be a massive debate within religious circles about the morality of life extension, and a debate between religious fundamentalists and the rest of society about its legality. The issue of refusing life extension will be opened; some will want to make it mandatory and will regard refusing life extension as tantamount to suicide, while others will see it as a personal choice that cannot be made for someone. The entire question of suicide will be reopened; society will have to determine whether it is a fundamental right to choose one's time of death.

There will be a huge realignment of the social structure of societies, because the old model of "education-work-retirement-death" will no longer be relevant. I'd predict that the new model would be "education-work-retirement-education-work-retirement-repeat", but it's definitely an open question.

Of course, the world will be completely different in 50 years because of the rapid, rapid, rapid pace of technology's advance. The world will be hundreds of times more advanced in 2050 than it was in 2000 than 2000 was to 1950. This advance of technology itself will encounter resistance and will create new social debates.

I'm looking forward to the future, in case you couldn't tell.

felix the cat








felix is fat