Earth-like Planet Discovered

[Justin]

[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=450467&in_page_id=1965"]Gleise 581c[/URL]


If you read that article, you have found that new "earth-like" planet has been discovered only a little more than twenty light years from our own. They are only calling this planet "earth-like" because of its size, orbit around its star, and estimated surface temperature, for now, however.

But, that doesn't take away from the significance of the discovery. Scientists are saying that it is very likely the surface is either rock or ice based, or some combination of the two. In all three cases, the likelihood of extraterrestrial life just multiplied many times over.

Its sun is an ancient red dwarf, much smaller than our sun, Sol, and 50 times cooler. However, the planet in question is also much, much closer to its sun than we are to ours. The planet is some 12,000 miles across with a mass of around five times earth's. Because of the star's size, the planet completes its orbit in only thirteen earth days.

I don't need to tell anyone the gravity of this discovery. So, what are your thoughts?

-Justin

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]I want to know about the gravity of the [I]planet[/I]. I think it's kind of important and what. Too much might have an adverse affect on our health....at least initially. Climate adaptations would take several generations, if they occurred at all, so I don't know what to say about that angle.[/FONT]

[Odin M Yggdrasi]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]I want to know about the gravity of the [I]planet[/I]. I think it's kind of important and what. Too much might have an adverse affect on our health....at least initially. Climate adaptations would take several generations, if they occurred at all, so I don't know what to say about that angle.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

I think humans can survive 2G, after all some amusement parks can approach that. Likely what would happen is the body would react to the increased gravity by increasing bone density and also building more muscle. The only people who might have problems are those who already have weak bones or muscles, and would struggle to adapt.

In any case, I don't trust that source since I have never heard of it before. At this very moment I am e-mailing a friend of a friend who works for Nasa (He is the guy that wrote the operating system for the rovers).

Odds are he would be able to find out for certain if this is real or not, since I am sure NASA would be in an uproar.

[Justin]

It's all over the place, man. Google it. NASA has an article on it, too.

The gravity of the planet-- if you had read-- is about twice that of the gravity on Earth. The main concern is actually radiation from being so close to the star, rather than gravity.

-Justin

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]Yeah, UV might be greater, but then I'm not current on the knowledge necessary to make any deductions about that.

And yeah, they have hit multiple Gs in theme parks and aircraft, but I'm talking constant exposure. If I recall correctly, astronauts have to readjust to our gravity after their tour of duty is over, and that's just what, a couple months? (I can't remember.) This is along the lines of actual lifetimes, from a colonization angle. Any sentient life already present would probably be noticeably different in physiology, at least internally.[/FONT]

[Justin]

I doubt there's sentient life. Simply because it is better to doubt until information is available than to believe based on nothing.

If it is there, it has to be primitive. I say that simply because we have received no radio waves of any kind from that area. However, because the star is so ancient and, I would deduce therefore, the planet is so ancient, there has been billions of years for sentient life to evolve.

Meh, who the hell knows? Not me.

-Justin

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]When I say "sentient life", I speak solely from a science fiction perspective. I don't actually believe there is any, either, but the theory makes for an interesting physiological discussion.[/FONT]

[Justin]

Agreed. They'd obviously be bulkier creatures than we are. Of course, that's assuming they took an evolutionary course anything like ours. For all we know, they're tiny worms in flying Matchbox cars.

That, or it's the beginning of what I have long suspected would happen. The discovery that we are actually a part of the Star Wars Galaxy. Maybe we're the undiscovered planet lying deep in the heart of the Unknown Regions. And perhaps, this new planet is a way station for outer galactic expeditions!

o_O

And maybe the whole Galaxy is in one of the many states of Jedi killing sprees. And maybe [i]I'm[/i] the Jedi's only hope!



I've got a bad feeling about this...

-Justin

[James]

[quote]Simply because it is better to doubt until information is available than to believe based on nothing.[/quote]

[color=#606060]I just had to quote that. It's like...one of the most defining statements I've ever read on OtakuBoards, especially coming from a religious person. Haha

I don't mean that as an insult or anything, I just think it's kind of an ironic and kind of funny quote. :catgirl:

Anyhoo, as far as I know, there are a number of Earth-like planets that have already been discovered (which is why I can't imagine NASA being in a particular uproar over this).

Perhaps the other planets that are considered "Earth-like" are just too far away though, I'm not sure. But I'm certain I've heard of a number of these discoveries in recent years.

Still, it's interesting. I just wish we had the ability to go out there and visit it. :catgirl:[/color]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well I believe there's only one really clever and amazing thing I can say to all of this scientific hoopla:

[quote] The proof that there is intelligent life out there, is that they have not tried to make contact with us yet.
[/quote][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Shy]

[size=1]Are we really sure that it's Earth-like?

[center][IMG]http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee132/Runaway511/Potaending.jpg[/IMG][/center]

[i]What have we done!?[/i]

Anyway, it's always interesting to hear about discovering planets that might be capable of supporting intelligent life. It always makes me wonder if there are other races out there using similar means to try and find us.

-Shy[/size]

[James]

[color=#606060]I think Shy has a good point in that perhaps an intelligent/developed alien race may not even use radio communications. I mean...who's to say that they would contact us in the first place? I don't think that can be a basis for deciding that there isn't life on the planet (not that we'd assume otherwise, without evidence).

I tend to think that we often assume another species would use similar communication methods to us, but I find that assumption to be unwittingly arrogant in some sense. It could be that there are communications out there but our equipment isn't sensitive or sophisticated enough to pick them up. You know? I think this sort of thing tends to demand more lateral thinking than anything, in terms of coming up with theories and such.[/color]

[outlawstar69]

Exactly!

Thinking about how and why we communicate, we don't use radios and such to talk face to face, with people very close by - that's what our voice is for. When you get past the range that you can hear someone, is where long distance communications come into play.

If a race where to have evolved along the course of, oh let's say intra species telepathy, which wasn't bounded by distance as our voices are - then it could be assumed, that the reason why we can't pick up any radio signals or what have you is because they never needed to use them.

That, or they've already evolved past the point when most races consider mass broadcasting into the stars to be unneeded noise pollution XD

[Korey]

I'll do ya one better

[quote name='The X Files'] The truth is out there[/quote]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Literally in this case, the truth is out there. We won't know anything about the planet until we can actually develop technology capable of reaching such a far away place. All we have now is pure speculation, which I believe is the basis of all religion and scientific discovery (I realise the irony here for me, seeing as I'm a religious person).

This is still a great discovery, seeing as our own existence on Earth may cease to be within the next, oh I don't know, 2 to 3 million years...we need a back up plan by then, wouldn't you say?[/FONT]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]I'm going to have to agree with D'Ann's quote. Because if you think about it, would we really want to get to know a species that created Gerry Springer ?[/SIZE]

[The13thMan]

[quote name='Korey']I All we have now is pure speculation, which I believe is the basis of all religion and scientific discovery

[/FONT][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Religion might be considered pure speculation, but certainly not science. I think the main difference here is religion's pure lack of testable theories. You can't prove or disprove god. You can, on the other hand, prove or disprove gravity... or the existence of nitrogen in our atmosphere... or really anything scientific. You can't consider something to be science unless there is a testable hypothesis. That's why science isn't [I]just [/I]speculation.


[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Kam']I doubt there's sentient life. Simply because it is better to doubt until information is available than to believe based on nothing.[/quote][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]It's not better or worse to doubt one way or another with a lack of evidence. Doubting the existence of sentience on a planet is almost the same as saying you believe there is no life. Instead it's better simply to admit that you don't know one way or the other because of the lack of evidence.

It's fine to speculate though. My guess is that there isn't any. But it's just a speculation.

I actually heard about this planet over a month ago. It was pretty interesting to hear about back then, but i don't think it's that huge of a discovery. Probability dictates that we'd eventually find an earth like planet, we knew it was coming. Now... if we found life on the planet, that would be a big deal. That would be a huge deal.

I don't remember which, but there's speculation that there might be life in one of the moons of Jupiter. Or... i think it was Jupiter... this is just off the top of my head, don't quote me on it. But yeah, the moon's supposed to be a giant ball of ice and some scientists think that if you bore down deep enough you'll hit water, and where there's water there can very easily be life.
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Justin]

The moon you're thinking of is Europa. But the prospect of life on Europe is slim at very best.

-Justin

[Claire]

[FONT="Arial"]I don't have any reason at all to disbelieve in "extraterrestrial life." It would be extremely arrogant to think that Earth is the only planet in the entire universe with lifeforms, considering how humongous the universe is. I can't say for sure whether or not I believe that some of those other lifeforms are sentient or not, though. And even if they ARE "sentient," we would most likely either never come in contact with them or would not be able to communicate with them whatsoever (which we know from Ender's Game would can lead to some VERY VERY BAD things).

But even if someone did discover life on other planets, I'm pretty sure the government would do everything it could to withhold the information from everyone, lest it cause extreme panic. :/

Now that I think about it, lots of things written about in science fiction books are highly likely. Extraterrestrial life, worldwide chaos over its discovery, a full-fledge war against the "aliens..."

...this is why I'm afraid of outer space. :[
[/FONT]

[The13thMan]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]It always seems that aliens get this bad rap of being these evil super advanced guys that are just out to get rid of us. This seems silly to me. I personally think if a race has evolved to the point of space travel then they probably have evolved in all other places as well, including morally. I don't see any reason to think that these creatures would be violent. If they were then it seems like the probably wouldn't have gotten so advanced, they'd just keep killing each other off. I think it would be much more likely that if we ever do come in contact with an alien species it will be a peaceful one. Especially if they make contact with us. I do think the existence of intelligent beings besides our own would have interesting implications in religion, though.

Europa? Thankya.

Why would you say they're slim? Is that what NASA is speculating? How is it compared to the earth like planet?


[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Allamorph]

[quote name='Kam']But the prospect of life on Europe is slim at very best.[/quote]
[FONT=Arial]That what I keep thinking, but those darn Czechs are such pesky little buggers. :p

(Yay typos.)[/FONT]

[Korey]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Like Kam said, there is no life on Europe, only French people. I consider the English to be the snotty cousins in your family who you don't really like, but you're forced to see every now and then. [/FONT]

[Gavin]

[quote name='The13thMan'][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]It always seems that aliens get this bad rap of being these evil super advanced guys that are just out to get rid of us. This seems silly to me. I personally think if a race has evolved to the point of space travel then they probably have evolved in all other places as well, including morally.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]While it is a little Hollywood to think that every advanced sentient species outside our planet are going to do an Independence Day on us, I don't think that advancing technology will have any effect on a species morally. Hell morals are an entirely human contrived thing, so applying them to anything else is a complete waste of time. I think in the future we're going to have a sort of Star Wars situation, where sure we can travel between stars, but we're still in pretty much the same place morally.[/SIZE]

[Odin M Yggdrasi]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]While it is a little Hollywood to think that every advanced sentient species outside our planet are going to do an Independence Day on us, I don't think that advancing technology will have any effect on a species morally. Hell morals are an entirely human contrived thing, so applying them to anything else is a complete waste of time. I think in the future we're going to have a sort of Star Wars situation, where sure we can travel between stars, but we're still in pretty much the same place morally.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

In all probability, First Contact won't be with an alien at all. It will instead be with a robot built by another intelligence. Also, in all probability even a race that has advanced more than we have would have similar morality problems- though you never know because of the infinite number of possible decisions the universe could have made.

The reason for that is it is far more effective for us to build robots to send into space than it is to send actual people, and one would think that the same thing would be true or at least similar for other intelligences that (may) have progressed similarially to us.

Now if we suddenly have a vulcan scout ship landing in Utah in 2063 after the test of the first faster than light spacecraft, then we can accept Star Trek as an accurate prediction of the future.

[Claire]

[quote name='The13thMan'][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]It always seems that aliens get this bad rap of being these evil super advanced guys that are just out to get rid of us. This seems silly to me. I personally think if a race has evolved to the point of space travel then they probably have evolved in all other places as well, including morally. I don't see any reason to think that these creatures would be violent. If they were then it seems like the probably wouldn't have gotten so advanced, they'd just keep killing each other off. I think it would be much more likely that if we ever do come in contact with an alien species it will be a peaceful one. Especially if they make contact with us. I do think the existence of intelligent beings besides our own would have interesting implications in religion, though.
[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[FONT="Arial"]
In Ender's Game, [spoiler]the Buggers were not actually out to destroy the human race. But because the two species couldn't communicate with each other, one of them (I believe the humans) attacked out of fear, and that's how all the Bugger Wars got started.[/spoiler]

So if there are sentient, peaceful beings out there, the chances of them becoming a threat (disregarding any slim chance of discovery to begin with) or remaining harmless are probably 50/50.

Reading this thread, a science-fiction future seems really realistic. xD[/FONT]

[The13thMan]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]While it is a little Hollywood to think that every advanced sentient species outside our planet are going to do an Independence Day on us, I don't think that advancing technology will have any effect on a species morally. Hell morals are an entirely human contrived thing, so applying them to anything else is a complete waste of time. I think in the future we're going to have a sort of Star Wars situation, where sure we can travel between stars, but we're still in pretty much the same place morally.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]I disagree, i don't think morals are purely human. I think any creature that has evolved rational and logical thought will also have to develop morals alongside. I wouldn't expect them to develop exactly the same as us, though, i would expect them to have a few of the basic principles. Mainly i'm talking about the philosophy of ethics. Now, i'm not a philosopher, and i don't have any grand understanding of ethics philosophy, but to my knowledge it's basically stating firstly that as a rational being we (and they) value our own lives. Then next we see that by taking another's life we are endangering our own. This is true because if everybody's taking other people's lives then nobody's is safe. So, as a society, we do not harm others for at least the reason that we value our own lives. I highly doubt any advanced civilization could get around this. Of course, i could be wrong, but these are my thoughts.

Haha, Star Wars. I don't have a huge problem with that. I get to be a Jedi though, i called it! Plus, i want to have double wielding abilities and force stasis field. That's wicked sweet. Oh yeah.
[/FONT][/COLOR]