Looking For Intelligence

Calgacus writes "We've all read stories about extra-solar planets being found by gravitational wobbles. The Scotsman has a story here about a planet in the Fomalhaut system being discovered because of its wake through a dust cloud. It's further out than other recently discovered planets and astronomers are saying it means there's an odds-on chance of intelligent life being out there. If only there was more on Earth..."

Comments

Life isn't likely there.

[Spudley]

The article doesn't say that this planet itself is in any way relevant to the odds of alien life. And given it was found because of it's signature in a dust cloud (which means that firstly it's very young, and secondly it's likely to be getting a constant bombardment of metors), I don't thing there is likely to be any there right now. Life may develop there (or at least, in that system) in the future, of course, but not yet, and certainly not intelligence.