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Europe's New ET Life Search Programme

Posted by Hemos on from the testing-the-galaxy dept.

hotsauce writes "The Guardian has a report on Europe's ambitious new programme to search for extra terrestial life. ESA has started a program called Cosmic Visions which will launch a series of satelites, starting with Gaia in 2011, and possibly culminating with the Exo-Earth Imager, a mission consisting of 10.000 3-metre mirror telescopes. The French are leading the charge with Corot in 2008."

6 of 221 comments (clear)

  1. Whats with the EU using '.' instead of ',' by n1ywb · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    OK people, why does the EU use '.' as the thousandth's place separater instead of ','? It's really stupid. How can you tell if 10.000 is 10,000 or ten point zero zero zero?? It's totally ambiguous! Oh sure, the CONTEXT, right, because scientists and engineers love figuring out the order of magnitude of a number based on it's context. Things like that are what make Mars probes crash.

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    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  2. Re:10.000 in European = 10,000 in the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    As if nobody could have guessed that. Also UK uses 10,000 not 10.000. Stupid Germans and French.

  3. Stupid Euros by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    What's a "programme"?

  4. Re:HAHAHA You guys talk about space by Calydor · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Only reason a Windows user wouldn't have time to talk about space is because he's constantly rebooting.

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    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  5. Re:10.000 in European = 10,000 in the U.S. by GCP · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Yes, and for those who don't know, it is an error to write ten thousand as 10.000 when you are writing in English, regardless of your nationality. Using English as your language but a period/full stop as your thousands separator means you have an inconsistent localization, requiring the need for a "translation" such as the parent post to finish the job. Likewise, it is an error for an English speaker to use commas as thousands separators when writing in a language such as German.

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    "Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
  6. Waste of Money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    What a colossal waste of money