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Extrasolar Planet Could Harbor Life

Posted by Zonk on from the hello-up-there dept.

BlueMorpho writes with a link to a Space.com article about a recently discovered extrasolar planet that may be able to harbor 'life as we know it.' Orbiting around the star Gliese 581 is a small rocky ball that might have the same liquid ocean and drifting continent configuration we're familiar with. The find may be unique in all of space exploration as this planet appears to be within a habitable band of temperatures for life, and is categorically not a gas giant. "The bottom line is exciting ...The conditions for life could be there, but is life itself? As yet, there's no way to know unless the planet has spawned beings that are at least as clever as we are. As part of the SETI Institute's Project Phoenix, we twice aimed large antennas in the direction of Gliese 581, hoping to pick up a signal that would bespeak technology ... Neither search turned up a signal."

3 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. CELEBRITY HAIR SECRETS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    To improve the quality of the postings on slashdot, please post your celebrity hair secrets here.

    Remember, there's only one way to go: UP!

  2. Earth experiment #1 failed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    God will now try again with another. Luckily, it won't be ready before Earth is totally destroyed by it's inhabitants.

  3. In other news: Coup D'Etat Of U.S. Constitution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Read about your LACK of civil rights in the United Gulags of America.

    Patiotically as usual,
    Kilgore Trout, M.D.