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Earth As an Extrasolar Planet

Posted by timothy on from the how-else-to-test dept.

sciencehabit writes "Astronomers have a theory that they can detect whether a planet light years away will be habitable by just looking at how its sun is reflected in its atmosphere. To test the idea, they pretended that they were observing Earth from a distant object — in this case, the moon. And sure enough, they picked up critical components for life in Earth's atmosphere: ozone, oxygen, sodium, and nitrogen."

2 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Just wondering by hyades1 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Now if they could only find an algorithm to distill out drunken assholes, perhaps they could even figure out whether intelligent life actually existed on these planets...

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  2. I'm pretending to leave a comment by OverlordQ · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Holy crap it showed up! It works!

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.