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Other Solar Systems Could Be More Habitable Than Ours
SternisheFan sends word of new research out of Ohio State University into the possibility of life arising in other star systems:
"Scattered around the Milky Way are stars that resemble our own sun—but a new study is finding that any planets orbiting those stars may very well be hotter and more dynamic than Earth. That's because the interiors of any terrestrial planets in these systems are likely warmer than Earth—up to 25 percent warmer, which would make them more geologically active and more likely to retain enough liquid water to support life, at least in its microbial form. ... 'If it turns out that these planets are warmer than we previously thought, then we can effectively increase the size of the habitable zone around these stars by pushing the habitable zone farther from the host star, and consider more of those planets hospitable to microbial life,' said Unterborn, who presented the results at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco this week."
For life in general, maybe. Possibly. But not us. Humans require a very delicate balance of things that while any one of them is quite common, there's not a lot of evidence that all of them together is. Oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere in the right concentrations, and a lot of H2O? Probably not hard to come by. Strong and uniform magnetic field to trap the atmosphere and deflect solar radiation? Hard to observe empirically; It could be very rare by some accounts. Presence of a moon or other astronomical event to keep the planet spinning on a single axis and not two? That's somewhat common, though limited evidence suggests the closer you get to a star, the less moons will be in orbit around each planet, so there is that. Stable rotation of the planet at a speed sufficient to prevent one side or another from burning up? Again -- evidence points to a moon being a good promoter of this, and not that uncommon. But we have no direct observation of how fast (most) of the planets detected so far in the habitable zone rotate.
And lastly, let's not forget: We're rendering our own planet increasing inhospitable to life by the year. It may be that, in the future, we look for the presence of global warming as an indicator of alien life, as we frantically work to either save our planet, or try to find a new one to destroy.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Out of the unfathomable amount of planets in the universe, there just has to be a better one somewhere. Trouble is getting there
I can't help to think there is more intelligent life elsewhere. There has to be....
As we just are too stupid to find it yet.
I hope we live to see proof....just so the backwards amongst us eat crow.
What is 50% warmer supposed to be? This makes no sense in physics. Only maybe if you refer to temperatures in kelvin.
The atmosphere. Move Venus out to the orbit of Earth or even Mars and it would still be way too hot and toxic.
Yes, we should take a lesson from this! Just look at what happened to Venuvian civilization after they started burning all their fossilized Venuvian dinosaurs!
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Runaway greenhouse effect. Basically the fate Earth will end up in.
No. There's been times in the past when the CO2 levels in our atmosphere were twenty times higher than they are today. The rise since the Industrial Revolution is nothing compared to back then. Of course, back then we had "tropical" climes north of the Arctic Circle, but it didn't lead to a Venus-like runaway greenhouse effect. No, the true horror will be men wearing Speedos on the beach in Point Barrow...
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
Blow up a balloon. Now, look at that rubber covering. That's where we live on the balloon planet. We could mine as much as we want from the crust and literally not even scratch the surface. Now, maybe some day we'll have mantle drilling operations to extract molten materials from deep within the planet, but no, we're not doing that, so no. Besides, Get out your GPS. Wait till a little before the moon is rising or after it has just set. Take a GPS elevation measurement. Then, take one again when the moon is directly overhead. Where I'm at the crust fluctuates ~30cm (one foot), just due to the moon's tidal forces... Massaging the crust like that has to have some effect on tectonics doncha think? Imagine all the friction that flexing causes...
We may have 25% less radioactive elements in our planet's interior than some of these other planets, but we have a large moon that is causing a significant amount of tidal friction. That should help close the internal heat gap a bit...and as a bonus it keeps our axis fairly stable.
There are many different types of homes out there. Some just have better floor heating than Earth. I rather like our bright heat lamp in the sky...so do the plants in my yard.
A good discovery nonetheless. I'm excited that life may have more places where it can exist, and perhaps even thrive like it has done here on Earth.
Hotter and more dynamic might be great for evolving bacteria, but it might be problematic for things like civilizations or intelligent life. One of the improbable things about Earth IMO is not that life evolved in the first place, but that the surface remained kinda sorta stable for oh, two billion years - long enough for it to grow incredibly complex. A lot of heat and dynamism might get you life evolving over and over to the multi-celled organism stage - and then getting wiped out.
Of course, back then we had "tropical" climes north of the Arctic Circle
If you think the entire planet was like Hawaii back then, you're sadly misinformed.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
This is already historically the warmest period that humans have lived through. For most of our existence the human population north of about 35 degrees latitude was counted in the thousands because it was tundra.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
My meteorology instructor said, "Take a basketball, and assume the Earth is that size. The bumps are higher than Everest and the valleys are deeper than the Challenger Deep, but it will do. Dunk it in a bucket and pull it back out. See that sheen of water on the surface? That's the breathable atmosphere." That's always stuck with me.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Last I checked, carbon-based life require amino acids to even get started. But that's only for carbonites like us that we know of. Lots of sci-fi (& some fact) has postulated non-carbon base life, with elements such as silicon, boron & even metal based:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical_types_of_biochemistry
First off, we would have to define & agree on what exactly constitutes 'life', which sounds a lot easier than it actually is. And don't even get me started on 'intelligence' or 'sentience', which complicates the topic no end.
Sorry, lots of things wrong with that post.
It's physically impossible for an object to spin on two axes - if you try you just get it spinning around some intermediate axis. What a moon does is gravitationally "knead" it's parent planet, causing tides in the atmosphere, oceans, and rock. That causes the planet to heat slightly, and may promote the development of life in other ways (tide pools may have played an important role in the early development of life on Earth).
Also a moon will *slow down* its planet's rotation, not speed it up. That tidal heat dissipates energy until the planet is tide-locked with it's moon - in our case we'd have about 12 days per year. The same effect happens in the other direction as well, which is why only one side of the moon is visible from Earth. The sun has a similar effect, though weaker since the sun is much, much further away. Venus and Mercury likely have such long days because they're considerably closer to the sun and so the tidal forces are much greater - given enough time they'll be fully tide-locked and have permanently light and dark faces.
Finally, finding a new planet for us to move to in order to escape the consequences of our actions is not a realistic option - Mars is a likely a viable terraforming candidate, but it'd likely be far easier to repair the damage to our own planet than make that desolate planet green, not to mention it would likely take at least several, and we probably don't have that kind of time if we don't get our act together. Even if we managed the terraforming, transporting several billion people interplanetary distances would likely be beyond our capacity in a relevant timeframe - we're currently adding hundreds of thousands of new people every day. We might be able to create colonies which would be nice for the rich, powerful, and highly desirable, but the vast majority of the population will have to deal with the consequences.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
And if you think the entire planet was a burning hellhole, you're also sadly misinformed.
On balance, the planet was probably somewhat nicer for mammals than it is now.
The habitable zone is not a fine line; it's a nonexistent line. It is a misnomer that is far too anthropocentric.
First, we don't know enough about life to know that life based on chemistry unlike our chemistry is not possible or prevalent. The habitable zone only applies to carbon-based life-as-we-know it. Life could easily be possible using alternative chemistries that can exist on radically different planetary situations.
Then, even taking that into account even life-as-we-know it can exist beyond the habitable zone. For example, one could dream up or even view examples in our own solar system where earthly life could exist that are not in the habitable zone, namely on the moons of gas giants, which are warmed primarily through forces other than our sun. Even parts of planets could have persistent habitable areas for microbial life outside the habitable zone.
Really, all the habitable zone tells us is an area where we are likely to find planets that are close twins to our own. It tells us about potential human habitability. It truly tells us little about actual alien habitability.
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Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
Your comment involved no science though, mine did. Look up some facts.
Also, do not assume someone's political bent from a comment like the one I made. You have no idea about my political leanings, though they tend towards libertarianism, fiscal conservatism, and social liberalism.