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One In Five Sun-Like Stars May Have an Earth-Like Planet

Posted by samzenpus on from the imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery dept.

The Bad Astronomer writes "A new study, looking at over 40,000 stars viewed by the Kepler spacecraft, indicates that 22% of stars like the Sun should have Earth-like planets orbiting them — planets that are similar in size to our home world and with a surface temperature hospitable for liquid water. There are some caveats (they don't include atmospheric issues like the greenhouse effect, which may reduce the overall number, or at cooler stars where there may be many more such planets) but their numbers indicate there could be several billion planets similar to Earth in the Milky Way alone."

2 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Re:We will get there eventually. by rroman · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a big difference. If the theories we know are correct, then FTL information transmission can violate causality. c isn't just a speed limit which we are "not yet able to beat", its violation would violate basic principles of our existence.

  2. Re: Maybe won't make any difference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Accelerating at a constant 1G would take something like a year to reach 99% light-speed..