Planet confirmed that could have water
Kepler-22b is the first confirmed planet in the “habitable zone,” the area around a star where a planet could exist with liquid water on its surface, that has been discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission.
The planet’s radius is about 2.4 times that of the Earth. It is located about 600 light years away. Its orbital period is shorter than that of the Earth: a "year" on Kepler-22b is 290 days instead of 365.
There were two other planets confirmed this year by other projects in the habitable zone, but their stars are much cooler than our Sun, and their orbits are more like that of Venus or Mars, scientists say.
Kepler-22b is 15% closer to its star than we are to the Sun. But since Kepler-22b's star is dimmer, lower in temperature and smaller than our Sun, researchers' modeling suggests it is a similar temperature to the Earth, said Bill Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center.
"If the greenhouse warming were similar on this planet and had a surface, its surface temperature would be something like 72 Fahrenheit, a very pleasant temperature here on Earth."
Share your thoughts about searching for life on other planets
The warmer a planet, the more evaporation of water there would be, Borucki said. A planet can't have a surface temperature that's very hot without losing all of the surface water.
The Kepler mission reported in February that it had found 54 planet candidates in the habitable zone; Kepler-22b is the first of these to be confirmed, and those results will be published in The Astrophysical Journal. There are still 48 potential planets from that batch.
Researchers find planets by examining the brightness of stars as a function of time; brightness drops when a potential planet crosses the star. Three transits are required for a planet confirmation. The period of the transit of Kepler 22-b was 7.4 hours. It did not appear to give off its own light, indicating it is a planet and not a star.
Scientists do not yet have a measurement of the mass of Kepler 22-b, which would tell them more about the composition of the planet. This summer, when the planet's star will be high in the sky, ground-based telescopes can attempt to get its mass.
The planet is even more mysterious because its radius is between that of Earth and Uranus and Neptune, both of which have radii about four times the size of Earth's. So we don't know what a planet in this size range typically looks like.
"We have no planet like this in our solar system," he said.
Is life restricted to Earth, or could it exist somewhere like Kepler 22-b? It may be that the characteristics of Earth, with its particular position in the solar system, particular magnetic field strength and presence of larger planets like Jupiter make Earth very rare in having life (this is called the "Rare Earth Hypothesis.") But it's also possible that life in the universe is common, and we're only one example.
"As soon as we find an independent example of life somewhere else, we’ll know it’s ubiquitous throughout the universe. We’re all looking for No. 2," said Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute.
The Kepler mission has now identified a total of 2,326 planet candidates.
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I would totally travel there but I I can't since I took an arrow to the knee...
What about the guy who took a sword in the chest? Why doesn't he get any internet love?
What about Dysentery?
maybe there's a very large ocean of Imodium there
I heard the same excuse from the town guards in Skyrim, as to why they no longer adventure like I do... wonder if there is any kind of connection.
There must be a connection because the arrow in his back didnt help his situation either...
I started packing up my stuff but then I realized it hasn't been added to my GPS yet, I don't know the way.
@I Heart Pudding
I award you ten points sir.
I LOL'ed heartilly
Someone should astral project and check it out.
I already did. Nothing there but Republicans.
Kill it with fire
Nuke it! They want to stay in the stone age anyway.
All first born male children are named Rush.
You sure you projected to the right place? I tried and all I found was a gigantic pile of t-shirts that all said "I traveled hundreds of light-years and all I got was this stupid t-shirt."
You need to ask a Tibetan Buddhist to do that. They do it all the time.
At warp six I will still be old when I get there.
and that is just relative theory right ?
All I know is that most of my relatives have theories.
About 4 months at warp 9.5.............
She won't take much more, Cap'n !
It's not that long a trip if you take the Stargate!
Sorry, gate network is down...they're blaming me for it.
Sory Doc my bad. I think I pushed a blue button instead of the little red one.
That's OK, we'll put you in suspended animation. Pay no attention to the Statue of Liberty when you get there.
Nah, you wouldn't be old however at warp six it would still take a couple months, provided no major course corrections are necessary or that you run into a Klingon fleet.
Those war-birds are a 8itch!
Whoopie! Lets go fishin!
On Kepler-22b as well as in Soviet Russia someone will be fishing you...
In Soviet Russia, habitable planet find YOU.
And giggin frogs ...
Who knows, on this planet 'fishing' might be where fish eat YOU. Just sayin'. You might be biting off more than you're bargaining for here.
@jorgath That is far and away the funniest thing I've read in this entire thread! Kudos and thanks for the laugh.
Your comment has me craving popplers!
As the universe gets bigger, religion gets smaller.
not true – at least god isn't diminished. even with big bang, something had had to exist before it in order to contain the space and dynamics to allow it to happen.
Typical religious reply there. We don't understand it yet, SO IT MUST BE GOD!!!
It IS GOD. Duh.
Bob: typical scientific response: "We don't understand or see it yet" so there must not be any God" and this comment is from a scientist.
haha.. God did it.. yeah... sure... people need to grow up and leave their imaginary beings behind...
I agree with Bob. It's very difficult to live with the unknown but it's worse to tell your self lies and folklore as a way to feel better. What a waste of a life and a mind.
Queen, no it's not typical... To my knowledge there aren't that many atheists out there who claim there is no GOD for sure. Making any positive statements requires evidence. So anyone claiming GOD exists needs to present the evidence otherwise the claim can be simply dismissed. As Carl Sagan used to say, the idea is to withhold the belief until presented with sufficient evidence. In the case of existence of GOD there is no evidence backing that claim, on the other hand there is a lot of evidence debunking religious concepts of many gods out there...
All the planets and suns of the previous universe where sucked in by an immense gravitational pull. When it got too big, the gravitation crushing in on itself caused and incredible explosion called the big bang.
There is as much evidence for God as there s for UFOs
God has no religion.
Atheismo–there are lots of atheists who claim for sure that there is no God. If they held any other position, they are usually called agnostics (they believe there must be something out there, but are not certain what) My point is , that all points of view require certain amounts of faith and blind belief without real proof. It was the same position I had to take in University in my debate class with my Physics professor–the class felt I had not won the debate but the teacher who I debated said, I actually had. On the merits not the prejudice–none of us know–what is weird is the need to ridicule, challenge and eternally debate–as if one side needs to prove their view is superior to the other–pretty much what people of various religions already do.
queenbee10: nobody says there is any proof that there is no God. We just say there is no proof that there is a God. If you think those things that you can't explain are the proofs of God, what if you are just simply too ignorant?
Atheism: provide the evidence of a black hole or what we say it does. Provide the evidence of a quark or various dimensions. Provide the evidence for the temperature of the sun. All conjecture and based on mathematical formulae devised to fit the problem not the other way around–ALL unproven and will remain unproven until we can get to a black hole and observe and measure, get to a quark, travel in another dimension, actually measure the heat of the sun–if we are really honest, even science often takes positions that are not proven, which is why we have so many botched and corrected premises and why each year so many people fall victim to scientific data (like the efficacy of tylenol) and die from it. FACT.
If I recall correctly, according to Stephen Hawking nothing existed before the Big Band. Nothing. No time, no space, no God, no pudding..
Utter rubbish!.....
If the Universe is so massively complex and still so far beyond our capacity to understand, then your God would have to be MANY, MANY times more complex than the Universe in order to have created it and therefore, MANY, MANY times more improbable than any scientific theory we have now..
I mean come on! An invisible Man in the sky who has existed forever (if God has existed forever, then why can the Universe not have existed for ever in some form or another?). Why is that a more rational explanation of the Universe than the Universe having spontaneously created it's present form? It's certainly a lot more feasible than an omnipotent invisible sky being that cares whether Jim Bob got a touchdown on Sunday isn't it?
We used to think that thunder was God being angry with us, until a scientist figured out the real reason. We used to think that Man being able to fly was out of our reach and only the Gods could do it; until the Wright Brothers and the Montgolfiers flew.
Just because we as the Human race don't understand it right this second, does NOT mean that we will not at some time in the future understand more and more of how the Universe works. It's just intellectual laziness to give up and ascribe anything you don't understand to "God"
queenbee10 , obviously you know nothing about Atheism, go wiki the term and find out about positions of atheism.. learn about agnostic atheism... learn about the difference between knowledge and belief..
ddblah: when you close your eyes does the world actually disappear? You say there is no proof of God but for believers, many have had ample proof. It is a matter of threshold and criteria. Perhaps for YOU, God does not exist and no proof has ever been given–but for believers, God has proven Himself many times-you make the supposition that God must prove himself specifically to YOU or the world at large–but you miss the essence of faith. Scripture actually says "believe first" then you will see. YOu keep wanting it to be the other way around. Well, many of those who believe in God–took the leap of faith and believed first–then God revealed Himself. If you fail to follow the instructions–don't be surprised when your results are different than other peoples–but it does not make them wrong–it just means YOU are at an impasse. I am a scientist (microbiologist) and I don't just believe in God, He has proven Himself to me over and over again. But I did believe first–and the proving came later–I did not forget or misconstrue our respective places or feel God owed me an explanation or a revelation.
queenbe, "agnostics (they believe there must be something out there, but are not certain what)" – that's not what agnosticism means.. agnosticism deals with knowledge and not belief. One can be agnostic believer , who claims to believe inspite of knowing it something exists , or agnostic nonbeliever who claims there is no knowledge that could tell us if something exists or not and due to the lack of that knowledge they decide to withhold the belief in a god.
Atheismo–no thank you–atheism is not a belief system it is as subjective as all who proclaim to be atheist. I debate with atheist a lot and many have varying degrees of nonbelief. But it is not a religion, it is a position. There are lucid atheists, virulent ones, passionate ones, hate filled ones, really wonderful ones–but it is basically a nonbelief in a higher being and is primarily akin to existentialism. That aside, it is like people wanting Ron Paul to run for President but failing to understand a President is nothing without his party and political infrastructure at the national, state and local levels. Ron Paul without a party would be a disaster as a President–the same is true for belief in atheism. It is not YOUR version. YOurs is yours but another atheist may go at it an entirely different way. Bottom line–your belief is your own but whether you are a Chrisitan, a Muslim, an atheist, an agnostic, a Jew or a Hindu or whatever–your beliefs need to stop with yourself–you have no more right to push them on anyone else or try to dominate with them than Christians do. and with that, this argument (I hope) is done.
Queenbee10: Maybe you should pray to your God for all the answers to your questions. Let us know when he finally answers you. By the way you might be waiting for quite some time. The rest of us will be waiting for you up ahead on the evolutionary road. You'll recognize us right away, we're the ones with thumbs.
Queenbe, "atheism is not a belief system it is as subjective as all who proclaim to be atheist." – huh?? lol are you that dumb? Go research the term atheism on wikipedia.... " I debate with atheist a lot and many have varying degrees of nonbelief. But it is not a religion, it is a position. There are lucid atheists, virulent ones, passionate ones, hate filled ones, really wonderful ones–but it is basically a nonbelief in a higher being and is primarily akin to existentialism. " – lol, as stated before you know nothing about positions of atheism, keep spewing nonsense.... " YOurs is yours but another atheist may go at it an entirely different way. Bottom line–your belief is your own but whether you are a Chrisitan, a Muslim, an atheist, an agnostic, a Jew or a Hindu or whatever–your beliefs need to stop with yourself–you have no more right to push them on anyone else or try to dominate with them than Christians do. and with that, this argument (I hope) is done. " – no, bottom line is ATHEISM can be a belief when it deals with a positive statements, so an atheist claiming no GOD exists, is making a belief wise statement, but the atheist like myself the agnostic one makes no such claim. The position of an agnostic atheist is such that we reject theistic claims due to the lack of evidence supporting those positions. There is NO belief involved in that position, it's a rejection of a belief based on lack of evidence. You really need to go read more about the positions of atheism before you start lumping them into one group.
Maybe the big bang was God blowing up? Maybe that's why there's a little God in us all :/
"your beliefs need to stop with yourself–you have no more right to push them on anyone else or try to dominate with them than Christians do. and with that, this argument (I hope) is done." – once again.. as an agnostic atheist I reject a belief in GOD, so no I don't have any beliefs which you claim I presumably push on others.... how is rejection of a belief a belief itself?
hey I just want to address everyone, religious and non-religious
The evidence of God is in the complexity of his creation. Never stop questioning, never stop looking, many who have set out to disprove his existence in the end realize his reality. My challenge to all of you is to never be sedentary in your beliefs. It is important to always be seeking out proof, make sure to examine the evidence from both sides. Faith was not meant to be blind, God left evidence so we could see.
"queenbee10 – Bob: typical scientific response: "We don't understand or see it yet" so there must not be any God" and this comment is from a scientist."
No scientist worthy to call themselves that would ever say we dont understand yet but we wont rule out magic beings with supernatural powers.
to the above.
What kind of evidence would you like? Can you give me parameters so I can conduct a scientific inquiry. Also let be noted that since the claim is not of a scientific nature it may be that the model of scientific inquiry would be a inappropriate applied tool in testing the claim of and existence of God.
NotAfraid, keep dreaming ...
KW, for a god that does not intervene it would be hard to ask for evidence, because even if we figure out everything and know how everything came to be we still can't exclude a possibility that all of this was programmed by a creator.. On the other hand for a god that intervenes there should be plenty of evidence out there which is missing. That is why religions fail, because their claims should have evidence but unfortunately don't, or even contradict the observable reality.
..so according to Hawk, nothing produces big bangs? where did this nothing come from and how did nothing react and what did it react with?
queenbee10...
You're arguments are great, and very well spoken. It is obvious to see (from reading your posts) that you understand why you believe what you believe. Which is also the reason why people like AthiesmoMachismo don't have the intelectual capacity to argue with you. The same can't be said for these clowns. They don't know why they reject the idea of God. Athiests love to accuse Christians (or religious people in general) of believing simply because they were told to, but in fact they themselves are the worst offenders. Most wouldn't know a scientific journal if it fell out of the sky and landed on them, much less be able to read it and understand it. They claim "science" is the reason, but in fact don't know the first thing about science.
AthiesmoMachismo, maybe they'll teach you how to make a valid argument next semester, huh?
@bill
Technically, there was nothing before the big bang, not even time. The big bang created everything in our universe, including time. There can not be an all-powerful figure that sets the big bang off if time doesn't exist.
.
But what do I know, dam.mit man I'm a doctor.
Mark, haha.. please don't embarrass yourself.. Queenbe doesn't even understand the difference between agnosticism and atheism, the difference of knowledge and belief, the difference between different positions of atheism... Clearly you don't understand it as well.. you're as much ignorant as it gets, since you claim Queenbe made good arguments, lol.. please kiddo..
Mark, "They don't know why they reject the idea of God." It's simple, your religion does not present any evidence in favor of your claims, better yet, your claims contradict the observable reality... "Athiests love to accuse Christians (or religious people in general) of believing simply because they were told to, but in fact they themselves are the worst offenders. Most wouldn't know a scientific journal if it fell out of the sky and landed on them, much less be able to read it and understand it. They claim "science" is the reason, but in fact don't know the first thing about science. " – lol.. Once again your ignorance shines through your nonsense...
mortal: who said God was a man or in the sky or even on this plane? And are you actually saying that if you cannot fathom or think of something it does not exist? so microbes never existed before the microscope and the sciences ability to fathom and discover them? Back to that old question–if a tree falls in a forest on the other side of the world, does it make a sound? According to you , it would not–because only if you saw the tree, understood the tree and watched it all would it have relevance or actually have happened. Listen to yourself–something more complex than we currently could know or understand? THAT is impossble? Then so are quarks, and black holes and planets 600 light years away–we are not even sure what light years really are or if any living thing can travel like that–that is how much we do not know–we don't even know if the planet is still there or only used to be there–for all we know–we are looking at ourselves and earth–LOL
Queenbe, what GOD are you arguing about? Be precise . You are talking about Christian GOD or a deistic god we know nothing of? If you are talking about the Christian GOD as described in the bible then I am fairly certain that god does not exist, because that version of GOD contradicts the reality, if you are talking about a deistic GOD who's only definition is " a creator" then what's the point of arguing about something we presumably can't measure, don't know what it is, or what it's attributes are , etc.?
Queenbee, "we are not even sure what light years really are or if any living thing can travel like that–that is how much we do not know–we don't even know if the planet is still there or only used to be there–for all we know–we are looking at ourselves and earth–LOL" – we do know what light years are, it's a measure of speed of light the physical constant....
If God was real he would hate you.: thumbs? with said members stuck up your own butts while you drooled and declared each other as pure genuis? LOL Too funny, thank you.
AtheismoMachismo–how many times has the theory of relativity and the speed of light been tweaked or refined–we only think we know until we find out we don't–that is the only truism about science that has been irrefutably proven over and over again, no matter what century. And when we think we know--we always present that information as irrefutable FACT–when we correct it, we never examine why we were wrong or the collateral damage caused by so many led astray–the other fact about "science"
Ok, so I am still not sure....is the cat in the box dead or alive? Has anyone checked on the damn cat?
So what does that mean if the universe if found to be infinite?
traffic should improve dramatically (thank you Steve Wright)
It will mean that we will never see or hear the end of it and the question "are we "there" yet will be eternal.
Infinity is not a number – it is a human concept of a non-limit and may not be interchanged or referred to an empirical value. 1/∞ cannot be defined either. Lets say one second is divided in half, then again and again until it reaches it's smallest point. If the number of time divisions were ∞ (distance units would also be ∞ small) then two approaching object would need to transit an ∞ number of distant units at ∞ speed to meet. Quantum mechanics tell us that both space and time are limited to a Plank's Length. Attempting to define the number of Plank's units in the universe as infinite would violate all empirical math. If quantum mechanics is true, the universe must have a point where time and space started and a point where they will both end.
SB–then we must surmise that Quantum mechanics must not be true–but tell us–if the universe is circular–where the beginning of a circle and where is its end?
The only easy way to describe the shape of the universe in words, drop one dimension and think of it as the 2D surface of a balloon. It doesn't matter where one goes, they will always be in the middle and if they go far enough, ending up at the starting point. The total distance available is limited to an empirical value of quantum units.
Just like pi, or any irrational number, the may repeat ∞ times in concept but if empirical measurements are used, in the real world pi does resolve at some point -what ever the amount of significant digits are used.
Agreed!
C'mon Bill .. not that old, & easily dismissed, argument again.
It always is a battle between religion and science, not that there should be, & the more science proves, the less of religion people belive.
that does not disprove what i said – but i respect your opinion.
actually the lack of scientific evidence just means that my belief in a god is more plausible. science cannot nor will not be able to prove everything out there.
Just pointing out a cause & effect scenario. Science cannot prove everything but God cannot be proven .. hence the need for faith. I don't dissagree with the need some have for faith & that their "faith" is real .. but faith does not make God real in any sense other than psychologically.
"actually the lack of scientific evidence just means that my belief in a god is more plausible. science cannot nor will not be able to prove everything out there." – you need to take LOGIC 101... what an ignorant comment...
AtheismoMachismo–you present an conundrum. You propose that if someone doubts a manmade ideology and premise they need to take a man made study or how to review man made logic and premises...this is not a very good idea, it is tantamount to claiming your guy is the best poker player then challenging all who want to play to play with your "special deck" ergo–"Logic" is a certain way of reviewing and challenging data based on a certain premise and way of challenge and philosophy–it is neither definitive nor absolute. The point? If a person believes in God–then the challenge for them to take up your methodology to challenge your methodology is silly.
People argue premises and beliefs because they differ. Certainly , at the very least one can expect your own support systems and logic to emphasize and support YOUR beliefs–but it does not make neither you nor your systems correct, it is just a fixed end game. If I play a game of craps with you with my loaded dice–I am sure to win–this says nothing about my prowess in shooting craps (after all we used a loaded set of dice) but it would say something about your gullibility.
Logic 101 is only good for people who belief and support the rationale and paradigm of deciphering information using that system–but for those who operate under another set of beliefs or system–your logic is about as unsound to them as theirs is to you. It would be similar to a believer telling you to come to church and let the Holy Spirit enter you so that you could see God is real. He may enter many people but they have to accept that Spirit–
if you do not believe, you would not and therefore–it would not work. A believer will not subscribe to your manmade logic or classes on logic because they are simply the tools to underline the belief systems already established by a man made discipline.
..so we assume that A God created our God...does that mean that god believes in A God..
Yes. His name is Supergod.
no, there is only one god – and he created all matter; seen and unseen – known and unknown
Ahhh the classic, which God came first paradox. One of my favorites.
So is it possible that I am able to create a rock so heavy that even I can't lift it?
thank G. Carlin
If you can tell me the absolute begining and end of numbers, then I will tell you the beginning of God. And by the way he has a name!!!
Prove it Bill. I don't make any claims either way but if you want to state that there is a god then you better have definitive evidence or you look like a child refusing to address reality.
"benice – If you can tell me the absolute begining and end of numbers, then I will tell you the beginning of God. And by the way he has a name!!!"
He does? why? who gave it to him? is it george? I bet its george, george god.
so flanders, i've been meaning to ask you. could jesus microwave a burrito so hot that not even he could eat it?
His name is root.
Jesus can microwave a burrito so hot even Chuck Norris can't eat it.
How so?
maybe religion, but probably not god. Religion only traces our limited anthropomorphic point of view on God and the universe. Just because you call something red doesn't mean its red, right? The bible's only a human telling of what God is.
its really lionel messi anyways
I think Messi would school god on a penalty kick.
God is a pretty god creator of all things, but Messi is a better footballer.
only if your concept of religion (or science) is very narrow....
..just like Ego and Dks..
Atheismo–when you are arguing the point of there not being any proof of God you are arguing your belief that there is no proof. I know there is proof and have had ample amounts of it–but then I am a believer so God then honors his word and proves Himself to me and others who believe. I also ask God for answers and I get them. You don't . I can understand both your frustration and anger and perhaps withholding of a belief in God–what does not make sense it the persistence in ridiculing others or trying to debate or fight over something that is very subjective. God as far as you know is not real based on your experiences. God is real based on mine–the two are actually mutually exclusive and unlike many Christians I personally have no need or desire to convert or share my version of God with you–the bible says seek and ye shall find, I did–if you have not–at this point –it sounds like a personal problem–and your own–not mine.
"when you are arguing the point of there not being any proof of God you are arguing your belief that there is no proof." -- if you make a claim that a particular GOD exists, you are the one with the burden of proof who needs to provide enough evidence to support the hypothesis, so , do you claim you do have evidence supporting your hypothesis? If you do , then please present it to me and I will take a look.... " I know there is proof and have had ample amounts of it–but then I am a believer so God then honors his word and proves Himself to me and others who believe." -- that's not how claims work... You make a claim and bring the evidence to the table, if you claim to be a scientist you should know how SCIENCE works... " I also ask God for answers and I get them." -- interesting, are these answers the kind you could answer on your own ? Next time ask GOD about the theory of everything, or how to fight cancers, and many other diseases, how to end starvation in the world, how to revive the economy, etc... ohhh, he doesn't answer those questions right? Only the simple ones, like where you left your keys , right??? " You don't . " - yeah I don't talk to imaginary beings, that's a symptom of schizophrenia.... " I can understand both your frustration and anger and perhaps withholding of a belief in God–what does not make sense it the persistence in ridiculing others or trying to debate or fight over something that is very subjective. " – - Once again, ancient Greeks, Zulu's Aztecs and other civilizations also had subjective beliefs, today we know they were all a bunch of rubbish.... Subjective beliefs don't matter when it comes to ANSWERS to the universe..... "the bible says seek and ye shall find, I did–if you have not–at this point –it sounds like a personal problem–and your own–not min " -- the bible also tells me how to treat slaves, how to stone people to death and how to practice magic.... Great book to listen to..... ohhh yeah but surely you can come up with nonsense excuses for old testament, right???
My relationship with God is my own and so is His relationship with me. Sort of an A and B thing so you will just have to C your way out of it. If you have a relationship with God it will be your own. You seem to have an incessant need to debate God or believers–why is that? What good does it do you? Surely you are set in your beliefs? If so, surely you do not need to debate what is set? Debates are to sway opinions. Mine is not up for swaying. I not only believe in God I KNOW there is a God–the certainty goes far beyond mere belief, hope or wishful thinking. But where I stand is based on MY relationship and what God is to me. But don't worry–scripture does state that there are certain people born already destined to go to hell–maybe you are one of those so cannot believe. Whatever the case, as I said before–it is your personal problem and burden. Too bad. some people act like kids with their hands eternal in their own ears while screaming at the top of their lungs–no matter if God speaks to them or tries to reach them–they do not have "seeing eyes" or listening ears–that is a deficiency that is self imposed–and again–your personal problem. In the end, think what you like and live how you like–when Judgment day comes–I can guarantee on your particular card will be your interaction with me and you will be held accountable for what you did or did not say or do. Until then, someone with more of a coverting interest will have to talk to you–personally, I am for God simply destroying all nonbelievers who are so arrogant to believe God needs them. He does not–and you have it all wrong–you are NO ONE that God needs to prove anything to or reveal anything–if you cannot get past that fact–you will continue to wait for God to prove Himself and on the day that he finally does–your concession that He is real will be a given as will be your destination–God is not granting any passes to those who finally believe in Him when he manifests–the test is to believe prior to proof not after–if you wait for proof you fail-and you will have eternity to regret that decision and you WILL regret it–that is a guarantee. Good night.
Drink the kool aid and be done with your cowering "god" fearing self you tard.
Maybe the Universe(s) is God(s) since it can spontaneously create itself from nothing according to Steven Hawking, it doesn't even need 'time' to create itself – also then, we all could let go of the science vs God debate for good!
@Johnna – Hate to burst your bubble but humans have not existed for millions of yrs. More like 100's of 1000's.
Bzzzz. Wrong. 4000 years.
We didn't just appear 4,000 years ago, we evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.
you haven't met my mother in-law
buddd ump ump.
The human race is a genetic experiment gone bad.
DNA has been manipulated.
Don't you mean Alienipulated?
When can I move there? I'm so sick of this pathetic world
YES, please take me with you.
Yeah, I hear you. Look at "Truth's" statement above. I'd leave, but I wouldn't want to leave the earth to jack-wagons like him/her. I'd rather rid the earth of them ... one racist at a time.
Ah-ha! How would you run the new world? Would you be king or emperor or?
Try drinking some cyanide-powered Kool-Aid and hitching a lift with a comet! ;-D
You may be sick of this world, but I'm pretty sure that world will make you sicker.
I've astral projected there before. It's really not that big of a deal.
Does that mean we could move there and expand our population 2.4 times?
You're not very good at math, are you?
At present, we lack the technology to get there. We can't even get to our own sun, let alone "there" what it means is that there may be other habitable planets but at the rate we are progressing or backsliding, they will always be out there and out of reach and really ,is that such a bad scenario for the species that destroys most of what it touches?
If we can't get to the sun, then how are we supposed to get rid of Jerry Sandusky? Wasn't the plan to launch him into the sun? I read a lot of news articles, and I am pretty sure that is what I read.
It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for the sun to shine on Earth... and that's only 150 million km away... this planet is located 600 light-years away... which means... someone please do the math (I'm not qualified to figure it out)... that we won't ever stand a chance at visiting this planet... it's too FAR AWAY to even care. But Kudos to NASA for finding it!
to I- Wonder: It's pretty easy math, traveling at the speed of light (which is how fast the light from the sun travels) means that it'll take 600 years to get there...
@queenbee:
With the planet being 600 light years away, it certainly seems like we could never get there in any reasonable amount of time. However, you are leaving out the effects of Einstein's theory of relativity. If we left for this distant planet in a spaceship today going at the speed of light (which is the cosmic speed limit), and people on Earth clocked our travel time, then we would get there in 600 years from Earth's perspective. However, time does not elapse at all at the speed of light. Photons do not age. Traveling just under the speed of light for one Earth-month could equate to hundreds of years on Earth. This is what relativity is all about. So if we had a spaceship (and this is a huge "IF") that could travel at 99.99% the speed of light, then we could jump on board and FEEL like we only took perhaps a few months to get to this distant planet, not 600 years. We would only physically age by a few months, even though all our friends and family we left back on Earth would have died six times over.
CSN–there is this image of us–as a virus–killing our present host and debating about the liklihood of being able to infect an even better host if we can just find some way to get to Sri Lanka. Personally, I am hoping we die out in the host we are in. If we remain the way we are now–the human race deserves no less than to die out and by the pollutions and evils of our own making. If there is other life on another planet–best it is not infected by us.
Yes, but the humans there will be 2.4x smaller making them hobbits. So in a couple generations, they will be a new species and no longer genetically connected to humans.
They would be a new speices, yes, but they would also retain being genetically linked to humans, just as we're still genetically linked to the original microorganisms.
i got dibs on sauron.
Back off, dude.
Much more than that, 2.4 times bigger DIAMETER means almost 14 times larger surface area....
Actually, it means that the gravity would be twice that of earth's. Hope your bones are healthy.
But before people get too excited, Mars is in this solar system's habital zone.
You're not very good at math either
@Todd in DC.. he said a larger radius, he didn't say what the planets mass is. Size does not determine gravity, mass does.
@joe: Article says the new planet is approximately 2.4 times the Earth's radius, whose mean is around 3960mi. The math would seem to indicate this new planet has ~5.75 times the surface area of Earth.
It's 2.4 times the RADIUS of earth, which puts it at roughly 5.8 times the surface area of earth.
Actuall, to calculate the relative gravity there, it would be relative mass divided by the square of the relative radius. If you do the math as assume the density of the planet is the same as earth then the mass would be 2.4 cubed times earth. Thus the relative gravity would be about 2.4 times that of earth.
"But before people get too excited, Mars is in this solar system's habital zone." – Todd in DC
True, but a popular theory on Mars losing it's surface water/atmosphere was from the cooling of it's core, causing the loss of the magnetic field...which is believed to have happened more rapidly than earth because of it's small size.
On the HUGE assumption that planetary systems are formed from similar base elements as our own solar system, and that the theory of mars' core cooling is correct, I would say it is much more likely to have a strong magnetic field than Mars. Due to it's size, it would drawn more cosmic debris than earth (especially if it lacks a Jupiter like planet in the system), which means more opportunity for water rich comets to hit. While a couple of those factors may not be conducive to complex life, it does give a pretty good chance of surface water.
Of course...as you did say, don't get too excited. All we know for what we think is certain is that it is in an area where temperatures could be in the right area for liquid water.
With 2.4 times the radius, if the density were to be about the same as earth, the mass would be 2.4 cubed times that of the Earth, or 13.8 times that of Earth, and the surface area would be 2.4 squared times as much as the #arth's which as pointed out above would be 5.8 times that of Earth's. The gravity would work out to be 2.4 times that of Earth. With 2.4 times the gravity of Earth, even sitting around would be tiring for ordinary humans and walking would be a chore. Since the ability to attract and retain lighter elements within the atmosphere is a function of the gravitational pull, I would give better than even odds that the atmospheric pressure at the surface is much greater than ours, especially if it has a magnetic field to protect its atmosphere from the solar wind. It would be more likely to retain methane and ammonia within its atmosphere than earth although I think it would still be too light to prevent the escape of hydrogen and helium at its temperature since (without actually doing the calculations) most of the molecules speeds would likely be greater than escape velocity. If it were not, its volume and radius would have puffed up to the status of a gas giant by retaining those light gases from space and the solar wind in all likelihood. While it seems to me to be more likely than not that it is a place where we would not wish to live, that does not mean that it would be inhospitable to other forms of life. At any rate, we have no way to get there in the foreseeable future, or even to see it directly at present, so all we can do is speculate.
...That's what she said. ;-P
I for one am very thrilled to discover this amazing news. Moreover, we need to band together and form some sort of human camaraderie in the event of a natural disaster. Godspeed.
hahahahahha u watch to much hollywood.
At least he can spell, unlike you... "to much"
Abdul watches a little too much Star Trek. He wants a utopian Federation where he can travel around the galaxy with Jean-Luc. lol
This saddens me. Our humanity is getting weaker by the day.
Stupid earthlings, It's no wonder you've been stuck on this planet for millions of years and will probably be stuck here for another million years if not more.
You are GAY for that earthling comment
Mmm bottled water from outer space
Now that's funny...
still from their tap though, dont let the label and fancy bottle fool you
I don't think you comprehend how far 600 light-years actually is. Even with Star-Trek-esque technology, we still couldn't get there lol. Technology will never progress to the point that traveling to this planet will be possible. There is a difference between being a dreamer who is rational, and a dreamer that is delusional....
Now, you do have some loons that regularly speak on the History channel about traveling through worm-holes to reach the far reaches of the galaxy. Yeah....They're likely the same people talking about the pyramids being used as energy generators for alien spacecraft.
HAHAHAHAAHAHA
How do you know what our technology will be in 100,000 years? Can you see the future? If not, shut up.
It's called the laws of physics. Technology can't necessarily make everything possible. And you're definitely an idealist if you think we're going to be on this planet in 100,000 years. lol
scientists are currently trying to verify that they discovered a particle with mass that can move faster than the speed of light, so it's not ALL a pipe dream.
live long and prosper and may the force be with you : )
The fact is that we do not currently know and understand all of the natural laws governing our universe, therefore we can not say with absolute certainty what is or is not possible in our universe. That said, it seems improbable that we will be traveling even near the speed of light, let alone faster at any time in the foreseeable future.
I hardly think that stephen hawking and michio kaku, two of the smartest people on the planet at loons. And no they don’t believe the pyramids are alien.
a "dreamer who is rational"? That sounds lame.
Not true. At warp 8, this distance could be covered in 219 days. But that's a hell of a lot of wear and tear on the nacelles and you would burn out your crystals very quickly.
So, you have decided that we will *never* have the technology to travel these distances? Is that similar to the concept that everything that can be invented already has been? 100 years ago, it was 'looneys' that wrote stories about traveling to the moon... or to Mars. Now, we are actually making plans to do it. Did you know that physicists believe they may have discovered a particle that travels *faster* than the speed of light? One thing that science *should* be teaching us is, there are still many, many wonders to be discovered. It's out there, we can 'see' it – we will figure out a way to get there...
I believe that mankind would have been able to get there if their progression was linear. It is not–mankind will be lucky to still be here in 100 years much less thriving. At our present rate of intellectual , cultural and resource generation, we won't even have two wooden sticks left to keep the fire going, as the remaining humans stand at the top of everest trying to keep the rising ocean from lapping at their hooved feet.
CORRECTION: resource DEgeneration.
Dean,
That discovery of particles faster than the speed of light is being checked and rechecked. There is a flaw in that experiment somewhere where its the equipment, distances, times, or misinterpertations of the data.
It requires an infinte amount of energy to get a particle up to the speed of light. Photons do it but have no mass. Nuertrinos do but they also have no mass. Guage fields do it but they have no mass.
The math has been there since Eistein first wrote it and its part of the Standard Model used in Physics today. Most if not all physicists believe it and it has never been disproved but proved time and time again.
How 'bout all the astronauts who have been in space for but a few months, who now have vision problems?
Bollocks to you man. I agree on your pragmatism but every SINGE prediction through the ages of 'this will never ever happen' has been shatterred in much quicker time than even optomists have predicted. Of COURSE, (if we survive ourselves) we'll find a way to travel light years!
"I don't think you comprehend how far 600 light-years actually is. Even with Star-Trek-esque technology, we still couldn't get there lol. Technology will never progress to the point that traveling to this planet will be possible. There is a difference between being a dreamer who is rational, and a dreamer that is delusional...."
Same kind of mentality as "the world is flat", "if God wanted people to fly He would have given them wings", "fly to the moon? Dreamers". By nature, a dreamer takes the irrational and makes it rational. You may never see space travel like this in our future, like others never saw airplanes, submarines, spaceships, people on the moon, planetary explorations... I say dream on.
Well said nt02!
Who was it that predicted that one day a man would be able to stand on one shoreline and talk to a man on another shoreline? Nostradamus? People thought he was nuts.
If man were meant to fly...
You all are comparing apples to oranges. Discovering that the world is round, or creating a craft that can fly around the world is not on the same level as being able to propel someone 600 light-years. By comparison, these things are very mundane.
And actually, many have made the argument that while Hawking is obviously a genius, many of his theories on the capability of man and technology is looney.
are* looney...
There are so many things we don't yet understand. Especially in quantum physics. Most of the things we see and have come to accept as "laws of physics" are not true at the quantum level. What makes you think that laws of physics are absolute? All "laws of physics" are derived through observation and experimentation. If we see something that doesn't fit, the laws are "upgraded" to fit the observation. So, there is nothing we can be sure of.
As to whether traveling so far is even possible; I'd say "probably" not with today's technology. But tomorrow, who knows! I for one would like to believe that it is possible.
"Probably" not possible with today's technology?? That's almost laughable. Our short and long-range propulsion systems are useless when it comes to this type of distance. No pun intended, but we're light-years away from even think of a way of moving matter that quickly, much less create a craft that can propel a human at the speeds necessary to make this possible. Even if we WERE able to somehow propel a human at the speed of light for one second (which would require an infinite amount of energy), that would be almost useless! We're talking about needing to travel at the speed of light constantly for 600 years. Technology can only go so far.
@nappyrzrbk:
Read up a little on Einstein's theory of relativity. You are correct that one second going at the speed of light only gets us one light-second closer to the planet. But time elapsed at a different rate based on perspective. The minimum 600-year travel time is only from a person observing your travels from Earth. At near the speed of light (i.e. on the spaceship) you would hardly be moving through time at all, but you wouldn't realize it. It might only feel like a few months, or a few years, to actually get to the planet if you are on the spaceship. But if you stay on Earth and just watch the spaceship go forth on its travels, your great great great grandchildren would probably be dead before the spaceship got there.
You assume that you "have" to propel your body through space to reach there. That is not an absolute necessity. Ever hear about teleportation? All we may really need to do is transfer the information that makes up your body into another set of atoms at the other end. "Possibly" using Quantum Entanglement or some other yet to be discovered phenomenon that does not have the limitations that Quantum Entanglement has.
Also, the distance we see is because we see our universe as three dimensional (because light travels through the 3 dimensional space). We could very well be living on the 3 dimensional surface of a 4 dimensional hyper-sphere (or some other shape). If the surface is curved, we can tunnel through the 4th dimension, this reducing the distance we need to travel. Or, if holographic theory is to be believed, we could very well be 2 dimensional beings being projected on to a 3 dimensional surface. Which means the distances we see could very well just be an illusion.
You also assume that Einstein's theory is absolute. We all believed that Newton's laws were absolute; until we discovered Quantum Mechanics. There are observed phenomenon that Einstein's theories do not account for. So, that is proof enough that it is not absolute.
So, there is no law that we know of that says for sure that we cannot travel to distant planets within an acceptable time frame, without using unlimited energy. Until we discover such a law, I will believe that it is possible.
Yeah, because pyrimads and worm holes cannot be possble! But a demi-god man resurrecting from death and flying up to the skyis , or turning water into wine and flooding the earth to teach us a lesson with rainbows is possible!!!! Doubters that aliens have visited or have something to do with ancient civilizations, take a long look at your magical religion and ask yourself if it is that different...
The Sumerians had encounters with aliens.
LOL, I have already traveled there, as well as many of my friends. The technology exists today - it's called LSD. Get on board my friend, or be left behind.
Obviously, we would need to fold space to get there. I think we just need a Holtzman drive... it's really quite simple.
Now... who knows where the Protoculture is... We're going to need a lot of that. 🙂
All kidding aside, I wonder how frustrating it must be for the people who did the research to find this planet, only to have people hearing news of its finding do nothing but act stupid and make jokes about going there... Aren't any of you Luddites curious about what we can learn from this planet, having found it, about the odds of life? Don't any of you clowns realize that it wouldn't make a difference if it were only 5 light years away? At the pokey speeds the craft we've built so far, it would still take longer than you have to get there. Also, we have societies that kill as a punishment, reward misbehavior, subsidize stupidity, deny basic rights to women and children on this planet, and you think we're ready for space-travel? I'm glad E.T. hasn't shown up yet, I wouldn't want to have to be the one to explain Earth to him. He'd be phoning home inside of twenty minutes, quoting Kirk, "Beam me up," he'd say. "There's no intelligent life down here."
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” -Einstein
Even if it turned out to be impossible in the end, why should that preclude dreaming it? So much amazing science could be uncovered in the pursuit of examining hypotheses surrounding such travel, including more knowledge about multiple dimensions and the recent excitement at CERN regarding neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. Who's to say the laws of physics we've already established are, in fact, the absolute truth?
A lot of money was wasted too–when we dreamed and spent with no real outcome or payback. We cannot afford the dreams, not when we are bogged down in wars, cannot get beyond our petty differences and do not have money to even pay for the basic needs of any country's citizens. That's why this is on the back burner, dreams ARE free–but they are a problem when they become a budget item in lieu or TCB now.
"A lot of money was wasted too–when we dreamed and spent with no real outcome or payback. We cannot afford the dreams, not when we are bogged down in wars, cannot get beyond our petty differences and do not have money to even pay for the basic needs of any country's citizens. That's why this is on the back burner, dreams ARE free–but they are a problem when they become a budget item in lieu or TCB now." – QueenBee10
As it stands right now, we make about $8 for every $1 spent on space flight and research. The returns just take a little longer. An increased budget for NASA could lead to gains (monetary and technological) that we can barely even begin to fathom.
Hilikus–when is the first time men visited another planet? Never? Uh huh. I was told that had I invested in AOL I would have been a millionaire many times over–it is a nice sentiment–but between that investment and my life was a need to pay bills and survive–much like what is between the US and our budget and our debt and another crazy space program. Because Star Wars or moon landings aside, the program is a drain, and its main success has been to provide a lot of jobs for a lot of nerds who do not want to have to go out and get new jobs and diversify if their budgets are cut.
And When was the last time, we actually visited the moon and actually walked on it? Uh huh. We do not have the money. The return will not be in generations and right now, people have issues like living and eating and finding shelter to worry about–if the droughts, superbugs, global warming, wars, or other issues don't destroy them first. This reminds me of the time my family was on the road and my father's car had a tire blow out. My dad's spare was damaged too so we had to wait for a tow truck. My little brother said "if He man were here he'd help us" there was dead silence because in this situation my dad was not one to kid around. He turned to my brother and said "what the hell did you say". The kid repeated his superhero remark. It was so ridiculous that all my dad could do was laugh. Yeah He man could help us and surely one day there might even been a he man character to rescue cars with blown tires–but not in our life time–so we needed to get on with the business at hand.
Same is true for this–the business at hand is survival–I don't care if the return is a million dollars to every one spent. It is pie in the sky–and if you do not believe that (and must science groupies do not) again tell me how successful we were so far in putting men on other planets–when it happened, etc. We are not likely to survive this planet and go anywhere–in fact at the rate we are progressing, we are in decline and likely to devolve back a few generations at least. Like Einstein said–WWIV will be fought with sticks and stones and from there to a planet 600 light years away is a whole other kind of intelligence that neither the present mentality or generations have–our course is towards a dead end–that place where we congratulate ourselves on our ingenuity, while people with cell phone bombs can hold off and stymie all the technology and the hundreds of millions we throw at them and the main cause of our own troop deaths are friendly fire and our own errors. First things first–guess what? That is not the moon or a planet 600 light years away.
queenbee10...I mean this in the nicest way possible, but that post is the biggest piece of mental garbage I have read in a while. (at least that wasn't intended as mental garbage)
Let me hit a couple of your "points". First, the return on the $8 for ever $1 spent is the return we are getting now, not a projected amount. When I say that the return takes a little more time...I mean it can't be measured quarterly or anything like that. Our space program runs between .04%-.06% (POINT ZERO FOUR TO POINT ZERO SIX) of our annual budget...nothing in other words.
Next point, man not yet stepping foot on another planet. First, let me point out that we haven't failed yet either. About it taking generations...try decades. We already have Mars missions planned. Still, that is irrelevant to what my point was, as is the actual act of stepping foot on the planet...the technology required to successfully complete such a task can help us on earth. Global warming you say? How about the advancement in solar cell technology driven by the space program. How about the ability to make clean drinking water out of hydrogen and oxygen, how about being able to make a fuel source from our atmosphere? Most wars are fought over resources (or lack of)...these technologies bring us new ways to get these resources.
Though there are a lot more words in your post, I fail to find any more attempts at making a point. Your hatred for 'smart people' is ridiculous, as it will be the 'egg heads' who solve these problems you talk about.
what if we were not to focus on getting OURSELVES to this planet, but instead devising technology that could keep members of our species alive for a sufficiently long period of time for the >600 year long trip to this planet? Really, forget warp speed, if we can find a way to provide for ourselves while in a spacecraft, while also ensuring a large enough population on said craft so that normal procreation can occur, who's to say some representative of humans couldn't, in a few centuries, eventually arrive at this planet?
What if... instead we directed our foci and attention on saving the planet we actually already are on? Another way to put your question is that if we are in a boat in the middle of the ocean and the boat is sinking, do we BAIL the water out, or do we imagine the possibility of another boat being over the horizon or an island and dismantle our boat and try to build a new one while we tread water? THAT is the choice which renders all other ideas moot and all other posits of all other ideas–*&^%$#@!
well, it's a potential workaround to said problem. the issues remaining are still pretty monumental however. if you were to attempt to fly some human representatives there, and lets say for arguments sake we could do it at even a quarter of the speed of light, ( which is still far beyond anything we could get remotely close to at this time or in the forseeable future ) you would have to keep those people frozen/suspended/whatever you were planning on doing to them for about 2400 years. then you would still be gambling and hoping that the planet was even habitable.
Nappy, you're math is a little weak. It's no trip to the corner store, but, at warp 9, the math works out to about 145 days. Considering that sea voyages in centuries past sometimes exceeded this time frame, it's just not that improbable. Now, if we could just get people off of gasoline-based propulsion systems and develop an all-electric renewable resource warp drive, we're there.
It might be possible some day for humans to get there, assuming we can build a space ship whose speed approaches that of light (a big IF). If so, the travellers would only age a minimal amount. Of course, any communications back to earth would be at least 600 years.
@kls817
THANK YOU. I must have read fifty comments before finding someone who understands the basics of relativity.
The bending of space and time has been proven to occur in the universe naturally. I believe we have the potential to be there in the next couple of centuries...not 100,000 years. Thinking of traveling in the way Star Trek presents it's warp drive would probably be slower than what we could develop in our future. Of course, the name "Warp Drive" implies warping space...which would be exactly what we wanted to do. The 100+ year old theory of energy and mass being the same thing (e=mc2 obviously), I think we have reason to be optimistic about the future of human space travel.
Actually, at warp 9.9 (which my ship can do), it would only take 65 minutes to travel 600 light years. Engage!
I'd love to move there, but I doubt I could afford the airfare what with the carry-on fees & all.
and if its American, theres a transfer at every planet along the way
600 years in economy class . . . . . . .
Let's move!
That's the very same thing the ebola virus says when it kills its host and sees another potential victim nearby...
So just becuase one or two people aren't interested in science, we should scrap an entire industry and throw away 54 years of scientific acheivment and knowledge as well as an industry that has created the best and highest paying jobs in the world for six decades? If you're not interested, change the cahnnel.
Yes.We should slam dunk all of it right into the nearest dumpster. Knowing the truth about our universe is pointless. It's a waste of time and money. Besides, everyone knows that the world is only 4000 years old and we already have a book that has much of that history recorded. What else do we need to know?
Doc...if you really want to get folks worked up you should drop the antagonist name Trollworth...change it to like Dr.JesusOralGiver and then people will think your a valid nut for Christ....oh...FYI...the hard core creationsist believe the earth is 11k old no 4...lol
By 4000 years, I meant to say 6000 years:
The Bible contains a genealogical record from Adam to Jesus, and our existing calendar is associated with the life of Jesus (BC/AD). The Bible also specifies the age of each man in this lineage at the time he had his first son. Therefore, the age of our world can be easily calculated by adding these years together. According to this Biblical chronology the earth is almost exactly 6000 years old, and approximately 4500 years ago the global flood completely destroyed all terrestrial life except those saved by God through his instructions to Noah.
really wow your sure about that right???? so what your sayn is things found to be older than that are just made up
Yes. Things said to be older than 6000 are completely fictional.
The problem with the bible is that it is neither linear nor time comprehensive. We don't know "when" God created man or in what frame "time" was in. The bible also mentions that a thousand years is like a day to God. Does this mean that each day was a thousand years or a thousand to the thousandth? who knows? Who even knows what the "next day" means? it could mean a sequential day or the next time God decided to work on creation. The 6th day could mean the 6th day he decided to work on his project. For instance, I might work on a project for 2 weeks or 14 days but it might be 14 days spread out over a few years–who knows? What we do know is that the passages in the bible overlap indicating many books, written by many often retelling the same acts. True? Who knows–it is sort of like worm holes and quarks and light years–until it is proven–you either choose to believe or you don't.
queenbee10, you're spewing a bunch of nonsense, the genesis story is a borrowed from a Babylonian myth and changed around to fit the new religion created by ancient Jews... This is theology 101... That story is not meant to be taken with today's knowledge, it was a literal story... sure it sounds stupid today so Christians make up nonsense and claim it's not meant literal anymore, like the 2/3rds of old testament that makes no sense or the immoral laws given in it by God.. nice excuse kiddo.
If you believe the "Adam & Eve" story,
all of humankind comes from incest.
atheismo–it is only nonsense to YOU and people like YOU–but that is neither comprehensive or a majority in this country–so if you disagree–disagree but I am no more speaking "nonsense" than you are--arguing and debating points that are pure scientific conjecture based on information whose timely release is in hopes of not getting a certain budget slashed but whose true outcome has O benefit to us or humanities problems on earth at this time.
Yes, but is it emitting modulated radio?
Was it 600 years ago?
I've been to Kepler 22b – it's nice, but the food on 22a is much better and the current law is that women must be smoking hot and are forbidden to wear clothing (i think the current leader sent his brother to another planet to open a pizza shop)
ok – sign me up. when i get there they can beam me up
Sounds like heaven.
I like where you're going with this – juxtaposing the 'Cain' & Abel mythology with current politics with current science news.
I had my dounts Herman was from this planet.
22b – it's probably very flat.
hahahha...best post of the day
lulz
Let's see... 600 light-years away...
Well people of Planet Earth you have two choices. Continue to allocate more money into the KILLING MACHINES or MORE MONEY INTO PHYSICS AND SPACE. The Universe is governed by the Laws of Physics and if we continue to ignore we will never as a united planet ever leave this solar system with humans aboard.
Signed,
Tony Webb
http://www.CecilFieldSpaceport.com
easy, Killing Machines all the way
Everything on this planet is about making money and doing it NOW. To speak to the "now generation" about anything which would cost money and would benefit future generations and not their own is to put the final nails into the coffin. ain't gonna happen. You may be interested in future space stuff that you nor your offspring for generations is likely to benefit from or see–but the rest of the world is just trying to eat and maybe get the newest cell phone. YOU LOSE. ..and FYI–we kill for market share or resources–always has been the rule in wars and always will be.
Planet in habitable zone confirmed... and stupidity in CNN comment section re-confirmed. Just read through the messages.
obvious troll is obvious
I tried to work out how long it would take us to reach this planet with current technology, which is around 25,000 miles per hour, and it made my head hurt. Suffice it to say, we ain't gettin there any time soon, so keep up the good work NASA. Job security and all that good stuff for the planetary scientists among us. But for us add and subtract mortals out here I gotta tell ya a cure for the common cold will be found before we actually ever set foot on another planet that can sustain life as we know it. And we all know how long we've been looking for that cure.
Mars was discovered thousands of years ago. People have been looking at it through telescopes since they were invented. you reckon they shouldnt have bothered because we wouldnt get there anytime soon?
We have already put rovers there. What do you mean we won't get there?
Yeah, kinda like beautiful women... why look at them if you don't have a chance at dating them? Because we can dream, can't we?
Great to consider Mars–we finally "got there" at least our rovers got there. And the point was? Is it habitable yet? Can people get there yet? NO? So a huge waste of money and revalidation of all of us sci fi types? Think about it–what is the purpose of discovering anything if there is nothing to be done with or about it? We do not have the money to do stuff just because it is there, anymore.
Let's see how long it would take to get there...
1 light year = 6,000,000,000,000 miles
600 light years = 3,600,000,000,000,000 miles
Current transportation technology available = 25,000 mph
Distance traveled per day = 600,000 miles
Distance traveled per year = 219,000,000 miles
Total time required to get there = 16,438,356 years/5,999,999,940 days/143,999,998,560 hours/8,639,999,913,600 minutes/518,399,994,816,000 seconds!
Beam me up scotty!
Just make sure everyone goes to the bathroom before you leave. we are not stopping on the way!
No you won't ever get there. But one of your ancestors may, but only if he doesn't have your mentality.
A hundred years ago.....who would have thought that we would have a machine that could travel 25000mph?? Or even 55mph? Thats only a hundred years ago. Just imagine another hundred years. Your ancestors may be on their way to Keppler. Im just saying....its possible. Nothing is impossible.
You people are missing the point. The discovery isn't about the planet and our likelihood of traveling there... it's about the advancing pace of our technology to even make such a discovery.
One day, when humans learn to stop trying control resources, labor, and one another and instead unite for the common good of humanity, and begin spending the type of efforts on science that are currently being spent on wars and religion and individual greed... your progeny may learn how to bend space in a relative manner to permit travel to such places.
yeah, I'm pretty sure the space bending won't mess anything up.
There's the fault in your statement Joe. Do you really think that humans will ever be able to unite as one and look past religion and differences? I think all this research is great and find the universe extremely interesting but given the amount of money we spend on it, there's a million other things we could be doiong with it to make our lives better here on Earth.
You are assuming that our individual lives today (this generation's lives) are more important to the future of the human race than is advancement in science and tech.
Frankly, unless you are a scientist or innovator or any of the people contributing more or less directly to the progress of the human race, your 'bigger picture' importance is nearly zero. We need to dial up the spending on science and tech, not down.
We cannot eliminate poverty or charity regardless of how much we spent.
vote Federation today, for a better tomorrow!
Lets Go up there and pollute that one too...
Maybe waterworld is non-fiction !
hmm.... Will it be like in Star Trek: First Contact, or will it be more like Contact with Jodie Foster?
No
I think if aliens landed (which they're smart enough not to need to) First Contact theory would absolutly occur in most humans..."Oh...we're not alone? Why are fighting over this dirt?? Let's get out THERE and see other dirt!"
Or, more realistically "get out there and f' up other dirt...lol Which means the Contact Jodie Foster theory is more likely..lol
Independence Day. "Welcome to Earth!" ***PUNCH***
Now we need to refine the technology to determine if free, diatomic oxygen is present and in what percentage, along with other gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and argon. That way we can know the extent of disequilibrium and determine if life as we know it (organic life) is present. Assuming that James Lovelock and the late Lynn Margulis are correct.
What now Al-Gore?
This isn't about Al Gore. Go back to Fox News.
Very Cool!! Can't wait to hear the updates. Thanks Kepler Mission!!
The polls have just closed in Kepler-22b's first caucas.....and even THEY don't want to vote for Mitt Romney
Its there people and there is water. Been there, seen it. Season 2 episode 3.
i see lots of water but no land
great place to go fishing!
No land you say? That doesn't matter.
By the time we can get someone there, that planet will evolve like ours did for millions of years
and be ready to develop by Donald Trump.
As a matter of fact, Rick Perry is praying right now to get the ball going.
I sure want to know these things. Since I have no religious faith, I do feel the need to have faith in something. That the cosmos is awash with living worlds. That we aren't alone. Sure, they are rare compared to all the dead worlds in all the trillions of galaxies out there, but confirming the possibility of other water worlds bolsters my faith of the tenacity of life throughout the cosmos. So yes. I want to know. It's good for my head and heart.
Fritz, that is about the most well thought out and kindest thing I have ever read on CNN's comment section.
Oh Fritz, thank you for putting my thoughts into words! I feel exactly the same way.
Awesome!
LOL. Lack of faith is a choice as is believing that from 600 light years away scientist can determine the composition of a planet surface but they can't even find an eprb in the sea when flying only 45 feet above the waves. Isn't the entire purpose of non belief to believe solely in yourselves? So why look to validation on another planet–it fosters faith in what? The "random" universe which started from nothing and that somehow miraculously manages to support at least one planet with living things on it all while still being random and a pure accident? And you feel your "faith" in what will be restored? Faith is trust and belief–what will you have faith in if there is a world with other beings on it? That randomness and arbitrary life occurs more than once? Where exactly is your "faith" invested?
Even if we were to create a large spacecraft whereby people could breed and live, traveling at around 20,000 m/hr it would take approximately 20.5 million years to reach this place... So if we get moving now we could be there by 20,502,011 AD
'In the year 20,502.011, if man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may find...'
everybody join in now.
that they are no longer people and no longer have "human" bodies...la la la doobie doobie doo.
The Helios probe, launched in the 70's hit speeds of 150,000/mph. Even, though it would still take a prohibitively long time to travel to any neighboring star system, your figures are based on inaccurate assumptions.
accelerating at only 1g continuously, you would only need 1 year to reach nearly the speed of light. so we could be there more like the year 2612 if we REALLY wanted to.
where the hell are YOU going?? lol
Let's send the iranians!
Keplar 22b'ians: "Oh Geez... There really isn't any intelligent life out there.... There goes the planet."
We can only hope, if humans EVER get there, that the inhabitants are not likely to fall for the bead and help the pilgrim trade which hamstrung all other cultures who fell for that all over this world. If there is intelligent life–if they are smart–as soon as we land, they kill the invaders–and 600 years later, the people can earth can find out that they are not welcome. Maybe our reputation will precede us.
A solar system has to be edge-on to us for Kepler to detect these planets. See following from the mission website:
Kepler discovers planets and planet candidates by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars to search for planets that cross in front, or "transit," the stars. Kepler requires at least three transits to verify a signal as a planet.
"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., who led the team that discovered Kepler-22b. "The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."
Okay folks stop moaning and pi$$ing about this. The planet does exist and it does have water. I know this because I have been there – season 2 episode 4. Couple of problems; first, there is no infrastructure on this planet so the inhabinets have been dumping thier internal (if you get my drift) and external waste in the water for eons. Other problem is that with our current technology we would land on the planet exactly 4 months and 3 days after the water all disappeared. On the upside, none of us reading this have a hope in he!! of ever making it there so lets stop griping. Move forward science move forward.
Don't we know already know that there's water on Mars?
It's not known with certainty. That's a key part of Curiosity's mission. Also, although they failed to mention it, I think they are referring to planets in other solar systems.
Actually you are incorrect, there is and we do have proof of water on Mars, just in frozen form. There are signs of running water, but no actual firm proof of that. But there are changes that we have recorded through pictures taken using the MRO that show changes on the ground that could be attributed to running water. But the atmosphere of Mars is too thin to allow water to be in the liquid form for long, water tends to sublimate into water vapor quickly because of that.
There is water all over the solar system in the form of ice; most water on Earth likely came from comets and other Kuiper type objects colliding with the Earth early in its history. Persistent =liquid= water is what they are looking for, and that is what defines a planet as being within the habitable zone.
The whole point of this is not whether we are going to get there. It is so people know that mathematically were are most likely not alone. So the more planets with possible water gets closer to proving that point.
At 600 light years that would mean 8 generations at average life expectance to reach it at the speed of light. Anyone want to volunteer?
If you hit the speed of light, you will reach there in an instant. But, 600 years would have passed on Earth.
If we invest in cryogenics, then yes, I would volunteer to be frozen and sent to explore an alien world.
You assume that other life forms need water to survive just because the ones on Earth do.
Before you criticize the science too much remember it wasn't long ago a majority of the world thought it was living on a flat planet.
Do some research. The ancient Greeks knew that the earth wasn't flat.
Hey Thinker, do some thinking yourself and stop being a dou che. The general statement that you criticized was a good one. "Not that long ago" is unqualified – it could mean 3 centuries ago or 3 millennia ago. If the ancient Greeks did know the earth was round then that knowledge wasn't believed by everyone living as little as a few hundred years ago.
see what he means. "Majority", so some people in few
countries could know that world is not flat..
we're not? there go my plans for just droppng out of sight..........
Ask watson how we get there!
I just heard from informed sources that Marriot Hotels is looking to build a resort there...
I'll bet there are already at least a dozen Starbucks there!
A nice "filler" story when CNN decides there is to be no real news. How many years was this story actually sitting in the dust bin before it was pulled to fill the page?
seriously? NASA spent the last year analysing and confirming the results before releasing the info now.
Seriously? Not really, the light from that baby is only 500 years old when it reaches us. Planets usually last billions of years.
The light we see from there now was emitted say around the time Columbus discovered the western world.
Hi Wes, this was a brand new announcement from NASA. Thanks for reading!
Elizabeth Landau, CNN
Hey Wes,
Would you do me a favor ?
I hate to ask, but....
Please S T F U !!!!!!
If I'm not mistaken, the images (light) we are seeing from this planet is VERY old. That planet could be dead and gone.
shut up
Why all the hate, John?
600 years old, to be precise. Theoretically it could have exploded during the reign of Henry VIII, but that is pretty far fetched.
The artist's rendition is of present-day. 🙂
Seriously, if we had an image of the planet, it would be 600 years old, which is pretty up-to-date. Planets don't just up-and-die.
Thanks! I stand corrected.
Very true. We are actually seeing the past of that planet. Now imagine if we had imagers powerful enough to see great detail. We could send the thing out and take pictures as it travels and see the past of Earth and our neighbors.
that only works if the probe goes faster then the speed of light...
Hmmmm maybe about 600 years old
Um...if it's 600 light years away, then the info is 600 years old. That's not very old when you're talking about astro-physics.
You honestly think scientists, who spend their entire life studying these sort of things, haven't taken that into consideration and you just happened to prove their results wrong?
Good news, its a great start we will have to leave earth and our solar system eventually if we want human existence to continue. Although the world should last a couple million more years till the sun burns out.
Thats not gonna happen for next couple of billion years.
Billion? Oh, WHEW! I was getting worried – I though you said *million*...
Headline says "Planet confirmed could have water"?? Is'nt that like saying the planet could have water?? I mean for us non-scientific types
its confirmed that it is in the “habitable zone,” which means conditions are right that if it has water then it would be in liquid form, and not frozen.
I'm guessing that they mean that the existence of the planet in the habitable zone has been confirmed and it may have water. It's not a good headline.
BTW, that's from the headline on the CNN homepage which is different than the headline above.
What if we contact them and they come here and give us advanced technology?
What if we contact them and they come here and conquer us?
In all likelihood, all they would want from us is I Love Lucy reruns and all our Led Zeppelin songs.
Your comments belie the premise of your name.
While the size of this planet has been given, what is its mass? If it's gravity is also 2.4 times that of earth, we still can't survive there.
All cats on the planet would be pre-flattened...
Its not the mass that matters. its the motion of the ocean
It's so frustrating reading some of the comments. Most of you sound like you have no idea why we pursue scientific endeavors. Looking for other planets, especially those that might sustain life, really is an effort by the scientific community (in my opinion) to discredit the goof belief that we are the creation of some god and unique in the Universe. If and when other planets are discovered that do harbor life, especially intelligent life forms, any supposed validity of any of the religions of mankind will be shot full of holes and all of us can then gather ourselves up, take responsibility for our actions and drop the stupid notion that there might be some glorious salvation when we're done screwing up our planet. It's time the human race grew up and started making decisions based on facts and science rather than ideologies and out of date religions!
so agree... GO SCIENCE!
Even though I do not believe in God, the purpose of science is not to prove there is no God. Its purpose is knowledge, to find out more about the universe than we knew yesterday.
It serves a more practical purpose than just that. Its purpose is the advancement and progress of the human race.
From a technology standpoint, yes, science does improve the human condition. But as pure science, no, science does not matter about the advancement of the human race. It is about finding out knowledge, even if there is no immediate practical purpose. Don't take that as a negative though, because humans always seem able to find a way to turn knowledge, or the pursuit of knowledge, into some sort of technology application.
Unfortunately, a fair number (probably a majority) of the scientists in this world do believe in a higher power and their seeking answers to the possibility of life other than on Earth is not done to 'disprove' the existence of God.
In any case, the discovery of intelligent life on another planet wouldn't deny God. God is regarded by most believers as supreme and omnipotent, meaning having unlimited power and able to do anything. Including whipping up a few trillion stars as well as a few million inhabited planets.
Exactly, God is the creator of all things, not just this planet but of all living things in the vast universe, He created. Its all stated in the Bible already.
Finding new life on different planets, just confirms and concretes the existence of God Universal Government. Which we are not apart of, because of our sinful nature, that started from Adam and Eve disobeying God, which allowed sin into our physical DNA make-up.
But thank God, He sent His Son to die for all mankind, so when Jesus Christ, does indeed come back again, for us, there won't be a need for spaceships too visit all these wonderful places, as we will once again be re-instated into God heavenly government, which includes all the planets that have been forged by His mighty hand, and the beings that inhabit them all.
... So to the scientist I say, keep it up!! You will all get the picture soon enough. As the Bible has predicted it too be, Its been right about everything else up too this point.
Wobbles, you should clarify your definition of "scientist" before you start talking about percentages like that. In a 1998 polling of all the members of the National Academy of Science, over 92% defined themselves as atheist. I can only imagine that number has gone up a little since then (since all indicators over the last 20 years or so show that religion is slowly losing ground, especially in the younger population).
I like your position, BBoy. That would certainly be the case. To prove life elsewhere is to disprove a god!
From all I can see, all you are really doing is spending your time talking about a subject you are completely ignorant about and trying to discredit peoples faith in God. Obviously you are completely ignorant about that as well, otherwise you would realize that you are completely waisting your time; if you think someone with faith is going to listen to your arguments.
When I die, I don't want to be the guy preaching there was no God.
I sincerly hope one day you realize all your doubt is actually belief.
Have fun with that.
Why does the existence of life on another planet refute other religions, at least in my case, the Bible. I don't recall the Bible saying anything about there not being able to be other planets with life on them. Please clarify.
Agreed!!
Okay, the purpose of all scientific inquiry is not to disprove the existence of god(s) however the existence of life on other planets, and in particular other intelligent life forms that have evolved and developed civilizations and societies IF they have no religion or a religion based on an entirely different set of beliefs certainly would do a great deal to discredit the religious orders we have. After all, let's imagine that Planet X had a civilization as advanced or perhaps more advanced than our and they had not developed any religion. Would their entire species be doomed to burn in some hell because they did not believe in the Christian God? Give me a break if you think that is the case! And for those who state, in essence, "you'll be sorry some day when you die and you're confronted by God", I ask you which of the thousands of Gods humans have created will I be confronted by? If I were a "one true god" and I was in charge of the Universe I would much prefer that my creations thought creatively and not like a bunch of sheep being fleeced by the "voices" or "representatives" of "god" that are empower in North America! These guys are all con artists! Here is a question for you... if God created us in his image why aren't we all invisible? After all, has anyone ever laid eyes on God???
@ Confirmed please reread the article and see that there COULD BE water...thus it's not a FACT. Secondly everyone should do themselves a favor and read up on how these planets are discovered. They are not visually seen, but are detected by the dimming of light from distant stars as well as spectral red/blue shift. Using math and what we know about our own solar system, astronomers try to deduce the size, mass and distance from the star. See a pattern here? It's all theoretical and I wish that the media would present it as such. I'm not saying its an incorrect theory...but none of it is a proven fact and most scientific publications present it as such. It's not a discovery as much as detection and deduction.
But the picture is right there at the top of the article!
Thanks for the little lesson, but here's the deal. The methodology, math and idea behind it makes sense and the only way to get true confirmation is to send a ship there, scoop up some water and bring it back home....which is to say highly unlikely, so obviously I'll take this with a grain of salt HOWEVER it still does not take away from this current finding and still does have the implications that extraterrestrial life that's earthlike can exist outside our own planets confines. Times that by basically a bazillion and you can infer that the universe is most likely teeming with life.
I agree that the possibility of life existing off our planet does exist...the universe is a big place and I unfortunately have not visited every corner of it. I don't believe life has to be that common. Considering we only have one for of life here on earth (the only place we KNOW life to exists) and it all shares over 90% the same DNA (which would seem to trace it back to a singular source) its my humble opinion that bio-genesis is a very rare event even when the conditions are perfect. I could definitely be wrong, but that how I interpret the data we actually have.
@Guest1970 By your reasoning, a submarine detecting an incoming torpedo using sonar would just be "theoretical" and not actual observation, because they weren't seeing the torpedo with their eyes. Do you have some theological objection to the existence of other planets? I ask because your "if you can't observe it directly, it's not real" line of reasoning is a classic creationist tactic...
Please re-read my original comment and notice I wasn't saying their findings were incorrect, just at this time they are inconclusive and in the realm of theory and should be treated as such in the media. Your subtle inference that I'm a creationist is also incorrect.
On top of that you depict the planet in what must be only a drawing–not a photo–but don't say so. You're asking for trouble whenever you do that. I'm sure the press will get this wrong all over the world now.
As hard as all these people are looking for habitable planets , it just lets me know they have already given up on our own .
Could it be because there is a question of intellegent life here?
Kind of like deducting that the only reason Columbus explored the Americas was that he had chosen to no longer be engaged/invested in Europe. Non-sequitur.
well, we dont have to be at the football game to enjoy the football. we dont have to be close to the football as long as we have some great cameras to zoom on that football. I hope you understand where I am going with this. How cool would it be to simply develop a camera that would simply zoom on these planets from out living rooms 🙂 !!!!!! Now that is achievable in our lifetime (well! our grandson's lifetime may be!)
Finally, a football reference! Now, how many football fields away is 600 light years – just so most American males can more easily understand.
If you use the 120 yard American football field (which includes the end zones) as your standard, then it would equate to 52.8 quadrillion football fields by my count.
The key to this snippet of a story is that the planet is confirmed to be in the habitable zone AND more remarkable is that they could find a planet only 2.4 times the size of earth. When they first started discovering planets around other stars they had to be really big. 2.4 times the size of earth is a remarkable improvement.
Agreed. Definitely a real achievement of drive, intellect, collaboration and spirit. We could use more of that in this country.
Already been there. It's Kobol.
It's Kamino!! Putting in an order for more clones...
No one is saying that we should try and travel to this planet. As far as stars are concerned this IS close. It is the fact that this planet is rocky (implied) and in the "habital zone" that is important. Anything that gets us one step closer to finding life somewhere other than Earth is the mission. If life were to be discovered somewhere else it would be the greatest discovery ever made. I would love to be around when it happens.
not to mention discovering life on another planet will throw all the bogus religions into a panic. Are all those people going to hell also? What if they have 8 or 9 arms, were they created in gods image? Religion wants to keep science down because eventually it will expose the fairy tale books written thousands of years ago as fairy tales... GO SCIENCE!
No, you got it all wrong, perhaps they did have 7,8,9, or even 10 arms, and they still would be created by God. I have a pet with to heads and when I was 8, I had a pet with 3 eyes, but the only thing God created in his own image is Human. Science has blinded you in many ways, you just havent noticed. At my school, I study science, just like any other school, but I dont study that we evolve, I dont study that we were created by chance. No one was there when the world was formed. In science, they have tracked down who invented every religion in the world, but none have found who created Chistiananity. Why? Because God made it, but scientist think that there always is an explanation, even when there isnt any evidence. Think about it.
if you only knew and understood–not only gravity–but space/time- but first the earth must understand how to live together. It was the purpose the Gods put in front of us-Learn-to live in peace and work together-then we will be given the knowelege to roam the universe
you are correct. We havent even begun to scratch the surface of Our planet's endless potential. I would be embarrassed to meet another race of beings and bring them to Earth. The first thing they would notice is wealth and poverty. They may ask... "Can we showyou how to redistribute your planet's wealth so that no single person is lacking of the day to day needs"? Hopefully we say yes and hopefully some greedy rich person wont blow the arrangement.
The Keplenites are all Democrats.
Good for them.
600 light-years, eh? So, we've found a planet that 'could' have water. I wonder how much it cost to come to this conclusion? Good work NASA.
Don't post comments on topics you don't understand. You simply expose your ignorance.
And you display yours by suggesting this silly research has any value. Best move gov did in last 10 years is get rid of Shuttle program. What a waste. Hopefully all of NASA is next.
Of what am I ignorant? What in that statement gives that impression? lol. I feel confident in saying that I'm very likely much more educated than you.
Shut up geek
nappyrzrbk ,being ignorant , doesnt make you un- educated !! You might be book smart , but again , you have just proven how "stupid " you actually are lol.
I'll take my book-smarts and the subsequent money made because of those book-smarts. You continue to be mesmerized by this useless information. See how far that gets you. lol
jacktors-clearly another ignorant person who has no idea what NASA has actually contributed to our modern technologies. Please google it. Many things from water purification to sporting equipment can trace its roots back to NASA's technologies.
And please...complain next time about the trillions wasted in iraq before complaining about the few billion we spend on expanding our knowledge of the universe
Sigh...another dope that wants to defend NASA by suggesting that only through NASA could such products be developed/invented. Silly fool. Poor logic. Move on; this debate is for intelligent types.
Mindless fools! Nothing is impossible. I'm at a loss for words at just how many ignorant posts I see here. There was a time with crossing the Atlantic was IMPOSSIBLE. Science progresses exponentially. We WILL be able to travel to locations that are light years away. It may not be in any of our lifetimes, but think of where we'll be 10 thousand years from now. We will get there. If you put the same faith into factual science that many of you put into your fairy tale bibles and religions, it would be amazing.
I don't think you comprehend how far 600 light-years actually is. Even with Star-Trek-esque technology, we still couldn't get there lol. Technology will never progress to the point that traveling to this planet will be possible. There is a difference between being a dreamer who is rational, and a dreamer that is delusional.
Actually at Warp 9 it would take approximately 145 days to travel 600 light years. Not to be a geek or anything? 😉
10,000 years from now we will be lucky if the human race is surviving at all. Science & Technology can be a great boon for mankind but with our track record of lacking common sense & not anticipating consequences I suspect they might also prove to be a great boom to mankind. Do you think this is our first time around? or is it possible we destroyed ourselves so far in the past we forgot the lessons? Maybe a few of us will survive on the new planet with our flat cats.
Its funny you say that. As the Bible has spewed out more facts about the life of this planet, than the guess work scientist have brought to the table. And I tell you this as well, that if you don't start believing in a Savior that dies for us all. That I'll be visiting this newly discovered planet way before each person that mock Jesus Christ, does. Keep believing in your fairytale space travels, out of the milky way galaxy, as it will never happen....calling it now. Watch "Doctor Who" if you want that fix.
With individuals that have the level of intelligence as low as yourself, I question how we got out of caves in the first place. Forget the idea of ever going to another planet. The only reason I am rooting for science to win this battle is so I can get away from ignorant *beep* such as yourself. It just boils my blood that we are considered the same species.
Fifty Cents.
You feel better ?
"I claim this planet in the name of Mars – isn't that lovely?"
http://www.gargaro.com/MaRvInWaVs/claim.wav
Run for the hills or you will be
up to your armpitts in martians.
With current chemical rocket technology, it would take 4 million years to travel there assuming you could build a rocket with enough fuel. If we were to resurrect Project Orion (1960's nuclear bomb propulsion) we could get there in 1000 years.
And it works just like a Coke machine! Elegant in it's simplicity.
Awesome. Science is awesome.
who cares! Useless information that does nothing for anyone except for those being paid to find out this useless information.
I care
Liar
luddite
You are obviously a small minded idiot.
I care
why?
The Bible and people who follow it are useless. Science is all around us, from the Internet to cell phones, computers, and all aprt6s of medicine.
Science is a product of God's creation. Something to give the really smart humans something to do. Nice try though.
God is the one that gave man the ability to think, in matter of fact, the first printing press was actually made by a Christian, and the first thing he did with it, was reprint the Bible. (Of course you know im not talking about the ones you need electricity.) Evolution and other religions are wrong.
Useless to the ignorant Jacktors. Should we have spent this money on more welfare programs for your family? That way they can breed more ignorant fools?
I hope you realize that the computer your typing on was a direct bi-product of research originating from the space program, I guess that was wasted money in your eyes as well. I love my velcro!
Wise up. We didn't need NASA to invent velcro. Poor logic. You backed into your rationale. Silly.
There, there Jacktors,
Mommy cares, whipe your widdle tears.
Maybe we should turn off the bad computer
so you wont get so upset.
Time for a nap widdle one.
Water is OK. But does it have Internet, Electricity, roads, bridges etc? Republicans now won't be in favor of spending any more on these infrastructure items.
well said sir!
Democrats, specifically Obama, are the ones who block the funding for a lot of these particular things. Ex. NASA.
This project was postponed in 2006 due to budget cuts, those darn dems.
Yup, we needed the money to help stop the recession
caused by the republicans.
NASA funding has gone UP under the Obama administration. In several years during the Bush II administration, NASA funding was going down. The Augustine Commission concluded that NASA was not being funded at anywhere near the level necessary to achieve the goals set out by the Bush administration. [Base on the moon, etc.] Evidently setting those goals was purely political by the Bush folks. They were never serious about it. All of this is very easy to fact-check.
What a goof...pulling politics into a completely non-political story. Says how pathetic your life is.
The Dems held the House and Senate in 2006. I also don't agree with the Republican side of the argument, considering they do virtually the same thing. I do agree, this shouldn't be a political topic. This is more of a human interest topic than anything else.
Could exist?? What the hell kind of statement is that? Some guy becomes a scientist to say COULD? Come back when you can say without question.. Yes water, No water. geez is this world getting stupid
No, it's the laymen who don't understand how science works and then blather their ignorance on comment pages that are stupid. Drop out of high school?
Name calling? Really ? And you call others ignorant?? You are the epitome of ignorance
sarcasm right? i mean talking about brains whilst moaning about science not dealing in absolutes on a planet 600ly away.
or will have to build the bike lanes?
Neanderthals developed tools.
We built a wall (we built a pyramid!)
Math, science, history.
Unraveling the mystery.
That all started with a Big Bang!
BANG!
Yeah, and that Big Bang! Was our God, our Creator, opening His mouth and giving form to the void that was nothing, and making it everything we see now before us, that scientist use, see adore, and that gives them something too do every morning as they go to work. I liked your metaphor(big bang) I hope you don't mind that I used it.
Lots of neanderthals here.
That's only 5,865,696,000,000 times 600 miles away! If one travel's at the speed of 25,000 miles per hour, it would take about 6,000,000 years to reach this planet. Do we have any use for this worthless information that we are spending billuions of dollars for this "findings"? What's the use of Kepplar Mission. to find some thing living 6 million years away? Do they even exist right now? Because the image they see right now is 600 years old!
thank you!!!!
The idea that all scientific research has to have immediate practical applications is totally absurd. Penicillin, transistors, lasers, high temperature superconductors, synthetic fibers, and magnetic resonance imagers were all the result of undirected research. THAT is the point.
Which none were discovered looking through a giant telescope ..... your welcome
Of course, you're spot on. Stand by for the scientists whose salaries are being paid to volley back.
Yes we spend "billuions for this findings". As simple as humans are, thankfully were not all like you otherwise we'd still be tracking animals for miles until they get tired.. go troll a cave instead of using technology which cost "billuions" to develop without the vision of what it might become in the future u retard
600 million, cost of life cycle of project. not 'billions'
We could conceivably build a spacecraft that accelerates at 1g (10m/s/s). It could reach a velocity of half the speed of light in 6 months and then coast for 1200 years to reach this planet. This is how we humans could spread out in the galaxy. I foresee it happening within the next millenium. The telescope searches we're conducting now will make voyages like these possible with destinations that can support human life. Start thinking in the long term: longer than your own life.
I was going to make the case for the worthiness of science & the value of this deep-space investigation, but after realizing that people like you and your descendents could potentially benefit, I've changed my mind. Thank you, sir! You are right, this kind of research should be stopped immediately.
Seconded
Astonishing
Other then you, not one person even touched on how important something like this could be..
Unfortunately (and sadly) I'll have to third that post.
Hopefully none of you will procreate..
First: 25,000mph is not even (quite) escape velocity, so you wouldn't be going to *any* other planet.
Studying planets almost, but not quite, exactly like Earth helps us understand Earth by seeing the different outcomes of those slightly different conditions. Building the tools to do that helps us figure out how to build tools that are useful right here. We wouldn't have *any* knowledge to speak of if people hadn't spent a lot of time and resources asking "impractical" questions.
You talk as if they live the same life cycle we do. Don't get this, crazy, sinful world, mixed up with the, perfectness, that is out there.
Great, if anyone gets to go to the new planet it should be those that are currently enjoying living off the tax payers, they will be able to do a fresh start and see how good they can make their lifes.
Planet confirmed it "could" have water?? well does it or does'nt it
Bingo. Sounds like news just trying to be news.
Obviously they don't know yet. The planet is at the right distance from its star to have liquid water, which is a big deal, the first time they've found one in the right position.
That's exactly what I was just saying lol , real gem these people are.
Geez people, it doesnt mean we have to go there! But it could be a link in proving life exists, or could exist, outside this tiny speck of a place we call earth. Open your minds....it will do you some good.
Way to go, Julie. Well said.
Agree Julie.
Maybe we should search for inteligent life on earth first.
They found a planet that might have water. This means nothing to me considering the size of the planet and the gravity at work.
Your inability to grasp even small scientific concepts in regards to relativity is astounding! As for the rest of you knuckleheads, when a human being is traveling near the speed of light, time does not affect the traveler like it does say a citizen of earth sitting at his kitchen table. It's called the twin paradox. No wonder America slipped so many ratings in science when compared to the rest of the civilized world.
No one asked you.
And where is the scientific proof that life cannont exist on planets such as this? It wasn't so long ago that we thought the Sun revolved around the Earth. The biggest mistake we make as human beings is assuming that we already know everything there is to know about the universe even though the universe has proven to us time and time again that we know nothing at all about what it is capable of.
that's one lucky planet being so far away. we have no chance of consuming it for resources like we do to our own planet.
"confirmed" that it "could"..... so nothing is confirmed, dumb
Exactly.
no, its confirmed its in the habitable zone. which means its in the right area that it could have liquid water.
The possibility is confirmed. It could be possible that the planet cannot hold water. Why did that need to be explained to you?
Has anyoen read Asimov's "Nemisis?" Great read, full of imagination and scientific theory and intelligence. there's only one good thing at this point that can coem from knowing this: Somewhere, a child is imagining in wonder at what type of vessle could handle the stresses of getting there the fastest, and if it could be done in his lifetime. This is a thought process that coudl lead, if he or she is determined, to advances in how our own transportation moves. It may be a pipe dream but then, those who don't dream will always try to find a way to thwart those who do. Hopefully, the dreamer won't be phased by the resentful, envious, pouting hater.
So what? They probably spent $6 billion to find out something that's of no value to anyone.
Yes, lets squander another $450 billion on Africa (amount spent over last 40 years), just look what that place is like.
I value that information more than I value your tax cuts.
I actually feel sorry for you. Go back to nascar or whatever mindless activity it is that makes you feel like you're actually alive.
And you can go back to scrolling through which Nasa screensaver your going to use ..
ii can build one faster than nasa i mean seriously, why does it take so long. they spend on their omoney all the time for mars. i don't CARE bout mars. i will go there before them and buy it and make it my own private waterpark planet lolz science is lame.
Your graps of the English language is lame. You have a brain; use it.
*Grasp. You might want to look into using your brain as well.
grasp*
I think you mean "grasp". If you are going to correct someone on their spelling, you might want to learn how to spell yourself.
grasp of a language and a typo are two different things, you guys must not be fun to be around =(
I didn't know someone owned Mars...
My great-great-grandpappy came from Mars. They ran a little place (only 300 acres) not more than five miles from where that rover Sojourner landed. Family stories say that we still have rights to that land. Unfortunately, we have no way to get there since great-great-grandpappy traded his ship for the Lost Dutchman Mine. Shame really since the underground mineral stream could bring millions when sold to spas and such on this planet. C'est la vie. (Martian for "oh well"-bears a resemblance to one of your languages)
I think it's great that there are people who think there are other persons out among the stars. Otherwise it would be a great waste of space.
quit dreming
Send the navy seals!
Good luck surviving the 10,000 year trip to get there. Heck, as far as humans are concerned, good luck surviving one more year on THIS planet.
good luck surviiving? speak for yourself. I'll survive mad max style if I have to. I already have my V8 and a comprable 'colection of survival needs. (as long as we can still drink the water)
I'm willing to bet a stockpile of tasty vegatable juice won't help you after the atmosphere has been burned away by a nuclear firestorm, but I could be wrong.
good luck to you surviving earth you are lame and i am going to water planet X.
well then, fine. Don't come crying to me for help when it hits the fan. See you in the thunderdome.
Try to make it out of junior high first.
Bet there were many people that said those same words as the Mayflower set sail.
Beam me up, Scottie
Only 600 light years to go. I understand too that it would take, if you could harness it, this entire planets energy to provide enough propulsion to even get underway for something at that distance...in other words, currently unattainable except by visual means. But, at least we hope there will be water there to replenish our supplies. Better take some iodine tablets too!
There's no wind resistance in space. Once you are up to speed, you stay at that speed. You just need the energy to initially accelerate yourself, to correct your course, and to slow down once you are there. Plus there's some research being done on hydrogen powered spacecraft engines, and there are planets/moons that are very, very abundant in hydrogen.
i never really understood this stuff. i completley understand looing out to the stars to understand them. but, what i dont understand is looking for other planets. its 600 lightyears away. that means it would take us 8 generations to get there. we dont have the tech to leave our galaxy, so why are they hyping up something that wont be attainable for another 1k years. why 1k? well 300 to get to the technology to get us there, then another 700 years to get there. unless we figure out wormholes, this isnt happening anytime soon.
(shrug)
id say we'll see, but everyone reading this article today wont be around for it, when it actually happens.
I think one of the big things is, while we have no way to reach it, the question of 'is life unique to earth?' is a big one that many people are interested in answering.
As we identify habitables, we learn where to point the other instuments such as radio telescopes.
Maybe they have better broadcast TV and radio. Or maybe they are all cable all the time too and we can ship Rupert Murdoch there to extend his empire.
Note seriously: the era of broadcast technology dominance is about three generations before a planet goes dark using network technology. That possibly is why SETI fails. The window closes quickly.
Len – you're right, SETI almost certainly will find nothing no matter how long they look. Besides the point you raise, any star faring civilizations are certainly not using radio for communication.
look at it this way.......If..and this is a BIG IF, if the earth and humans do make it on this planet for another 1000 years or so until this technology does exist, then at least the ball has started rolling during our times. People 1000 years from now will be thinking thank god they started doing something about this back in 2011 otherwise we wouldn't be here today.
Like YOU think back constantly to the Indians who harvested natural rubber and thereby created the impetus and basis to create synthetic plastics and other stuff you daily use– or you revere the Arab world for creating the precurson to both modern pharmaceuticals, mathematics and astronomy....yeah....right.
look at it this way.......If..and this is a BIG IF, if the earth and humans do make it on this planet for another 1000 years or so until this technology does exist, then at least the ball has started rolling during our times. People 1000 years from now will be thinking thank god they started doing something about this back in 2011 otherwise we wouldn't be here today.
look at it this way.......If..and this is a BIG IF, if the earth and humans do make it on this planet for another 1000 years or so until this technology does exist, then at least the ball has started rolling during our times. People 1000 years from now will be thinking thank god they started doing something about this back in 2011 otherwise we wouldn't be here today.
So we are doing it basicall for future gens to benefit from
Peter: "So we are doing it basically for future generations."
Basically, yes. And that is no bad thing. Just think how different the land known as the United States would be today if the mariners on the Mayflower had asked "What's the point? Let's have another pint in Deptford." It may be that the Mayflower mariners did more harm than good to America (America's native peoples might very well think so), but Peter (if he is American) is hardly in a position to say so, if only because American settlers left Peter as their progeny. Come to think of it, maybe it is a waste of time . . . basically.
Because Jason it would fundamentally change our perception of the world around us not to mention give the whole planet a goal instead of fighting eachother. the day we find other forms of life is the day we unite as one species. Atleast thats the utopian method. In reality it would nto take 300 years to gain that technology since it only took 100 to gain the amount of tech we currently have. Exponential rate would suggest that it would take approximately 100 years from this point to develop tech able to leave our solarsystem given moores law.
This planet will not last for an eternity. It makes perfect sense to start looking and studying other planets outside our solar system for other habitable planets, the human race can't stay on Earth. If you do some research, this planets is pretty much doomed (moon slowly getting farther away from the Earth, Sun eventually going to Red Giant, and always a chance for a collision with an asteroid or something similar).
That isn't the point. We aren't looking for the next planet to live on or to visit. Who cares how far it is and if it takes hundreds of light years to reach. It's about knowledge. Otherwise we are still sitting here thinking the world is flat and the sun rotates around us. And to the next poster about "landing there and going fishing" (omg did he really say that?)...I think you can find some funny comics to read on another website. Here's your sippy cup...now go watch spongebob.
That is what people said about human flight. If we had stopped the drive to develop human flight in the first place, we would probably still be stuck with traveling in horse drawn wagons. God did not give us wings like birds to fly, but he gave us a brain and the intelligence to develop science to achieve flight. I believe it is in our inherent nature to explore and to invent, and I believe that one day space travel is possible.
The pursuit of knowledge of the unknown is what gave us everything we have today. Everything. We wonder, we discover, we advance. And before any pessimist responds, yes terrible things still happen but instead of happening in a cave around a campfire we strive to fight our human nature and improve from within a modern society.
One day Earth will die. Hopefully by then we can save our race by reaching another planet that will support humans. Yes right now it would take hundreds of years to reach that planet but it is a strong possibility that it could be done in the future. It will be man's only hope of surviving when the Earth eventually burns from the Sun.
I always wonder what the value of these potential water bearing planets is? If it did have water it's not like you could land and go fishing. This place is 600 light years away, it would take maybe a hundred generations for people to reach there. I just can't get too excited about this stuff.
The value is: at least the small, clever group of humans who manage to escape the horrors that the bovine majority unleash on this planet will have somewhere else to aim for.
The point isn't to get us there so we can use the water. Most astrobiologists agree that liquid water is a necessary ingredient of life, and so finding a planet in a zone where liquid water can exist opens up the possibilities of life existing there also.
..and the point of finding out life exists elsewhere? Humans have a pretty myopic view. Even if we find it out–we cannot get there, we cannot utilize the resources there and if life does exist there, it may be as prejudiced and species racist as we are pigment racist or if too small for that it may be strains of microbes we have neither cures for or understanding of–ala Andromeda strain–but what was the point again? Spending Trillions when we do not even have the money to pay for the wars we started but cannot stop?
JR: There is no financial value to finding life-supporting planets. As Neeneko (or something like that) said in response to an earlier comment similar to yours - the importance in these discoveries will be learning whether life exists elsewhere in the universe.
Planets with liquid water are important because liquid water is considered THE prime prerequisit for LIFE. (I'm talking micromes here – not E-T phoning home).
it would take more than 100 generations... more like a billion
So that's 3,519,417,600,000,000 quadrillion miles away?
Beam me up, Scotty!
The real question is: Is it a class M planet?
What a tease of a story. I was excited then dissapointed not to read a full article. You should wait until there is more information available , but then again I understand now I will be checking periodicaly for "more to come".
If you expect to learn anything from an article on CCN you are going to be disappointed. They have lackluster science coverage to say the least. For more info check out NASA's Kepler coverage.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/multimedia/images/kepler-22b-diagram.html
What do you expect? It is not like they sent a camera there. There is only so much information you can determine from the limited amount of information they have. They will just add their methodology and related information later on.
Only 600 Light Years away! I have to book a flight for my mother in law today.
She can travel with mine! Great idea!
I havent laughed HARD in a few weeks..thanks ..
Actually, from what I've read, a meteorite impact, not a Mars lander, provided evidence of ice on Mars. So, how am I uninformed?
From the content of your remarks, I think you are right, you taking that astronomy class was useless; you obviously learned nothing.
Wow, this discovery is too cool. Good going NASA!
To bad no one from the next 6 generations will ever get to see it for real. But you can bet we aren't far from building super ships like star trek if it is indeed able to sustain life. And of course we will go there and try to kill any life form that may be located there. And of course they will be more advanced than us and have telekinetic powers that will make our heads explodes with just a thought......... Ok I am just playing but it is cool that it may be out there.
Oh from that movie SCREAMERS! I loved those head explosions..good cure for a migraine.
Can we breathe without air ? NO..so now what ?
If you've got water you can create as much air as you want.
Water and Air go hand and hand! YAY!!!
water is partially made up of oxygen
The lack of scientific knowledge is appalling.
these guys didn't do so well in basic chemistry
In space, no one can hear you scream.
Can we try it on you ?
Unfortunately, humanity will never each it if our governments keep cutting space program budgets.
If congress isn't there I want to go. Now!
It's a shame that humans, assuming we consider our current path of leading the way back to the 13th century, will never set foot on this planet.
They had iPhones, drones, and Kepler spacecraft in the 13th century?
Ok, so this must be the planet the Bilderbergers will relocate to when the Earth is ready to explode.
Although this seems pretty pointless I think this is a huge win! The fact that a singular planet has water and is in a habitable zone for earthlike life is damning to any skeptic who believes we're alone in the universe.
And maybe we can start believing in ourselves and each other rather than ancient mythology.
A true skeptic's job is to believe whatever science proves. There is no evidence whatsoever of life on other planets. That doesn't mean it isn't there, or that it isn't likely, or whatever. It just means what it says: no evidence.
Are we going to get to this planet in our lifetime? No. But, 1000 years from now, people will think of us the same way that we think of the Middle Ages: dusty pages in a history book.
Very cool... but we will never be able to make it there before we are but a memory. It will be interesting if they will be able to detect life there. Can't wait to hear more about this story! http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/how-far-is-a-light-year
Dont be so hard on yourself..a bizzarro you could be there now...fishing!
that's great. so how do we get there
Traveling at 1/2 the speed of light (darn fast) it would take us 48 generations to travel to this planet.
.
Did you take into account time dilation for the people onboard? Time will be going slower for them (they will have aged less and perceived less time to have gone by compared to people on Earth).
Not noticeably, unless they can push to .9 of c, or something; below that it isn't that large of an effect. It's possible to do, using an ion engine, but above about .6 of c, you need a lot of energy because your mass is increasing exponentially (see General Relativity).
Our fastest craft is only capable of approximately 1/4 speed of light with extra help.
Have more people get out and push.
This is interesting. Nice artist's depiction too.
Heck, we can't even tell if Mars has ice. 600 light years away and we can tell that there 'might be' liquid water? It could be an atmosphere filled with alien farts for all NASA knows.
Try taking some science courses some time. Might help you understand these articles.
Um, yeah, so actually we CAN tell if Mars has water ice, and in fact, the most recent Mars Lander dug right smack into it.....try to keep up.
HAHA I've taken a course in astronomy. Most useless class I've ever taken. However, I can tell you the life-cycle of a star! lol. Thanks for the advice though!
You might find having a brain to be useless as well, if you don't use it.
Well, at least you admit being a moron. Now go away.
Well, one of those stars whose life cycle you studied is our sun. Knowing the ways its life could develop should give us something to think about for the long term. Knowing that solar flares could in the short term sear one side of the earth shoudl give us something else to think about. Knowing that tiny variations in solar output could induce a new ice age or global warming should open our eyes to how precarious is our existence here.
Note that the article doesn't say they found liquid water on this planet. Only that the planet is in the habitable zone, and that liquid water 'could' exist [as in, liquid water can exist in this zone].
If the planet is in the temperature band where water liquifies, and there is water on the planet, it must be in a liquid state. Of course, there could also be gaseous and solid water there, too, just like on earth.
The real question, of course, is if life exists there. But we don't have tools to find out just yet.
Its also possible that there is no land above sea level.......Water World......I want to be a Smoker!
I myself often wonder about NASA'S methodology in work here; however, I think it's really neat that it is looking for life elsewhere in the universe.
We can tell that there might be liquid water on a planet because of certain wavelengths of light/electromagnetic radiation that are reflected off of the planet. On Mars, the water is frozen and mostly buried. We use the same technology with satellites orbiting our own planet for mapping purposes. So yeah, take some science courses.
So they use this technical methodology to come to the conclusion that there 'might' be water? Nice...
oooh, i don't know how electromagnetic radiation reflects off certain planets, send me back to middle school...
i don't want to take science courses, i don't care if i don't know if there MIGHT be water on a planet 600 LY away, this article is still dumb.
I am puzzled why nappy and Mance are posting on an article that they clearly don't care about or understand? Seriously, why are you spending time out of your life to post about something you clearly don't care about? I don't get it? Is it too troll? How pathetic would that be? I mean Mance, you stated you don't care if you don't know yet you post the article is dumb? WTH? Clearly they are shrinking the size of the planet needed to detect these things and they are pursuing knowledge. I am not sure what discovery you all think has been made without the pursuit of knowledge but let me know. Because you don't understand the purpose and reason for that knowledge doesn't make it dumb. It makes you ignorant.
Basic reading can help you.
Alien farts.
Wow !