"Scientists closer to finding life on other planets."

Well, that's a headline that's sure to grab your attention. It did mine! How much closer are we now to finding that life?

Scientists studied two gas giant planets in distant solar system. What did they find there that brought them closer to finding life? Hydrocarbons? Water? A transparent atmosphere? Sitcoms beamed from Alpha Centauri? (We all fervently hope not, for that last one.)

What they actually found was that the planets did not, as expected, have water in them. They were quite disappointed in that. One of the planets has a silicate-dominated atmosphere. They found two planets that are utterly inhospitable to life.

The advance they did make was worthy of note: significant improvements in ability to detect chemicals in these planets. The headline is accurate insofar as this: if there's a planet hospitable to life out there, we're closer to having what it takes to identify it. That's a very big if, though. And if we identify such a place, it's another terribly long step to actually identifying life there. Either the headline writer has great faith in the unknown, or (more likely) he or she was just out to sell more papers.

Posted: Thu - February 22, 2007 at 08:50 AM |

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"Scientists closer to finding life on other planets."

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson