30 September 2010

Life supporting planet found

About 20 light years away, a planet circling a red dwarf star is found which has properties scientists believe may support life. [source]

Planet G -- the sixth member in Gliese 581's family -- orbits right in the middle of that system's habitable region, where temperatures would be suitable for liquid water to pool on the planet's surface.
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With a mass three times larger than Earth's, the newly discovered world has the muscle to hold atmosphere. Plus, it has the gift of time. Not only is its parent star especially long-lived, the planet is tidally locked to its sun -- similar to how the moon keeps the same side pointed at Earth -- so that half the world is in perpetual light and the other half in permanent darkness. As a result, temperatures are extremely stable and diverse.
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"Given the ubiquity of water, it seems probable that this thing actually has liquid water. On the surface of the Earth, everywhere you have liquid water you have life," Vogt [Steven Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at University of California Santa Cruz] added.

If our planet Earth is not the only place where there is life, the god creation story, at least that from the Abrahamic god would be seriously challenged. Since the creation story has been found factually inaccurate, that god has created us can very well be factually inaccurate too. There is no evidence that god exists, now it is time for us to put religion behind and move on.

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