New 'super-Earth' found in space

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Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface.

The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.

Scientists made the discovery using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile.

They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life.

"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.
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BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | New 'super-Earth' found in space
 
duh..these peeps keep coming up with all these assumptions all the time..i dont really understand the point of searching for one when we dont have the resources or the technology to reach there...its just luring people into fantasy.. i dont think even conditions like earth are really the criteria for existence of life in other planets..infact our own earthly conditions were so hostile for living organisms in the earliest stages of the origin of life on earth...all tht is our basic need today used to be a fatal poison for them then..i read somewhere tht oxygen was fatal for the first living organisms on earth..its only thru the eras, the species got adapted to oxygen and water.. to the point tht we may not survive without them now..;)

OT: tht is why i love to play freelancer..atleast virtually i am able to surf thru different solar systems...:P
 
As much as I too am intrigued by outer space, I think these geniuses would be much better off inventing stuff that'd help us solve problems on this planet ..
 
Actually i think this discouvery is really a breakthru in science... Scientist say that there might be life on this planet so i think it answers a lot of questions abt our existence (I mean the religion and stuff)...
Reaching the planet is not possible now but thinking of the future its really a great achievement...
 
Oh cool. Now I can get back to polluting the earth in peace. Now that I'm assured of a place which we can colonize in the event of the earth becoming uninhabitable, I think I'll revert to my old, resource whore status.
 
l33t_5n1p3r_max said:
Now I can get back to polluting the earth in peace. Now that I'm assured of a place which we can colonize in the event of the earth becoming uninhabitable
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Yeah..rite..given u live for few more centuries..then definitely u can leave the comfort of earth for a trip to this planet...:P but stop polluting in this lifetime...:lol:
 
Nice to see an Earth-like planet being found. But what point is this discovery when we are failing miserably in saving our own Earth?

Humankind is a leech, sucking the blood of one planet and moving on to the next when its done. It won't be long before we become the very aliens which we fear from.
 
i knw man these ppl waste millions of dollars on this shit when they could have easily spend it where its needed like research for the perfect medicine for common cold :P,aids... to help the ppl in Africa ..ppl are dying of hunger and famine everyday.. theres so much poverty in the world.. and wht do they spend the resources on.. a big looking glass with computers etc that can see other planets wich we cant even reach for the time being...
 
i think the biggest innovation tht has been in the waiting for so long is the mass desalination and processing of ocean and sea water...think about it..tht way all the problem of worlds scarce drinking water reserve will be solved forever...the oceans have so much water which can keep us fed for thousands of centuries to come..why dont they do something about it?? Also, this water can be used for generating large scale electricity as well..and though it is done at some places, it shud be used for large scale production everywhere...the seas hold the key for most of our problems today...we just need to tap in the resources to solve them..;)

Also a secondary benefit of using large scale ocean water is tht the ocean levels will be kept in control..;) Tht way we'll solve the rising waters problem as well...:P
 
Yeah true... Money spent for the betterment of the ppl is more important than spent on stuff like this... But u cant control the human curiosity for the reason of our existence... ;)
 
Desalinisation is a problem mainly due to the possible effect it is liable to have on the environment. After the desalinisation process is finished, there remains a concentrated product of everything that was removed from the ocean water in order to create the fresh, drinkable water (This solution is called brine).

This brine, when put into water, can severely damage ecosystems, especially marine life. This is because when the brine is put into the sea, it is more dense than surrounding water of the sea/ocean because of higher concentration of waste products and it deposits in the sea beds which destroys lot of marine life.

This is the main problem with desalinization. Our engineers have to come up with better methods to save the Earth. :)
 
Err..the right term is Desalination and not Desalinisation..;)

Well the process used to desalinate sea water is RO ie. Reverse osmosis and Distillation...the process isnt new,infact 60% of the desalination plants of the worlds 7500 units are already operating in middle east..

As for the waste discharge, it isnt all too big a problem... check this quote:

Waste Discharges

Desalination plants produce liquid wastes that may contain all or some of the following constituents: high salt concentrations, chemicals used during defouling of plant equipment and pretreatment, and toxic metals (which are most likely to be present if the discharge water was in contact with metallic materials used in construction of the plant facilities). Liquid wastes may be discharged directly into the ocean, combined with other discharges (e.g., power plant cooling water or sewage treatment plant effluent) before ocean discharge, discharged into a sewer for treatment in a sewage treatment plant, or dried out and disposed of in a landfill. Desalination plants also produce a small amount of solid waste (e.g., spent pretreatment filters and solid particles that are filtered out in the pretreatment process).
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For more details about Sea water Desalination, check this site.. Seawater Desalination CHAPTER ONE

I think basically its the cost for the operation which seems prohibitive at the moment..but given the current 'sweet' water condition on earth, sooner or later we will have to bear these costs for survival sake..;)
 
Err I think we should relax a bit, its kinda a bit too far. 20 Light Years is what they say, maybe more, its in the Libra constellation.

FYI - 20 Light Years = Distance Travelled by Light in 20 Years

= Approx 1.9 x 10^14 Kms

:D
 
Bet the super humans on super earth are watching us mini humans on mini earth through their super telescopes right now.
And 20 light years? That's 20 years in a spaceship that travels at the speed of light, which is as of right now, considered an impossible feat. So lets leave them super humans alone for now...I'm sure they'll find a way to reach us and bring their technology, and then the US Government can either declare a war or make peace with them.
 
Params7 said:
Bet the super humans on super earth are watching us mini humans on mini earth through their super telescopes right now.
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Think of it the other way too....all it has is dinosaur like creatures munching grass or smaller animals...:P

So lets leave them super humans alone for now...I'm sure they'll find a way to reach us and bring their technology, and then the US Government can either declare a war or make peace with them.
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err...dejavu?? :S Or u watched independence day recently...:P ;)
 
Super earth? Super humans? Holy shit! They must be Saiyans. Best stay away from them or they'll nuke our planet with just a single chi-blast.
 
i knw man these ppl waste millions of dollars on this shit when they could have easily spend it where its needed like research for the perfect medicine for common cold ,aids... to help the ppl in Africa ..ppl are dying of hunger and famine everyday.. theres so much poverty in the world..
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Hmm space exploration is very important....as stephen hawking said , its the most important thing for our survival .... centuries down the line you never know where the human race might have to scamper to prolong its existence....
 
This planet is too far away. It would take almost an entire lifetime to reach the planet at say Mach-20 speeds, i.e. if a baby was sent into the ship, he'd be an old man by the time he reached the planet. Since they would be too old to reproduce by the time they reach the planet, inhabitation is a very difficult prospect unless there is some automated machine which can fertilise sperms and eggs AND provide a womb-like environment complete with food time such that the child is at a reasonable age when the ship reaches the planet. Food supply will be quite difficult as well, which is why getting to this planet is currently impossible.

So lets concentrate on saving our own planet now instead of pondering an "escape plan" to use when the environmental problems on Earth get ugly. You don't just injure someone who has helped you survive your entire life and leave him/her to die, running away to save your butt!
 
Ck Nish said:
Super earth? Super humans? Holy shit! They must be Saiyans. Best stay away from them or they'll nuke our planet with just a single chi-blast.
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Yeah man, for all we know what you're saying is infact....true!
They say they just found a Kryptonite on earth. Its like the fictional universe is taking over the real time universe!

Wouldn't that be fun, and quite dangerous too.
 
First find means to travel at the speed of light and then look at planets that are lightyears away....simple...
 
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