This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets' diameters, masses and distances from the host star, as of February 2018. 3 of the 7 exoplanets are in the 'habitable zone', where liquid water is possible.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Being that the only one we know of so far is less than 1% explored
News alert: Florida land for pennies on the 1000 acre plot. Place your order in early. Which is more believable?
More CO2 = More Life
OK I’ll bite. How do they determine the ocean circulation patterns on a planet they can only “see” by inference?
A new study indicates that some exoplanets may have better conditions for life to thrive than Earth itself has. “This is a surprising conclusion”, said lead researcher Dr Stephanie Olson, “it shows us that conditions on some exoplanets with favourable ocean circulation patterns could be better suited to support life that is more abundant or more active than life on Earth.”
...
Oceans and continents have changed drastically throughout Earth’s history. I assume circulation patterns would, too.
The operative word is “MAY”.
What a ridiculous “study.” Proves absolutely nothing.
This study may be baseless.
Perhaps the scientists should use the Telescope-microscope used by the astronomers in 1835 South Africa to see the winged men in the moon, as reported in the NY Sun. A NY newspaper would not lie now would it?
Maybe we could see what is on those planets.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-great-moon-hoax
Title of bears no relation to actual article.
Title bears no relation to actual article.
Since it took 3.5 billion years for life to progress pass 1 cell, and, that very few stars make it past 1/2 billion, let alone 1 billion (most of the ones that do go longer are red dwarf stars and they pump out a huge amount of radiation), other than various one celled life is about all there is a chance to be out there.
You got to have the right star, with a planet in the right place, with a moon to stabilize things, the right material make up, and, a safe part of the galaxy.
Life is more specialized that they lead you to believe.
http://blog.adw.org/2019/02/rare-jewel-earth-like-planets-may-be-very-rare-2/
While most people, including most scientists, believe that there may be billions of inhabitable planets capable of sustaining complex life, the Rare Earth Hypothesis suggests that such a large number is overstated.
This is because there are not just a few things that come together to support life here on Earththere are many. Here are some:
Earth is at just the right distance from the Sun so that water is warm enough to melt, but not so hot as to boil and steam away into space. Water is also able, in this habitable zone (the so-called Goldilocks region), to both evaporate and condense at lower levels in the atmosphere, thus permitting a more even distribution of water, and the cycle of water over dry land known as precipitation.
For suns to spawn Earth-like planets they must have sufficient metallicity, which is necessary for the formation of terrestrials rather than gaseous planets.
Earth is in a habitable zone within the galaxy as
well. Closer to the center of galaxies, radiation and the presence of wandering planetoids make life there unlikely.
Earth exists in a disk-shaped spiral galaxy (the Milky
Way) rather than in an elliptical (spheroid) galaxy. Spiral galaxies are thought to be the only type capable of supporting life.
Earths orbit around the sun is an almost perfect circle rather than the more common eccentric (elongated) ellipse. Steep elliptical orbits take a planet relatively close to and then relatively far from the sun, with great consequences for warmth and light. Earths stable, nearly circular orbit around the sun keeps our distance from it relatively constant, and hence the amount heat and light does not vary tremendously.
Two nearby gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) attract and catch many wandering asteroids and comets and generally keep them from hitting Earth. The asteroid belts also keep a lot of flying rock in a stable orbit and away from us.
Our molten core creates a magnetic field that holds the Van Allen radiation belts in place. These belts protect Earth from the most harmful rays of the sun.
Earths volcanism plays a role in generating our atmosphere and in cycling rich minerals widely.
Our sun is just the right kind of star, putting out a fairly steady amount of energy. Other types of stars are more variable in their output and this variance can utterly destroy life or cause it to be unsustainable due to the extremes caused.
Earths fairly rapid rotation reduces the daily variation in temperature. It also makes photosynthesis viable because there is enough sunlight all over the planet.
Earths axis is tilted just enough relative to its orbital plane to allow seasonal variations that help complex life but not so tilted as to make those variations too extreme.
Our moon also has a good effect by causing tides that are just strong enough to permit tidal zones (a great breeding ground for diverse life) but not so severe as to destroy life by extreme tides.
There are many more items on the list (see the first video below), but allow these to suffice. The conditions that come together on this planet such that it is capable of sustaining complex life are complicated, remarkable, and some argue rare in the universe. The ability to support life here is the balance of many fascinating things. We cannot but be amazed at the complexity of life and the intricacies required for it to flourish here. It would appear that for complex life to be sustained, many factors must come together in just the right way. The sheer number of these factors sharply decreases the number of possible Earth-like planets, despite the billions of galaxies and stars.
All this background information leads us to a blog at discovermagazine.com: Earth-is-a-1-in-700 quintillion kind of place. (700 quintillion is 7 followed by 20 zeros!) The blog references a study by Astrophysicist Erik Zackrisson from Uppsala University in Sweden.
For life to exist as we know it,there are conditions that have to be perfect. First our sun has to be a single star of the right size and type. Second our planet has to be the right size and distance from the sun. Our orbit cannot be too eccentric or our axis too tilted. Our moon is a stabilizing effect on our rotation and when we are closer to the sun in January the southern hemisphere receives direct solar radiation which is moderated by the fact that there is more ocean area. And vice versa in the northern hemisphere. Anyway it’s obvious that a miracle explains our world and if it exists somewhere else it would have to be duplicate condititions. My opinion is that God gave us a perfect planet that is unique. All we have to do is get rid of Satan and his disciples.
I think they MAY be making this up.
Absurd.
In related news, some studies show that global warming in man-made.
And then again, they may not.
clck bait not science
A single variable in what makes for life on this planet does not alone, all by itself, make for life on some “exoplanet”.
Life as we know it in all its forms we know it in has been made possible by a complex mix of planetary atttributes and not a mere one, or two, or few.
The statment:
“it shows us that conditions on some exoplanets with favourable ocean circulation patterns could be better suited to support life that is more abundant or more active than life on Earth.” ....”
is not science; it’s pure sepculation pretending to be science.
Yeah man. The Dinosaur era on Earth was far out. Imagine the biodensity needed to support a T-rex.
Well, it certainly is a field in which speculation is the norm.
Looks to me like the artist’s conception of the 3rd planet from the left probably has an abundance of popsicle sticks. Then again, they may have been outlawed via some advanced thinking processes.
But I’m only speculating.