A New Earth? What About The One We Have?
Almost every week now, planet hunters are discovering new worlds, not in our solar system but in the far reaches of our galaxy. So how close are astronomers to finding a planet that supports life?
Here on Earth, Cameron and his team are part of a new wave of astronomers who are scouring the galaxy for glimpses of unknown worlds and, in recent years, their success has been astounding. While our own solar system lost a planet last year, thanks to the unceremonious demotion of Pluto from planet to "dwarf planet", Cameron and his peers have found more than 250 new worlds, in solar systems far, far away. With almost every week that goes by, new discoveries are made. This evening, in fact, planet hunters in America are to declare a major coup with the announcement from Nasa of a newly discovered solar system that has striking similarities to our own.
Full article--fascinating and well worth the read--Guardian UK, November 6, 2007
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What if they found life on Earth...would we stop, in the US alone, killing 7 - 10 million cats and dogs annually because they're inconvenient, 10+ billion animals because they're tasty (45+ billion worldwide), 31 million on ranches because their dead bodies feel and/or look good against our skin. We just passed 1.1 million dead in Iraq, because the oil companies demand control of the supply--and thus the price--of oil. And just think how many Iraqis--and Americans--and anyone else stepping foot in Iraq for hundreds of thousands of years to come--will die slow agonizing deaths because of the widespread use of depleted uranium by the world's gangster, er, "policeman". Throw in another 115 million lives taken in the US alone every year for "experiments" in order to bolster corporate profits and create a charade that their deaths serve a purpose. And let's not forget the 62 million people that die every year because adults have failed to learn what any properly-raised 3-year-old knows: Clean up your mess.
So remind me: Why are we poking around the cosmos? It certainly not due to a respect or appreciation for life.
TLC
Here on Earth, Cameron and his team are part of a new wave of astronomers who are scouring the galaxy for glimpses of unknown worlds and, in recent years, their success has been astounding. While our own solar system lost a planet last year, thanks to the unceremonious demotion of Pluto from planet to "dwarf planet", Cameron and his peers have found more than 250 new worlds, in solar systems far, far away. With almost every week that goes by, new discoveries are made. This evening, in fact, planet hunters in America are to declare a major coup with the announcement from Nasa of a newly discovered solar system that has striking similarities to our own.
Full article--fascinating and well worth the read--Guardian UK, November 6, 2007
_______________________________________________
What if they found life on Earth...would we stop, in the US alone, killing 7 - 10 million cats and dogs annually because they're inconvenient, 10+ billion animals because they're tasty (45+ billion worldwide), 31 million on ranches because their dead bodies feel and/or look good against our skin. We just passed 1.1 million dead in Iraq, because the oil companies demand control of the supply--and thus the price--of oil. And just think how many Iraqis--and Americans--and anyone else stepping foot in Iraq for hundreds of thousands of years to come--will die slow agonizing deaths because of the widespread use of depleted uranium by the world's gangster, er, "policeman". Throw in another 115 million lives taken in the US alone every year for "experiments" in order to bolster corporate profits and create a charade that their deaths serve a purpose. And let's not forget the 62 million people that die every year because adults have failed to learn what any properly-raised 3-year-old knows: Clean up your mess.
So remind me: Why are we poking around the cosmos? It certainly not due to a respect or appreciation for life.
TLC
posted by TLC's Place at 6:17 AM
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