Science is so Cool it’s Approaching Absolute Zero
September 29th, 2010 by Kay Holt
Free © WakaBee (Used with permission)
Here’s to you, scientists! Yesterday you introduced us to a fish that suckles its young. Today you revealed an exoplanet that almost certainly evolved life. Tomorrow, you’ll probably blow our minds again. You should feel like big rockstars!
Can you imagine a world in which dedicated scientists are celebrated instead of being treated like boring dorks? What if every little kid’s role model wore a lab coat? What if there were as many high schoolers with basement laboratories as there are with garage bands? What if millions sat glued to their televisions watching TED Talks instead of American Idol?
I don’t know about all of you, but that sounds like my kind of planet. Geeks rule!
Definitely! That’d be great. I agree the scientific seeking of knowledge is the coolest thing. 8)
- And I love the enthusiasm in this post ^_^
Thank you!
Surprisingly well-wtrtein and informative for a free online article.
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I don’t think we can say that Gliese 581g almost certainly evolved life. The Discover article says that the fact that it is tidally locked makes it more likely to have life, which I found surprising; Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy considered that to have the opposite effect (life is less likely), particularly if it doesn’t have an atmosphere. In any case, I don’t think that we know enough about the planet to say any more than that it is at the right temperature to possibly have life.
Apart from that, though, I agree with Tsuken!
I love Bad Astronomer. And I wondered about that problem with tidally locked planets. I have a hard time imagining life persisting on either side of the planet, but in that hazy twilight zone? But then I think that’s been done to death in fiction and I want to play with the worldbuilding some more.
Of course, we can’t know for sure about life there. And Athena pointed out some more good points below (damn radiation). But still, it’s fun to think about.
The Gliese 581 system has a persistent will-o-the-wisp quality. Each of its planets in turn (c, d, e, g) has been proposed to be Earth-like, have water and/or possibly harbor life. Bear in mind that Gliese 581 is a red dwarf, so planets in its habitable zone will be tidally locked with all the consequences this implies. It is also a Draconis variable star, which means it may emit flares (bad news for life).
Here’s my original take on Gliese 581, which the current announcement doesn’t change until we have more data: To Each His Own Gliese 581c. The main interest of this discovery is that this solar system has many earth-size rocky planets, in contrast to the hot-Jupiter/hot-Neptune preponderance in most others. However, its relative closeness (only 20 light years away) makes it possible to document the existence of smaller planets.
I like your take. And of course I crave space-neighbors, even if they are microscopic extremophiles, heh.
Anyone with sense knows there is probably some planet out there with life on it (whether or not we’re able to recognize or locate it), sure. But it’s fun to have a close target for speculation, even if the justification is a little wobbly. And don’t we need headlines like these to keep the masses interested in funding the science? Maybe that’s cynical, but this isn’t yet the Earth I dream about in my little post here.
Then again, sensationalism is a little tacky…
Absolutely — any independent second life sample is priceless. Too, there is no doubt whatsoever that interest will soar if Gliese 581g is found to possess an atmosphere and liquid water (and, of course, even more so if we see some kind of biosignature).
More thoughts on Gliese 581: Once Again with Feeling
The radiation is the big concern for me. Even if there is life there, it probably goes through even more mass extinctions than we have on earth. Makes me doubt any life there is very complex. On the other hand, if complex life emerged there, it would be fascinating to compare it with we ‘pampered’ Earthlings.