A New Home For Humans?

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Possibly the first habitable alien planet found.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45554617/ns/technology_and_science-space/

[Too Few Lions]

thanks Bruce, that's a really exciting story. it'll be interesting to see what else they can find out about the planet.

[Buddy]

wow, that is really neat!

[OldGit]

Hope we never get there, or we'll wreck it like we did this one.

[not your typical...]

Hope we never get there, or we'll wreck it like we did this one.

Agree.

[Pharaoh Cat]

Hope we never get there, or we'll wreck it like we did this one.

It's 600 light years away so we likely won't trod it underfoot unless hyperspace exists and we learn to surf it.  Heck, it would be quicker, probably, for us to terraform Mars!

[Asmodean]

Interesting... Perhaps there is something alive crawling about there... 

But,

A New Home For Humans?

I sure hope not. Why wish humans on an unsuspecting planet? Oh, I would like to see some serious space explorations, but I also do hope that humans don't start spreading to other worlds before we, among other things, bring the population under control on this one without natural disasters to try in vain to do that for us.

[Siz]

Interesting... Perhaps there is something alive crawling about there...  

But,

A New Home For Humans?

I sure hope not. Why wish humans on an unsuspecting planet? Oh, I would like to see some serious space explorations, but I also do hope that humans don't start spreading to other worlds before we, among other things, bring the population under control on this one without natural disasters to try in vain to do that for us.

What's wrong with planetary exploitation? If we cower under eco-friendlyism we'll never get off this rock.

So, we've wrecked this one. Assuming there's no indigenous life on the new planet, what reason would there be to avoid appropriating another for our own means? Even if we wrecked another million, that's still a truly insignificant blot on the universal landscape. There is, effectively, an endless supply of 'M' class planets. If we can travel to one, we can travel to more.

I shan't be too worried. If we ever manage to escape this rock, we couldn't scar the universe if we tried. In the blink of a few billion years, there'll be zero trace of us.

In a thousand trillion years when stars have used up all their energy, and hydrogen decay has obliterated all that was solid matter to ions and there is nothing left but heat to disperse evenly across the skine of space we will be truly nothing - not even a memory.

[Squid]

Hope we never get there, or we'll wreck it like we did this one.

Yeah, I don't think we're going to get our deposit back...

[Asmodean]

What's wrong with planetary exploitation?

Not much - I just don't like humans and if given another planet or three, the jackrabbit-style breeding will likely reach new highs.

If we cower under eco-friendlyism we'll never get off this rock.

Has nothing to do with eco- whatever. Has everything to do with having enough resources to maintain a high standard of living for everyone here, so we can use the model for somewhere else.

So, we've wrecked this one.

Not yet. But we are too many.

I shan't be too worried. If we ever manage to escape this rock, we couldn't scar the universe if we tried. In the blink of a few billion years, there'll be zero trace of us.

I have, apparently, made an implication of caring for the poor old universe by saying something about unleashing humans on an unsuspecting planet... The planet will likely still be there, no matter what we do. In any case, I am a walking environmental disaster.

What I would indeed like to protect though is my level of comfort and availability of resources. Therefor, I think humans should learn how to use rubbers before moving off this rock, or move and move again and again and again to accomodate the exponentially expanding population. Key word here is sustainability, and not for any sort of green reasons.

[Happy_Is_Good]

I once heard about this guy called "Malthus" who claimed that the people of the Earth would starve once the population reached 1 Billion in 1800.  It didn't happen.  There are now 7 Billion of us!

In the 1950's, a great science fiction writer and bonefied scientist named Isaac Asimov wrote a book called, "The Caves of Steel" where he predicted that humanity would become a cowering mass of domed and underground miscreants when the population reached 8 Billion people.  Well...there are 7 Billion people now and it don't seem likely!  (BTW, I love the novel "Caves of Steel")

Now...I'm not saying that an end to growth isn't needed - or even good....I'm just saying that we are a long ways off from even having to consider it.  As we become more knowledgeable, we are already beginning to see that such a policy is wise for it promotes the general prosperity - and this is a movement and not necessarily a government edict (like in China).  Hey...people catch on - especially as economics take over.  So...I have some reasonable hope we'll be just fine.

Does this assure anyone?  Does it make them feel better about the future?

I hope so.

Meanwhile...let's find some more planets!

[Pharaoh Cat]

A few more Kepler planets, small but hot:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220134044.htm