Especially when you're traveling at half the speed of smell!Olgar Shiverstone said:
paradox42 said:I haven't seen any threads on this topic yet, but no doubt a lot of people here would be interested. Check out these links:
Scientists find most Earth-like planet yet
New 'super-Earth' found in space
Ladies and gentlemen, we appear to have our first target for interstellar colonization efforts.
Of course. But note that the scientists estimate its surface temp is between 0 and 40 degrees C, which are survivable ranges for humans and Earth life regardless of which end of the scale you're on (though admittedly not at all comfortable for us at the extremes). Even though it's tidally locked, there'd be plenty of habitable territory in the regions not directly facing the star or directly away from it. 20 and 30 C are generally quite comfortable. Given how much water is seen in the cosmos, there's almost certainly plenty in that system, so a fair amount should be on this planet- and if there's anything all the microbes we've been finding in crazy places lately teaches us, it's that anywhere liquid water exists, life eventually gains a foothold.Pbartender said:
) for seeding it with Earth-life is, what sort of atmosphere is there? Chances are it's got a significantly different mix of gases, so any native life that is there probably isn't very (or at all) compatible with ours environmentally. There's got to be an atmosphere of some kind, with two gas giants orbiting nearby and gravity 1.6 times Earth standard, so no worries about a barren hunk of rock in this case.
