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By Nana Karikari-apau, CNN
Editor's note: The Science Seat is a feature in which CNN Light Years sits down with movers and shakers from different areas of scientific exploration. This is the seventh installment.
Sara Seager is a professor of physics and planetary science at MIT. She works on exoplanets, which orbit stars other than the sun.
Seager considers herself a pioneer and risk taker. She worked on exoplanets before it was considered cool, when people thought the field would go nowhere. Time magazine named Seager one of the 25 most influential in space in 2012, and she recently appeared in a CNN gallery of top women scientists.
MIT's Sara Seager studies exoplanets, which orbit stars other than the sun.
CNN Light Years recently chatted with Seager about her work. Here is an edited transcript:
CNN: Why should you be featured on CNN Light Years?
Sara Seager: The field of exoplanet research is among the most compelling of all sciences because many people wonder, "Are we alone in the universe?"
I now have a world-renowned research team in exoplanet characterization. We use extensive computer models that we write from scratch as well as data from the Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes to understand what exoplanets are made of, what is in their atmospheres and what makes a planet "habitable." In addition, my research portfolio also includes space engineering, where we are building small satellites for both science and to test new spacecraft technology.
CNN: What is an exoplanet?
Seager: An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than the sun. Hundreds of exoplanets are known, and thousands of more planet candidates have been found. All evidence shows that a very large fraction of stars have at least one planet. Given that we know our Milky Way galaxy has at least 100 billion stars, this implies that the galaxy has at least 100 billion planets. Planets are just simply everywhere.
CNN: Why did you decide to study exoplanets?
Seager: My whole motivation is to find planets like Earth. In particular, the holy grail is to find signs of life by looking for gases produced by life that have accumulated in an exoplanet atmosphere and can be detected and studied by futuristic space telescopes.
CNN: What are transiting exoplanets?
Seager: Transiting exoplanets are those that go in front of the star as seen from Earth. A fortuitous alignment must occur - planet orbits are actually randomly oriented, that is the orientation with respect to Earth is different for each planet. When the planet goes in front of the star, the star light drops by a tiny amount with a very characteristic signal. The transit lasts from a few to several hours (depending on the planet's orbit).
Transiting exoplanets are so valuable for two reasons. First, we can determine the planet size, and this helps us to understand what kind of planet it is, rocky like the Earth, or with a massive gas envelope like Jupiter. Transiting planets are also valuable because so far, the transiting planet finding technique is the only one ... that can (detect) true Earth analogs (that is an Earth-size planet orbiting a sun-size star).
CNN: Why should we care about exoplanet atmosphere?
Seager: The exoplanet atmosphere acts like a blanket to control the planet surface temperature. Here on Earth, we are worried about parts-per-million increases in the greenhouse gases for warming. That's because of the atmosphere. On exoplanets, we want to know which planets are not too cold or not too hot for life, and the atmosphere is a determining factor. Atmospheres are also important because they are a window into other planet processes. ... Finding water vapor in the atmosphere of a small rocky planet would indicate surface liquid water in the form of oceans. Water is required for all life on Earth, so finding water vapor in a planet atmosphere may indicate that planet is habitable.
CNN: Why is finding signs of life on exoplanets important to scientists?
Seager: As astronomers, we strive to understand our place in the universe. We try to answer questions such as how did our planetary system form and evolve? How did Earth come to be? A main question is did life originate elsewhere, beyond Earth. So finding signs of life on exoplanets would help all of us understand our origins. A more interesting way to phrase it is we are dying to know, "Are we alone?" While we are not necessarily searching for "little green aliens," we are searching for signs of life caused by bacteria or other life forms on exoplanets.
CNN: Do you think there is another planet similar to Earth out there?
Seager: Absolutely yes. There are hundreds of billions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy and upward of 100 billion galaxies in our universe. So the existence of a planet similar to Earth somewhere, is, in my mind a certainty. Less certain is if such a planet is near enough to us that we can find and identify it sometime in the future.
How soon can we find another Earth?
Seager: How soon we can find another Earth depends on how we identify Earth. If we want a true Earth twin, that is a planet with a thin nitrogen atmosphere, a planet with oceans and continents and orbiting a sun-like star, it will be well over a decade before we have the sophisticated space telescope tools to find and identify one.
Our best bet is to expand our definition of Earth to big Earths orbiting small stars. We can use the future James Webb Space Telescope to search for signs (of) habitability and signs of life in the planet atmosphere. If we would be satisfied to just find an Earth-size or Earth-mass planet, that has already been done. But I caution that Venus and Earth appear the same size and mass, yet Venus is inhospitable to life due to a massive greenhouse atmosphere that creates surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead, while Earth has a surface oasis in comparison.
CNN: What equipment, research or theories would scientists need to find planets similar to Earth?
Seager: To find and identify a planet similar to Earth we would need a very sophisticated large space telescope that can block out the light of the host star. This type of telescope is at the limits of what astronomers and engineers can conceive of, and a huge amount of work has been done under an umbrella term called Terrestrial Planet Finder. In terms of theories, we are working hard to understand what kinds of planets could be habitable.
CNN: What are scientists doing to look for super-Earths orbiting small stars?
Seager: At MIT, we are leading a space telescope mission called TESS: Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. TESS will survey hundreds of thousands of stars, including small stars, searching for transiting exoplanets. It has been an exciting few years to develop the mission, and now we are in the final phase of a NASA competition. We will find out in a couple of months if TESS will be selected for launch
CNN: What's your scientific goal, and what's the inspiration behind it?
Seager: My goal is to find other Earths. ... The hope is that exoplanets transiting bright sun-like stars might have their atmospheres accessible to observation. In the exoplanet game, brighter is always better, because more light means a better signal (think of a brighter flashlight that helps to see more).
The real inspiration was that the set of Terrestrial Planet Finder missions got canceled. Terrestrial Planet Finder was a concept for an extremely sophisticated space telescope ... that would be able to take an image of an exoplanet, by getting rid of the glare of the host star. Though the planet would appear only as a "point source" (think single pixel), the huge challenge is that a sun-like star would be 10 billion times brighter than an Earth-like planet. For transits, the star is (only) is 10,000 times brighter. The renowned Kepler Space Telescope uses the transit technique, but the stars are typically thousands of light-years away and relatively faint, not a few to tens of light-years away.
CNN: Tell me about your research that led to the first detection of exoplanet atmospheres.
Seager: First, let me tell you one reason why planetary atmospheres are so important. The gases in a planet atmosphere control the surface temperature, via a "greenhouse effect." Ultimately we want to know if a planet has surface temperatures compatible with liquid water since all life as we know it requires liquid water. So we first have to understand the composition of exoplanetary atmospheres.
Small planet atmospheres are challenging to observe so now we are stuck with or focused on giant planet atmospheres. Giant planets are completely unsuitable for life as we know it because their atmospheres extend toward the interior into an "envelope," where temperatures rapidly increase, and they have no surface as we know it. Even though giant planets are too hot for life, their atmospheres are observable now with current space telescopes and techniques so we study them, also for their own sake.
A newly minted Ph.D., I was awaiting the discovery of a transiting planet, a planet that goes in front of its host star as seen from Earth. I believed such a special configuration could enable studies of exoplanet atmospheres; when the planet is in front of the star, some of the starlight passes through the planet atmosphere and the planet atmosphere is imprinted on the starlight. I wrote a computer code to predict that sodium (an atom in gas form in the so-called "hot Jupiters) was a very strong absorber and should be searched for. While I was writing the code, the first transiting planet ever was discovered. I tried to wrap up the paper ASAP. Then a team used my prediction, got time on the Hubble Space Telescope and observed sodium (albeit at a level smaller than my model predictions). This was an exciting series of events.
CNN: In one of your research articles, you said, "The graduated growth of a constellation might be a new paradigm for space missions." How are you going to demonstrate that?
Seager: My team is working on ExoplanetSat (a space telescope). We hope to send a fleet into low Earth orbit, each pointing to its own star. The brightest stars in the sky are spread all around the sky, hence the use of a fleet of tiny telescopes. We can send up one now, a handful later, and if the engineering and science is right, many more can go up anytime we have enough funding.
CNN: What should we expect from you in the near future?
Seager: I have big plans for the distant future. In the short term, watch for my biosignature gas research and my technology demonstrations on small satellite platforms.
CNN: You've made a lot of new scientific discoveries. Which one are you most proud of and why?
Seager: I am most proud of my early work on exoplanet atmospheres that led to the first detection of an exoplanet atmospheres by the Hubble Space Telescope. I predicted that the gas sodium would be observable in a type of planet that is easily accessible to observations, the so-called hot Jupiters. (These) planets (are) about the size and mass of Jupiter but so close to their host star, several times closer to their star than Mercury is to our sun. I'm proud of my related work that helped to lay down the theoretical foundation for exoplanet atmospheres.
I am proud of laying the basic understanding and approaches to many areas of exoplanet characterization.
CNN: What interesting facts can you share with us about exoplanets' interiors and their internal structure?
Seager: In the deep interiors of some planets, conditions reach such high pressures that matter takes on a different form than in everyday life, such that if you imagine adding mass to a planet it gets smaller overall, not larger.
CNN: What advice would you give to aspiring scientists?
Seager: Success: Find something you love doing and are also great at.
Failure: ... Don't be afraid to fail (but have a backup plan). ...
I'd like to try to reach the people who are struggling, who think they never have a chance to succeed in the way I have.
Seager is on Twitter at @ProfSaraSeager. Check out her e-book here.
This is awesome.
Why would God create life on only ONE planet? He would be bored with creating only one living planet.
I would love to believe that God (if He exists) created this universe with many billions of inhabited Earthlike planets in it.
you are right, now we must reach out there, scientist from what i have been reading online have come to the conclusion that controlled nuclear explosions are the key, i think we should research the sun a little more than mars
Cal Newlan, you do realize your conflict with theses people is a sin
No illusions. The stars breed life.
Is CNN trying to be unbiased? Every time they go here they have a strictly atheist viewpoint on everything. Bring in Michael J. Behe. Please!! From a Christian
By the way, do comments get deleted if we offer CNN our perspectives?
Traveling ln deep space in total darkness time don^t exit one second could be ten of thousand of years or billions of mile. It is a strange world out there one cannot put his hand on, about like our galaxy, know it out there that about it.
There are other life forms. Myself and my other siblings all saw the same ship back in the 60's. It was moving very slow over our home in NH No noise at all. All we did was look up at it watching untill it was out of sight. Then we went back to our hide in seek game. Never gave it much thought.
There has to be another earth-like planet.
We can not ignore the exorbitant probability that exists considering the size of the known universe, the number of galaxies, the number of solar systems, and the number of planets per sun.
And then,
There are all those universes so distant their light has not gotten across the dark spaces, not known universes
Almost all galaxies (at least 2/3) are totally uninhabitable, and the far reaches would be even more so. Think multiple quasars and black holes in a small galaxy. In the galaxies that some pieces might be inhabitable, there are only slivers of space that could hope to serve as inhabitable zones. All this doesn't even include that our sun is tuned to life perfectly, and that there are almost no suns anywhere near the hospitality of ours. This directs me towards intelligent design.
I don't think they call it earth though...
I sure hope, that after years of searching and thousands of years of wondering, they don't come up with something stupid like Earth2, or EarthToo or any other similar variant in whatever language gets to name it.
An open letter to NASA, ESA & CERN.
The paradigm of physics adopted by NASA, ESA & CERN has been shown to be fundamentally incorrect & baseless through published scientific article "Experimental & Theoretical Evidences of Fallacy of Space-time Concept and Actual State of Existence of the Physical Universe' (www.indjst.org; March2012) available at http://www.indjst.org/index.php/indjst/article/view/30369/26297 and consequently openly challenged & the open challenge is available at http://www.worldsci.org/php/index.php?tab0=Abstracts&tab1=Display&id=6476&tab=2 and also at http://www.gsjournal.net/Science-Journals/Essays/View/4018.
Are not you under moral obligation to accept the challenge before proceeding any further with wastage of public money on the name of research?
Does my name not say it all
one last comment as I have better things to do on a Friday night, I have heard people say we cannot travel at those rates of speed that our bodies would get ripped apart, I have felt 3.5 g's and trust me it is no fun but astronauts float in space so I imagine the speed you travel at does not really matter and they have also learned how to pressurize things in space to simulate gravity so one may be able to reverse that as well – unlocking hyper speed energy opens the new quest for eternal life, who knows how the human body reacts to say a planet like mars where you weigh a lot less and receive less radiation from the sun – humans may one day consider 500 years the typical life expectancy –
'g' forces are caused by acceleration, not velocity. We are already traveling at near the speed of light compared to some particles at present. At 3 G's of acceleration it would take about 118 days or so to approach the speed of light relative to where you started, and that is assuming you could come up with the energy and a way to apply it in order to approach it.
Just think how fast the Earth traveling around our Sun almost motively. without Earthequate, Volcano and wind you could not measure time an space.
Interesting, Now if you were to look at earth as it transited from afar I would expect you would come up with an anomaly around 589nM as we use enough sodium vapor lighting that it might cause a noticeable excess at that frequency. I would think it might more than offset the light we would expect to be absorbed by sodium in the atmosphere, of course we don't actually have much in the way of sodium in our atmosphere. I had thought it might be possible to look for signs of civilization using this frequency, however it appears that the use of sodium lights will likely be short lived, like a flash in a pan, with newer and better technologies such as LED's taking over within a hundred years or so, at least on earth. Still, unusual light emissions might be one of the ways of detecting E.T. should they be out there with street lighting in their cities. Ms. Seager has an interesting career at an exciting time as our technology to actually make these discoveries is just starting to come of age.
And here I was thinking that religion vs. non-religion flame wars only show up on articles about evolution...
ur awesome people lol
very interesting , al though its really long but its ok
Of course there are other planets that support life it would be almost mathematically impossible for there NOT to be
there are lot of mysteries around the earth's future and i think there are worlds which are totally opposite to all conceivable laws of science. the book " the boy who played with dark matter" is book that details about these facts amazingly.
I think the suns energy would help us reach out to the distant planets, if you observe the sun, specifically its flares you see an incredible speed protruding off an extremely strong gravitational pull, that same matter rest almost like a cloud around the suns near "atmosphere", they say due to space's cold temps that satellites can get extremely close to the suns surface, I imagine if we put enough effort into it we could harness that energy, it is always when the sun turns very bright that these flares occur, I know they say the sun is one big nuclear weapon but that is misleading I think, no uranium, no plutonium, lots of hydrogen yes and helium but I think that is the key, harvest the sun and I think we unlock a can of worms that would be truly remarkable – on a side note worm holes I think are another bogus theory, it seems a^2+b^2=c^2, the shortest distance is always a straight line
also consider the spread of the stars over the universe, one type of object over the biggest spread known ever, goes right with the big bang theory.......
the question is if we can get the stuff first (I think it would be possible if enough minds dove into it) and two can we manufacture that brightness which we see in the corona, then we put it into a tank and propel into the unknown
you know it is kinda funny that a "starship" (something capable of traveling between the stars) could very well be the energy source to get out into the stars – talk about changing the definition
dr david criswell was the first to come up with the theory of star lifting – it would be interesting to see what he thinks about the whole hyper speed theory – old albert said that space may be able to bend in order to reach to far away stars – i don't think i would even mess with that if it is even possible
God is love
God is good
God is gracious
and the BIBLE is real
For proof, see above...
A zombie is a supernaturally reanimated corpse that has existed through Central American and African lore for centuries and has no scientific evidence to support its existance and people believe it anyway, but christians say Voodoo is not real. What is the difference between Jesus and a Zombie? Both reanimated corpses, cant find any proof of either one, people all around the world believe in them. Whats the difference? I would hope that the realization that you spend your life talking to yourself while picturing an ancient zombie in the sky triggers a revelation in the way you view the world.
Nothing about the bible is real, save for a handful of names and places. In the 21st century, you'd have to be quite the fool to believe otherwise.
Yep the Bible is real. The Earth is only 4,000 years old. These MIT scientists have no idea what they are talking about......
*Rolls eyes*
Is anyone knew the email address of Ms. Zara Seager ? i just want to email her. Thanks a lot
It's also possible that all that we perceive as reality is part of a computer simulation w/t It's origins based on a series of mathematical propensity,much like the properties of an holographic principle !.
We are just processes in the interuniversal mainframe, man. You realize a computer that simulates all intelligence would have to be intelligent itself and would basically be a god? After all the crap they toss at religion, this is what they came up with?
The smallest thing in the universe is light ,you cannot touch it nor feel it nor see, it only the reflection of it.
Light is a photon. There are quarks, bosons, muons and other subatomic particles smaller than the photon.
NO NO NO – The Earth IS the center of the Universe- The Sun revolves around the Earth as does everything in the universe . The Earth IS flat and you are all doo doo head heathens who need to be persecuted. You bad bad bad heathens you. YA I am republican here me roar!!!!
it seems we are generalizing 2 groups and not realizing that there are 4
as it currently seems.
Forgetting that there are those who are different from their Topical Generalizations. We should have a further Break down.
Atheist: Doesn't believe in god or gods for the most part has two categories
Extreme: doesn't believe in religious god/gods to the point of trying to convert or debunk anyone who does
Open: Doesn't believe in religious god/gods, but does not jam their belief down people's throats and accepts/tolerates rather easily that someone else has a belief/faith
Religious Does have a faith in a higher power, whether it be God/gods/Self Enlightenment
Extreme: Extreme: Does believe in religious god/gods to the point of trying to convert or debunk anyone who doesn't
Open: Does believe in religious god/gods, but does not jam their belief down people's throats and accepts/tolerates rather easily that someone else doesn't has a belief/faith
There is an extreme Parallel/duality in these category leading me to think that if i were to run into either of the extreme categories i will tone either out when one proves to be hostile about defending their belief or lack their of.
PS: forgive spelling and grammar errors for i am not an English major.
There is also agnosticism for those of us who do not pretend to know everything.
Finding Earthlike planets shouldn^t be to hard to find they all have a rainbow colored circle just above there surface which show the amount of oxygen in it atmosphere. The southren hemphere has queit a few of them.
The southern hemisphere has quite a few Earth-like planets? How have we not stumbled upon these? I would imagine that they would have crashed together in the southern hemisphere and devastated whole civilizations if they were impeding upon each other's and our surface. This providing for the fact that the impact, even at relatively slow speeds, would probably be enough to also destroy much of the northern hemisphere in the process due to massive shaking that would come from the crash.
All these solars system is suround by magnet which keep all suns apart like a swarm of bird, everything in nature is interactive so or the universe.
I enjoyed the article; however, my understanding is that not only does an earth like planet need to be located in the Goldilocks zone in relation to it's star, but also the star has to be located in the Goldilocks zone in relation to the galaxy. Wouldn't this reduce the number of possible habitable planets by a rather large percent???
Certainly there are advanced alien life form, more technological advanced than human. In the eighties when i was a teen a saw a spaceship/craft, a disk one with 8 to 9 round light on its belly, its metal composition is like aluminum. It hovered without a sound at all. When it zoomed into space, its gone in blink of an eye. Its produced straight light (i am not sure if it is a speed of light) I just want to share my wonderful experience so a lot of people will enjoy the beauty of science specially in universe. thanks a lot.
As many Rabbis say – Everything in the Bible is true, and some of it even happened.
Lets not go too far into space here, we might end up in a war with the Covenant
You kidding me? The military industrial complex would absolutely love a space war against a real enemy. The war on aliens would be so much more profitable than the war on terrorism is. The government would give the war machine a blank check to protect our national security.
Check out this 'X-O planet' NASA recently discovered. It's indeed fitting, especially during March Madness....
After reading the article and all of the comments I can only conclude that....Cal..you are a putz big time..
Why are we so presumptuous to think "life" has to fit our definition? There could be "living" organisms in other galaxies thriving on elements we've never heard of and don't find here - why would it have to be oxygen, water, etc.? Maybe they live on poopygas, vardinia, skilapta, and other crap that we've never heard of. We should always qualify our narrow-minded views by saying "life as we know it..."
You are correct in that life may exist in forms we have never thought of. However, it is not likely to be life thriving off of elements we have never heard of. Even far away galaxies are made up of the same elements we have here on earth. Instead, it is most likely life thriving off of elements we never expected to sustain life. To imagine how this would occur, we have to look no further than earth. Even today, we are still finding new organisms living in harsh environments we never thought would sustain life.
Milton, I understand what you're saying. I am just wondering that if there are probably at least 100 billion planets just within our galaxy, do we really know what all of the elements are in the galaxy - not to mention beyond?
Yes we do. There are these things called protons and electrons (and neutrons, for holding the protons together) . They combine in a specific manner to create increasingly massive elements. These are charted in a thing called the Periodic Table of Elements. The higher the atomic number, the less likely a form of life would be based on it because they become decreasingly common in nature as it takes some serious business inside a star to create them. Life could certainly be based on another element besides carbon but it would probably need to be something that behaves similarly, chemically.
Let's find another planet that we can ruin.
After all they have reined this one
They? Who's they? i assume you were no part of it?
I'm sure intelligent life in the universe is thrilled that we're looking for other earths given how we treat our own planet and people.
Interesting article about a fascinating subject.
I think intelligent ladies are more attractive because they are smart enough to eat healthy and exercise. It keeps them firm and fit.
They should have posted her photo. Some of these smart chicks are hot. I had several teachers in college that were incredible to look at. We took their classes just so we could stare at them for an hour each day. It was fun.
Some of em have nice thingies. Honk Honk.
I like me some thingies. Especially if the lady is skinny but still has nice ones. Like the important scientist said "honk honk".
Wow, talk about job security. 100 billion galaxies, each with 100 billion stars and 100 billion planets!
....Please someone, ANYONE, please find a planet for Bachmann and her Minnesota's 6th.....they arent from Earth anyway.............
HAAAA! That was the funniest thing I have read/heard in a while!!! Thank you 't' for making my work day awesome!
Hmmmmm wonder if the new earth have a Walmart?
Too dumb to understand science? Try religion.
I love God, God loves me, we're a happy family...
"An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than the sun." Our star needs a proper name since "sun" and "star" seem to mean the same thing. She should have said "our sun".
Sun and star DO mean the same thing because they ARE the same thing.
A Sun is someone's child. A Star is an actor in the movies. Very different things you embiciles.
Fascinating. I deeply admire the talent, capacity and drive possessed by this woman.
Forget about money and immediate fame – sic gloria transit. What could be more rewarding than knowing that you are one of the "shoulders of giants" referred to by Isaac Newton? All other accomplishments seem pedestrian compared to the feats of these largely nameless individuals.
I agree. This is an inspiring story and I wish her luck on her future endeavors!
It seems to me at this time this woman's time might be better spent on systems of propulsion enabling us to reach distant planets. Anyone can easily sit and proclaim there is life here and there light years away. So what. Prove it.
One should have a target before leaving home. knowing that there is a likely candidate in Cygnus, for example, would provide the path, duration, et cetera. Otherwise, it'd be like telling Google Maps, "Give me directions. I don't care where."
It's interesting. But she says it's a certainty in her mind that there is some other planet with life on it. I'm thinking that the logical process she followed was to take as a presupposition that life arises on its own and then develops. Therefore, the laws of probability imply it must have happened more than once.
So going back to the presupposition, how was that arrived at? Has it in fact been proven that life arises spontaneously on its own, or is it just a necessary article of faith to allow reasoning on to how it happened and where else it might happened?
Ever hear of Dinosaurs? Sort of proves your theory mute does it not?
Cal Newman apparently you missed the point on where I replied to you. Troll much?
Cal Newlan. Did you notice that I replied to the individual above, not your comment. Maybe you should take a chill pill my friend.
And now the insults. Poor, poor Carl Newlan. Don't you just look like a fool now. By the way, its the weekend troll. I don't work on weekends.
I totally agree. I am afraid this is a DEAD-END SPECULATIVE science, forever faced with a scarcity of enough empirical evidence to definitely substantiate any findings of life elsewhears. They may find tell-tell signs, but these will not meet any definite proof criterias. ... unless we are able to travel near enough to candidate planets ... unlikely.
If you are beating around the bush about there must be a God to create us and our world, why would this God restrict his creation of life to one planet out of a billion trillion?It is well known that the Bible contains erroneous statements of fact that defy the laws of physics, etc. The religious rationalize this as being due to our punny selves not having the mental or emotional capacity to deal with the truth, so God hides the truth from us. So, who is to say that Earth is not God's only project and He hides the totality of HIs creation (s) from us?
The fact that God is able to defy the laws of physics, should give you pause for thought.
Well-written, interesting article – I have had the pleasure to meet Prof. Seager a few times and to attend one of her lectures. We are hoping that TESS gets funded (I helped build a prototype for the first phase). This is an exciting field of inquiry that requires only modest investment. Anyone reading this please ignore the trolls and crackpots.
She is very inspiring and driven. I'm very glad this article was written because my thirst for science and beyond are very great and having the knowledge about this program is motivational. While reading this story I had images of Jodi Foster in First Contact. She resembles her a tiny bit (think it's the hair?) and if anyone should have first contact it has to be someone with a level head like our heroin in the story above.
OK! Good luck! We're looking forward to receiving the call from our loved ones who are on one of the exoplanets.
New Heavens and a New Earth
Isaiah 65:17
"17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind."
Revelation 21:1
"21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea."
Revelation 21:4,5
"4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." "
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The end of Time (ie creation) is an interesting subject, but what has it to do with the article?
The debate over creation by the "one perfect spirit", or "third rate demon" is older that Abraham. The dragon of creation become the serpent in the Nile, in the story Moses told. (the serpent that lives in the river that claims it made the river)
The third rate demon of creation story had spread the world over by 2000 years ago. Christ was very angry with the Jewish theocracy over God still being mostly in Judah.
So, God isn't a good project manager? One wonders why he chose a tribe of donkey Bedouins to carry His message. It must be that He is showing his magnificence by choosing a bunch of losers to be His minions. This bunch of malcontents must have had divine guidance to find their way out of the dessert, i.e., the mere fact of the success of the people of Abraham is posited as irrefutable evidence of the existence of a God. Too bad they couldn't meet His expectations.
Wow!? I cant wait till the day that religion is once and for all proven to be the "Big Scam" that it is! And I believe that day is closer than some may be willing to relate.....:) Just saying
Paul of Tarsus claimed that those who take money for their evangelizing are fake Christians, so the scam was revealed from the start.
and I can't wait for the day when people recognize faith is a virtue that allows us to step into the unknown, to grow and evolve. Whether you believe in god or not, faithis indispensable.
John I appreciate your views, however I for one believe the exact opposite is going to take place. Just a difference of opinion and faith. No disrespect intended toward your view.
Stephen Hawking:
"Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?"
"The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?"
"If we do discover a complete theory, it should be in time understandable in broad principle by everyone. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people be able to take part in the discussion of why we and the universe exist."
Albert Einstein:
"No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."
In An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck
The Saturday Evening Post
Oct. 26, 1929
I would rather believe science, which has actual proof of how planets and such were created (including Earth). Why believe in a Bible (written by man) that "claims" to be written in the word of God.
So uhmmm are they gonna make some revisions on the bible"s" when we reach this discovery?
Relativity guarantees we will never reach any earthlike planet.
Folding Space or warp Time, Cal. Jesus was claimed to have that power, along with Jeremiah; from the Zohar.
Cal- Is is why the Deciples answered Jesus "the Peoplesay you are Jeremiah" when he asked "who do you say I am?" It is also how 70weeks was enough to do his ministry.
Master of science engineering, electrical option with registration as a Professional Electrical Engineer. Your science credentials would be, cal?
Quantum mechanics then.
"John P. Tarver, MS/PE
Relativity guarantees we will never reach any earthlike planet."
... How? I mean perhaps you can try to argue "it's too impractical", but there's nothing about relativity that prohibits reaching another earthlike planet. Hell, get me moving fast enough, and time dilation will allow me to reach an earthlike planet in my lifetime.
It's just that by the time anyone were to return to earth, a lot more time passed on earth than for the individual traveling to other worlds. I don't see why that precludes interstellar travel though.
As you approach the speed of light your body would be crushed by your own relativistic mass. (Gravity) There is however the notion of traveling without moving, that does not violate relativity. This story is really about funding and at least what she is doing is real science.
When the scriptures were written, they represented some of the boldest, imaginative thinking by man of all time (before and after). This was more than 2 millennia ago. In just the past century, our understanding of what the universe has expanded enormously. Rather than pin holes in the sky, stars are other suns, many with planetary systems, organized into galaxies, etc.
Doesn't it bother you that in those scriptures, where the future was predicted, not one of these revelations of the actual nature of our universe was provided?
we only have about 4b years to get this done, People.
Yep, if we learn to get along.
To all of the theists who don't even try to grasp the science that gave them the technology they use daily in their lives:
There are millions of potential Earths existing in EACH of the 100 billion galaxies. Do you really think this single planet is the ONLY thing your god could think of for developing life? Is that it?
What an unimaginative, ineffectual, small-minded god you must have. Really.
There's not much else to be said to folks like you.
Great theists like CS Lewis embraced the idea of a huge universe filled with all of God's creation. That is part of most Christian's thinking today as well.
Read men like Timothy Keller and Lee Stroble, and please disregard what Cal is saying
Cal you said I
"conform yourself to the world and the philosophies of men"
Friend, did you read the list of men I had? CS Lewis, Timothy Keller, and Lee Stroble are hardly "philosophies of men"
These are strong Christian leaders.
I did check out your website sire, it is based on a poor systematic theology that is related to JW's. While you can still be a believer and hold to your Dispensationalist views it will mess up your ideas of end times, interaction with the world, and even core values like the nature of salvation and works.
Don't follow the religion of man, follow the faith of the Historic Christian Church.
Come back into the Christian fold and stop spreading lies in the name of Christ.
Cal, I read your web site. You are a Dispensationalist.
Dispensationalism, Mormonism and JW's all have a common history out of the 1800's. While Dispensationists are not "Heretics" like the Mormonism and JW's there are a lot of common theology this is NOT Biblical shared between the three groups.
Simply look up the History of Dispensationalism on Google and you can see for yourself.
And I am your friend, a fellow Born Again Christian. There are almost no Evangelical Seminaries in America that teach Dispensationalism for this very reason.
Even Dallas Theological Seminary no longer teaches this poor theology.
"Great theists like CS Lewis embraced the idea of a huge universe filled with all of God's creation."
Other great theists, like L. Ron Hubbard and Joseph Smith, had the same beliefs.
I often wonder what God was doing for the ETERNITY that preceded it's creation of the universe, which by comparison, just happened.
MennoKnight ... As an atheist I too love reading CS Lewis. thank you for your respectful responses .. and, yes, Cal has been disregarded.
If Norses had Gods, their Gods would be Norses....and they ARE!
Bobert .. True! FYI, That quote (hoses/gods) predated Jesus by 500 years!!
Speaking of a multiplicity of man-made gods, here's my take on Pascal' Wager:
1. Line up all of the gods that man has had since we started plugging the gaps of our ignorance with myths.
2. Notices there are thousands.
3. Pick one, knowing the odds are you are doomed!
4. Now cheat and pick all of them.
Oh darn. It's God's lottery. He'll make you stop after number 3.
Mando .. I like your take on Pascals wager! I guess we should all be Poly-Theists after-all.
Relativity and QM support creationist beliefs, so I can not understand what your rant means Mondo. Nealy all our modern technology is based in science that was called "Jew science" by your fellow evolutionists 80 years ago.
Relativity and QM can be compatible IF the creation story were real, but since it is infinitely improbable they stand apart. Even compatibility does not mean the biblical account of creation is true it just means it (along with infinite other explanations) could fit, nothing more.
Lilith-Creation might be true, but evolution as a means to species and the big bang are certainly false.
Of course the larger issue, outside of finding these planets, is that given the closest planets that might support life are extraordinarily far away, we might never reach them.
In fact, leaving today, using existing technology (which isn't getting remarkably better) it would take about 5,000 years to reach the closest of these planets.
The whole proposition is dishonest science.
I agree. It's the same thing with Muslims. I saw them on 9/11, and that's all I need to know about them. I don't need to learn nothing else because I'm never going over there where they are anyway. Learning stuff if for fancy folk.
"I don't need to learn nothing else..."
Oh irony, how I do love thee.
To those who search for another Earth? you are so stupid ! GOD made this Planet for man /woman .Stop with your so call scientific Alien's in HuMan fOrm .Destroying Planet EaRth ! and take up all our PlAnet reSources ot your Terrestrial Planet.From GOD TO YOUR KIND OF PEOPLE !!YouR kind is the DesTruction of this Planet with your Nuclear wast !! GOD will Not let your kind come even close to finding another Earth liKe atmospheres.No maTTer wHat ! GOD HATES Your KIND OF People.think Mars your qUest watch your Rover curiosity watch how God destroy it ! we are finish with amazement. So GOD will step in now>
If God hates "their kind" and will stop them from finding what they're searching for .. why did God make "their kind" in the first place .. wouldn't it just be easier for God to stop "their kind" from searching to begin with?
Were you home schooled?
I think there's something wrong with your keyboard. May want to check the "caps lock" key to see if its randomly pressing itself whilst you type.
I'm not Finnish at all, I'm from Georgia.
Excellent article! Simple Q & A with to the point answers from an expert on the top of their game. With a headline that catches attention but isn't an overt exaggeration or down right lie. More like this one please!
I am impressed by this factual article,as well as the fact that there is no big bang nonsense included. Perhaps Ms. seager is familiar with relativity and will therefore have a more successful search for another inhabitable planet. I wonder if they can also detect the magnetic field, indicating a molten core; where life could actually exist.
"... there is no big bang nonsense included."
Oh please, do go on.
Relativity is Maxwell's Equations with Time decoupled from space into a 4th dimension. The big bang attempts to look back in Time using electromagnetic radiation. (light) When we see electromagnetic radiation from space, what we see is not what is happening, as the Time distortions are not part of the radiant information; as light is time-space dependant.
Does not the observed hydrogen-helium abundance ratio in the universe and low-metallicity stars count for nothing?
If you can construct a mathematical model, build an experiment or at least make a prediction and validate it with an observation that unambiguously dethrones General Relativity, there is a Nobel Prize waiting for you. Publish a paper in a respected journal and the world will beat a path to your door.
That is a tall order though. General Relativity has been bashed over the head experimentally for nearly a century now but has stubbornly stood its ground. It has be pushed to the extremes before cracks start to appear.
I am not a physicist, but I do know that back-of-the-envelope 'proofs' will not suffice.
In all seriousness, if you have an actual scientific paper, I wish you Good Luck!
Relativity is a Theory under the scientific method. but no Nobel prize was awarded. Instead Einstein was forced to create the mathematical contrivance of the Photon to collect his money; based upon the identical photographic evidence from a solar eclipse. GSP satellites demonstrate Relativity by experiancing over 4000 nano-seconds less time than we have here on Earth; these past 30 years. (ie Grvity is mass bending Time)
Oh goodie, let's go destroy another planet!
Read my book "SETI" on Amazon Kindle and BarnesandNoble NOOK.
I'm sure that millions and millions dollars of tax payers money is being spent on this research. I hope that they do find another earth so that alll of the rich white racist people that are looking for somewhere else to go can go and be happy,. Just don't come back.
maybe they'll discover a planet that only stupid people can survive on. Then you can go there with your friends and be happy
You do realize that using the label "white" then calling them out as racist IS the definition of racist .. don't you?
... didn't think so
You are wrong. Listing people as white or black or green is not racism, it is simple categorization.
Attributing special traits to the on account of their skin color is racism; noting the skin color is not. The poster did not claim all whites are racist, just that he wanted racists (who happen to be white) to leave. If the author knows that there are black and red and yellow racists, too, then this is merely a comment on personal taste. I will grant you that the author left that as an open question, but the fact that he called some racists white is not, per se, racism.
Edwin, you are correct. I took what I read between the lines and labeled it. Thanks for calling me on it.
Cal .. that, after you just (below) told someone else to "punctuate'! Hypocrite. Obviously my comments to you below hit their mark and since you have nothing of substance to back you up you just make a snide comment here.
lol .. very "ministering" of you!
I honestly hope we never find another planet similar to ours humans would just destroy it just like there destroying this one, nobody has any respect for each other let alone our planet, if we ever do find a planet like ours I hope all the smart,compassionate,relatively sane,open minded people get to live on it, and everyone else can stay here and fight and suffer.
And it's they're, not there.
........and it would be too far away for earthlings to threaten it
Drama much?
Get a life Grammar Nazi's.And just because its far away it doesn't mean humans still wont find a way to destroy it. All I have to do is read all these posts on this message board to see how incredibly stupid and shallow the human race is.
Okay you obviously have too much time on your hands. Its not like my post is unreadable, I am not writing a dissertation, get over it. Your just trying to find something to use against me, but you can't because you know I am right.So you use Grammar as a way to seem superior and more intelligent,when really it just makes you look like the idiot. I might not be perfect at Grammar, but at least I don't waste my time writing things that have no relevance whatsoever. I really don't give a damm how I might appear to others.You are nothing to me.All that matters is that I get my point across and I did, and thank you for proving my point.
When I read an article such as this, I wonder what those who believe in a "god" , are thinking? They are missing out on so much,if you want to see"god", look at Hubble.
Cal Newlan- Haha me a crybaby nah I am actually laughing my guts out right now.But I am guessing that you are because you obviously took the time to actually comment on someones grammar. If that's not whiny then I don't know what is. What's a matter can't handle the truth, poor little guy boo hoo.
And your a a stupid, self righteous buffoon who has nobody in his life who gives a damm about you.So you go on message boards to bring others down just so you can feel better about your miserable worthless existence, You think your so above everyone but your standing alone you're beneath everyone.And when you die not one person will shed a tear for you so sad, were as numerous people will be crying over me at my funeral,illiterate and a crybaby or not.
Come up with something new already its getting old, your starting to sound like a old record player.Yes I pooped my pants, yes I am an illiterate crybaby, feel better lol,you truly are pathetic, the words that come out of your mouth are rather amusing nobody will ever take you seriously.
Although there are many earth-like planets, the probability of us finding an exact copy of earth that we can use and destroy may be inversely proportional to the number of earth-like planets that exist
We have not been out of low earth orbit in 40 years, for goodness sake. Unless we can build a Star Trek-esque 'warp drive", I am not going to worry about trashing Earth V2.0.
The day that another pale-blue-dot is found will be like the day that Galileo discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter. Our place in the universe will be forever changed.
Awesome article. Lets spend less money on war and more on space and exploration and humanity will be a much better off place.
When the sun runs out of hydrogen in its core, it will begin burning hydrogen in a shell around the core and become very luminous and bloated. The outer layers of the sun will actually reach the Earth, and so the oceans will evaporate and our planet will be fried. Fortunately for us, this won't happen for several billions of years. Hopefully, by then mankind will have developed the technology to leave the Earth and emigrate to a new planet with a very young sun. Our space program is already hard at work trying to identify candidate planets. So, I remain optimistic for the survival of human race.
Well..since that won't happen for about 5 billion years...by that time...some asteroid will kill everyone off way before then.
No we will simply nudge these asteroids into another orbit.
yeah until that star one day dies or if it is even possible to to travel to other planets because of distance or hazardous conditions in space. there's thousands of objects out there in space that could wipe us out at any given time. and eventually our entire universe will come to an end when the last star dies out and no new star can be created. what i'm saying is that we might be around for awhile but it's arrogant and futile to think we'll be around forever.
Nobody said forever..just until the end of the universe.
If we do move to another earth, please leave christians here.
God Bless you and Happy Easter Week.
There is no"god", so relax and enjoy your life, go play with your pee pee.
That is harsh. However there is a case for Dick Cheney.
The new planet is a place to exile middle management to.
"But I caution that Venus and Earth appear the same size and mass, yet Venus is inhospitable to life due to a massive greenhouse atmosphere that creates surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead, while Earth has a surface oasis in comparison............"
And there I as thinking that this was a merely a wild goose chase.
Why do scientific news posts only seem bring out idiot atheists and ignorant christians? Atheists, guess what? People who are intelligent can still believe in God. You are not automatically smarted by closing your mind off to other possibilities. Christians, guess what? The existence of other habitable planets does not disprove a thing in the bible, also believing in God does not replace the new to learn and educate yourself.
smarter. need* stupid no editing.
Really? How does jesus, the blonde hair blue eyes middle eastern jew that sits on clouds performing magic tricks and is GOD, fall into your explanation?
As an atheist I know lots of really smart people who believe in god. Your assertion that minds are closed to other possibilities applies much more to people of faith. They will not even consider that there is no god. I have studied comparative religion and I concluded that at best, all but one of the religions has made up their story. I go one religion further, they are all made up by man. This is after much consideration.
Amen (coming from one with an advanced degree in Astrophysics) ...
My experience has been that the more devotedly religious a person is, the less open they are to ideas that challenge their beliefs. An atheist is open to any and all ideas, including religious ones. I have read the scriptures of all the major religions (and some minor ones like Swedenborgianism), but I have never found any that satisfied the rational side of my brain. At some point they all require faith, and faith, as the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us, "... is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (11:1 KJV) To me, that puts religion in the same category as Bigfoot spotters, conspiracy theorists and UFO abductees.
If the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey is any guide, atheists and agnostics know more about religion than any other social grouping, simply because we're curious about the subject and because we're not bound by the restrictions that handicap the intellectual lives of the majority of the pious.
"Idiot" Atheists at least realize that it isn't a 1 to 1 equal choice of God(s) vs no God(s) ... Much like this article (if you read it) is about logical probabilities. The concept of God(s) is nothing more likely than any other of infinite improbabilities like flying unicorns, orbiting Stegosauri or invisible mind controlling teapots .. etc... there is simply no reason to believe the God(s) concept to be any more real than any of those or infinite others.
So this Adam and Eve, had a boy and a girl, they fornicated, and had kids, hmmmm, so are we the product of "incest"?
They had Sons, Cain, Able and much later Seth. Cain took his wife from a "tribe" east of Eden. However with biblical time frames, and contradictions, this other tribe could have been populated with Adam & Eve's "other" children who were inconsequentially mentioned in the bible. So, yes, the bible has us as products of incest .. or, more obviously .. the bible is just folklore at best as history shows time and time again.
We're having increasing trouble recognizing intelligent life on earth- take the nutbags in congress and their lunatic supporters for example, not to mention so called "evangelicals" who are every bit as awful and small minded. Come on humanity- time to wake up!
Part of me hopes they don't find any suitable planets for life. Humans have always been consumed by expansion: europeans to north/south america, NA over native americans. They feel its their right to expand if they need space. At first finding a planet with life would be cool, but then other idiots would want a colony their, and that colony would want to expand, etc.
Most, if not all species do this. Fortunately there are usually effective checks and balances that limit this expansion. Hopefully these will prevent humans from expanding to a point that we destroy our currently only home.
Hoping these is funded by provite thrid party, not taxpayers.
Right? I mean why should we all pitch in to help ensure the future of our species? This has to be Obama's fault.
If you didn't get to enjoy the benefits of government-funded basic research, you'd be much less healthy, less well-informed (if that's possible), and living several decades behind the rest of us in terms of technology, transportation, nutrition, energy distribution, and on, and on.
God forbid we all work together to make a better future for our species. People like you make me sick.
If the earth was ruled by people with your thought pattern, we would still be trying to light fires in abandoned caves. Thankfully we have not been.
But you see, some are still in their caves.Worshipping,no less,invisible deity's in the sky. Embarrassing isn't it.
Yeah, like I hope the church at the end of my street pays their fair share of property taxes like everyone else. Because if they didn't, the rest of us tax payers would have to pickup the slack. Oh, wait...
It is a truly wonderful universe. There may be only a million to one chance that any star in this galaxy harbors the right planet – one which offers the same opportunity for sentient life to emerge. Even with those odds there would be 100,000 viable planets in our galaxy alone. Multiply that by 100 billion galaxies and you easily get 10 quadrillion possibilities. By by mathematically solid estimation and scientific evidence, there's a 99.999999999999999% probability were not alone.
...so you're saying there's a chance?
I think that's what he's saying.
I should have said million to one chance that a "given" or "selected" star star in this galaxy has the right planet...
That leaves one heck of a lot of planets for life to gain a foothold.
Evolution: god lives on Mt Olympus god lives in the sky god lives on another planet god lives in another galaxy god lives in another universe. To me sounds like this guy god wants to be left alone.
Hell: god of your own planet with 40 virgins who will remain virgin forever.
IIRC, only virgins are mentioned. Not gender. Makes you wonder...
God is omnipotent! He can create anything as quick as He wants and give it the nature it has thereafter!
When God created this universe, from nothing, He made it totally formed/aged/complete (what naturally takes billions of years or so) at six-day-old!
So, even if the universe has the nature of developing over 13.7 billion years, and Earth over 4.5 billion years, God made it all happen (jump start) during the days of Creation!
Just like Adam. God created Adam an adult. He was a fully grown man at one-day-old and gave him the human nature (passed on to us) of growing fully over nine months in the womb and 18-21 years after birth! The same goes for all other creatures!
Also, the days of Creation were regular days like we have today! The Bible describes the cycle of morning, evening and night throughout the days of Creation in Genesis 1.
More on:-
– "Science" that is discovered by man is "NOT EXACT," it is only "approximate" (The Scientific Community attests to that) for we are limited and can not know everything!
– "Exact Science" is the expression of the "Mechanism" of this physical universe. Whatever science man arrives at (approximation) is part of the "Natural Revelation" by God.
– God created this universe and its "Exact Science" (that is the how of it/the nature of it/laws of physics/laws of nature/God given nature.)
Until this day:-
– Science finds that all the vastness and sophistication we observe accounts to only 4% of the universe, and the other 96% of it is completely unknown to us!
– NASA, the most prominent space agency, can only detect 7% of near-earth objects! The other 93% are not detectable before passing by or arriving!
– Science finds that we have only deciphered the part of our DNA responsible for reproduction, which is only 5% of it, and the other 95% is not decipherable!
– Science finds that polymerase can only extend an existing DNA strand and CAN NOT create a new one!
– Science finds that our DNA is the most massive data storage device in the universe, and all the supercomputers on the globe combined can not match that capacity!
– Science finds that the secrets to all life forms might not lie in the cosmos but in our own DNA!
Now, when you think about God, keep an open mind to that God Himself (Who Is Metaphysical) is not subject to this 'physical' world and its science (physical laws) that He created all. Therefore, science can not prove or disprove God! In scientific terms God is imponderable! However, this entire creation, including life, is huge "EVIDENCE" to a "CREATOR" == "GOD" !!!
Romans 1:20
"20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."
Colossians 1:16
"16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him."
Hebrews 11:3
"3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible."
Acts 17:24-28
"24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'"
[Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)]
How utterly stupid.
Guess you didn't take time to read any of it. Now be honest....
I did. And he is correct.
This is so wrong, on so many levels, it's not even worth deconstructing.
Though it does make me wonder why the deeply religious feel the need to inject their personal mythology into every science post here. It's like they feel so threatened by the implications of new data, they have to toss out their mythology "as fact" to try and reinforce their own belief.
Hint: The fastest way to lose an argument with a rational person is to use "the bible says" anywhere in your own argument.
He doesn't even get the order of creation right. "The Bible describes the cycle of morning, evening and night throughout the days of Creation in Genesis 1"
The correct sequence is: "And the evening and the morning were the first day." That's why Jews mark the beginning of the sabbath on Friday at sundown, not at dawn on Saturday, because they follow the sequence in Genesis and are honoring the creation.
Vic- grow up. You're seriously putting your trust and basing your life on a fairy tale created by desert goat-herders thousands of years ago.
The Bible was written by men.. Nobody knows what God's plans are. Which is just as well, we should be relying on ourselves instead and just accept that we have free will and be thankful for it.
Indeed! Not only does the Bible describes the cycle of morning, evening and night... it also describes how the Sun orbits the Earth. Who can argue with such things? Not I.
How many times are you Christians going to change the rules and the meaning of your little storybook before accepting that it's just full of falsehoods? "Earth is the only planet with life, humans are the only sentient life, and the universe revolves around Earth. Oh, also, the Earth is flat."
"God created the sun, and the Earth revolves around the sun, but we're still the only life in the universe, because reasons, and God."
"Okay, so the universe is a lot larger than our solar system, but even though there is virtually limitless space out there with uncountable planets, we're still the only ones out here because reasons, and a little book written by some guy back in the hundreds, A.D."
And, in a few decades, "Okay, so we found other sentient life on another planet far off in our solar system, but that's only because God put it there because reasons for us to find even though that makes no sense. The bible justifies everything I say because I say so."
The bible doesn't say any of those things. If you want to bash something, stop making stuff up to do it.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." ~ Epistle to the Hebrews 11:1(KJV)
Science is the exact opposite, which is why I trust it.
We can not possibly know everything about God, His creation and/or His plans! The Holy Bible mentions "the mystery of God." Read Mark 4:11, Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Colossians 2:2, and Revelation 10:7 as examples to how we don't know everything concerning God and His work.
You belong with the Taliban in the middle of Afghanistan. The to hold on to the beliefs of 2000 years ago when we didn't even have science. Do you still belief sacrificing virgins help yield better crops?
I hope they don't find another planet like earth. The Dumocrats and BozObama will want to raise taxes to support it.
Indeed. We obviously need to spend our way out of debt!
The Republicans will try to force them to convert to Christianity and start a war with them if they don't. Probably start a war with them anyway, saying they're "demons" and "heathens" etc.
Just had to press 'Post' on the stupidest thing you could think of, didn't you, Nomad?
The Mormons were right!
That our God was once "only" human, as we are now?
Or that we can all ascend to become Gods over our own planets?
Score high and get your own planet.
Well met, Arisen. Everything you have been through has lead you to this moment, now come, and face me, and take your rightful place as senaschal.
Then when we find it what then? Spend trillions to get there to find out it is occupied by Nazi Aliens?
I sure hope we can eventually get passed the concept that everything has to be financially driven.
lol – yes, that would be nice.
Currently that's the only way to get anything done.
Do you know who said this?
"If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the American Indians."
He didnt say anything, given that he cant speak. Nice try tho.
We all now realize that are millions of "habitable" planets in our Milky Way (given the statistical extrapolation of the number of planets in our "neighborhood"). Not to mention that there are billions of galaxies, and likely billions of universes (it is likely that our universe is part of a multiverse).
The number of habitable planets seems potentially limitless.
However, as other comments have noted, we evolved not only on the earth, but WITH with Earth. A clear example of this is the fact that out bodies are comprised of more non-human cells than human ones (Google "Human microbiome"). We can't survive without these microbes and the symbiotic relationship we have with them.
Our biological relationship to our planet simply can't be dismissed.
My own perspective on planetary colonization is that it will occur, but not by humans. It will be done by our progeny, "machines" with artificial intelligence that will be largely immune to the challenges of lengthy space flight over vast distances.
The human body is just so limited, and suited only for life on the Earth. The next phase of human evolution will be to transcend the human body via machine intelligence.
Since Sol should be fine for a few billion years, all we need to do (for those who decide to remain in mortal human form) is to be dependable caretakers of our planet, and life will be good here on Mother Earth.
The sun will actually grow too hot in millions of years, not billions
The sun is about 4.5 billion years old, an roughly half-way through its life.
Our Lord in heaven created the earth, the universe and everything there is. Period. No scope for argument on this point. The Bible is the word of our Lord and is the final word on everything. If you do not believe in it, I don't care since you are destined for hell. All scientists offer is a "theory" which they themselves admit is not something that has been proved. Seek Jesus.
I pitty you
its "pity" heathen.
Prove it, tool
So all science is "just" theory, but the Bible is the word of god, no argument possible, because.....what? Your only basis for your belief is that it says so in a book, and you believe the book is 100% true because it says so in the same book. And you don't see a problem with that logic?
Excellent reply. Thanks for posting it.
"So all science is "just" theory, but the Bible is the word of god..."
Can you be a bit more specific, since there are a few dozen "bibles" (every major religion has one, and they're all different)...
Are you proud of being such a self proclaimed dark age idiot?
What an utterly stupid comment. Grow a brain, dimwit.
Your willful ignorance is the real sin.
Searching for another Earth why destroy one planet is not good enough??
If scientific communicty finds life on another planet then the church will claim god exists "we said so".
Is there intelligent life somewhere in the universe other than here on Earth? Absolutely. Do I need scientific proof of such? No, it is an article of faith, no different than the faith of those that believe in an omniscient being that created all that we behold.
Just as I cannot prove the existence of alien intelligent life, neither can the God-folk prove the existence of God.
The difference is that the existence of intelligent life on other planets will be proven one day.
You do realize that you don't need to have "faith" in extraterrestrials to know that they can still be a very probable possibility right?
This is a logical failure. You are comparing something which has no factual evidence of existence (God) to something that is known to exist (life). Since we already know life exists here on Earth, and we know that our environment is not special in terms of composition, it is not a stretch to believe that life might exist in other similar environments. Please educate yourself. Your ignorance is currently a diservice to humanity.
Nice theory...No proof...These high flying cademics should be teaching science NOT predicting like fortune tellers or clairvoyants ! UFO's have been sited everywhere and anywhere for decades but NEVER one iota of REAL proof !
What theory? It is a fact that there are billions of other planets. We are not talking about UFO's.
What part of "it's a good chance" don't you people understand? No one is trying to predict the future like a "fortune teller" here it's all just statistics!
Proving there are other planets in the Universe, or more closely, our galaxy, is similar to proving the world is not flat. There will be those who will not believe it, although statistical data leads us to believe there is. It may not be human life or advanced civilizations, but there may be other planets with a similar atmosphere to earth. One would have to be very narrow-minded, indeed, not to consider the possibility. Besides, this kind of research requires the conception and construction of new tools and technology which may also be of great use to science and medicine. That's how further advances are made.
upto I saw the check ov $8805, I did not believe that my brother woz like they say actualie making money part-time at there labtop.. there friend brother has been doing this less than 21 months and a short time ago repaid the loans on their place and purchased a great new Saab 99 Turbo. read more at.............. BIT40. ℂOℳ
That's great! Now, perhaps he can write a check to send you to school, so you may learn to actually read and write...
Hey Cal Newlan, I guess God also wanted everyone to think your an idiot. Because that must be the only reasonable explanation for why we all do, right?
Yay. Another planet for us to screw up! Lets throw in some religious fanatics, EU politicans, neo-Nazis, left wing PC libtards, right-wing rednecks, Kim Jong Un and some bankers in with the first wave of colonists.
Then sit back and grab some popcorn.
BEST REALITY SHOW EVER! Who do you think Kim Jong Un will hook up with?
As we know, scientific advances, particularly in technology, proceed faster than expected. I'm looking forward to significant new findings within three years. Glad to see a woman at the leading edge. We need that in the push for recognition of women around the world.
Why is it that the unbelievers, atheists, and all sorts of Godless people write and sound like they are the most knowlegeable and most intelligent people in the world? You see them in the comment pages of internet sites. Do they think it is their godlessness that gives them intellectual ascendancy over everybody else?
it is because they ARE the most knowledgeable and intellectual people there is.
scientist let reality speak for its self. they don't use made up "sacred text" to explain the world we live in, but acquire there knowledge from observation and experimentation
The atheists are the ones that can think for themselves. The don't rely a fairy tale.
Because we prefer books about science, you prefer books about science fiction
Atheists are usually the most closed minded individuals. They claim that they accept science, yet science cannot explain everything, we constantly have to update our theories when new information comes about. To completely reject the possibility of something more powerful than they are is a foreign concept to them, hence why most atheists come across as ridiculously smug.
Nonsense. Atheists have simply acknowledged the fact that their is no evidence or need for a "supreme being" and do not feel the need to waste time conjecturing about one until proof that one exists actually surfaces.
Yes of course we will find many earth like planets but none will be like home sweet home. Earth, third planet from the sun. To get there turn rigth at the Alpha Centauri system and keep going about 4.3 ligth years. On the way there watch out for two very slow (sub-ligth speed!) small satelites on their way out.
imaginary friends/beings eventually prove unreal...... as did the fact that the world is not flat. man wrote the bible. like 2000 years ago or whatever. times have changed and technology it proving that the earth in far older than 6000 years. etc etc etc i am tired of this burn in hell concept BS
Yes there are innumberable earths etc. This is all in our Indian sashtras Bhagwat Gita, Bhagwatam etc by Shirla Prabhupada
The face of this lady tells me that she is not a hard worker. She just wants to have fun. – And that is the reason why we need to find another Earth: so we can leave on this one all the people that think that hard work means not having pleasure in what you are doing.
And everyone knows that "Oh girls just want to have fun!" .
Welldone Sara on your discovery as T.Edison said "99% perspiration and 1 % inspiration" is certainly applicable
Very profound observation. And I don't know why she thinks her job is so important. If God thinks we need another planet he will give us one.
LOL I woul dnot count on that. looks like god forgot to give you brain...
Wow! Stupid? You bet!
amarkkes, please tell the world the qualifications that allow you to make such profound judgements on the basis of a photograph. Please explain why you think that a professor of physics and planetary sciences at MIT managed to get such an elite job without a lot of effort.
The face of this lady tells me that she is not a hard worker. She just wants to have fun. That to me is not the way to do science. Many years of dedication, hard work, and faith are required. Faith, especially. For nothing of significance shall ever be discovered, lest We the People work in tandem with God! This does not appear to be what this lady has in mind!
It must be really hot out in that desert you're in. You actually believe you have super human power to determine this woman's character from 1 photo. You are more deluded than most.
This person is a troll, don't bother trying to argue with them.
I do enjoy the comment below, however. Is that how fundamentalists are preparing to explain it if we find life? God just created it last Thursday, is that it?


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Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren keep a possessed doll locked up in an artifacts room in their house. When the doll awakens the room`s evil spirits, it soon becomes a night of terror for the couple`s young daughter and her friends.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tillman questionable for Bears
Lake Forest, IL – Chicago Bears starting cornerback Charles Tillman is listed as questionable for Sunday's Week 4 game against the Detroit Lions.
Tillman left Sunday's win over Pittsburgh with the injuries. He did not practice Wednesday and Thursday, but took part in limited practice on Friday.
For the season, Tillman has 14 tackles and two interceptions.


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TLA Releasing has struck a deal with web-based elective theatrical platform Tugg to bring LGBT films to theatres across the country kicking off with screening tours of Oliver Hermanus' Cannes Queer Palm D'or winner Beauty and Terracino's Elliot Loves.
"This is an important step for queer cinema as the ever changing film distribution landscape brings challenges," said TLA Releasing president Derek Curl [pictured]. "Tugg brings solutions with its ability to help us move forward in bringing our films to a wider audience, who will be able to demand the films they want to see in theaters."
TLA Releasing will partner with organisations and festivals to generate awareness on a regional level such as Out On Film and FilmOut.
Wolfe Releasing has acquired North American rights to Petunia, Ash Christian's all-star dark comedy featuring Thora Birch, Brittany, Tobias Segal, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Christine Lahti and Michael Urie.
Wolfe Releasing will distribute the film theatrically in 2013 followed by VoD and DVD.
Petunia centres on an emotionally dysfunctional family of sex addicts, cheating pregnant wives and gay celibates. Wolfe president Maria Lynn brokered the deal with Ronna Wallace of Eastgate Pictures.


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The book: Oprah's lifeclass independent guide on Amazon Kindle
You can read Oprah's lifeclass independent guide on Amazon Kindle for the promotional price of $3.99. If you do not have it yet, you can get an Amazon Kindle or read Oprah's lifeclass independent guide using a Free Kindle Reading software for PC, MAC, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry or Android Phone.
The book: Oprah's lifeclass independent guide as PDF eBook
If you do not have a Kindle, you can download our "Oprah's lifeclass independent guide" as eBook for $9.95.
Sixteen million viewers (in the United States alone) watched The Oprah Winfrey Show finale, where Oprah took the stage as teacher in the world's biggest classroom, highlighting the principles that guide her life, many of which were gleaned from the 4,561 hours of The Oprah Winfrey Show. According to Discover PR, Oprah's Lifeclass premieres Monday, October 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. In an all-new series, "Oprah's Lifeclass," Oprah reaches back through the show's 25 year history to teach the lessons that matter most to her… the guidelines for fulfilling your life's potential, breaking through your barriers, understanding your purpose, letting go of anger, how to use joy to fuel your life, and becoming all you were meant to be. Oprah will share her most personal revelations, and what she thinks now about those iconic show moments and guests. "Oprah's Lifeclass" will also have an online companion, Oprah's Lifeclass, including actual course work on Oprah.com, for an even more enriching experience. The series is produced by Harpo Productions.
If you want to attend Oprah's life class, win tickets to O You!, meet Oprah, and get a free copy of Oprah's class journal
just visit: http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/oprahclass.html
Unfortunately, all promotions are valid for US residents only.
Oprah's Lifeclass will feature a companion online class accompanying the series, including actual course work on Oprah.com, for an even more enriching experience. Viewers can sign up to reserve their spot in the class by going to Oprah.com, with the goal of 1 million viewers signed up to take the class, which will commence with the show's series premiere in October.
You can also sign up for the Oprah's Lifeclass online experience on http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/oprahclass.html The online version is accessible worldwide.


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"St Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci ... What a Pair"
Tomorrow is the feast day of St Francis Xavier ... the patron saint of missionairies who died on the shores of China ... he didn't get to fulfill his dream of evangelizing China ... though he did leave his 'mark' in Japan.
So few people know that Matteo Ricci was born 3 months before St Francis Xavier died ... October 6,1552 and December 3, 1552 respectively.
Matteo Ricci spent most of his adult life in China and is revered as the most influential Western individual in more than 5,000 years of Chinese history ... the only Western face included in the China Milleniun Monument.
http://www.chinaexhibition.com/china_tr ... ument.html
... and so few Chinese people are aware of this monumental fact. What a paradox!
Another paradox ... Norman Bethune ... a Canadian ... is known by all literate Chinese people ... about one billion people today ... thanks to Mao Zedong. Chinese people may only know the name "Bethune" yet they associate the name with respect and admiration for all Canadians ... respect and admiration which is so undeserved. How so?
How many Canadians know Norman Bethune's immense legacy in China? If Canadians were told of his legacy the reaction from most would be to spit on it! ... label Bethune a traitor.
Because almost all Canadians have had ... and continue to possess ... a virulent attitude to the ideaology known as Communism. What a paradox!
The nation births a man who becomes one of the greatest heroes of the explosive growth of Communism in China and the same peoples ... Canadians ... loathe him.
Where am I going with this? I don't know ... I'm writing my thoughts as they come ... a dangerous practice.
Let's review what I've said so far:
1) St Francis Xavier ... the patron saint of missionaries died on the shores of China.
2) Matteo Ricci ... an Italian ... and currently a candidate for sainthood ... after a 400 year barrier suddenly collapsed ... is revered by the most senior people ... leadership ... in China.
3) Norman Bethune ... a virtual nobody in Canada ... is revered by the masses within China ... has been for the past 70 years.
Let's hope tomorrow St Francis Xavier will shed some light on the above anomalies.
http://www.lastampa.it/2014/01/11/vatic ... agina.html


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It's National Donut Day. No matter how you spell it -- donuts or doughnuts -- these treats can be SUPER-HARD to resist. We're arming you with info so you can make the smartest splurge possible!
We averaged common donut varieties from coffee shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, and more. Here are the facts... Donut hole: 60 calories, 3g fat (PointsPlus® value 2*) Glazed: 240 calories, 12g fat (PointsPlus® value 7*) Frosted: 260 calories, 15g fat (PointsPlus® value 8*) Cream-filled: 300 calories, 14g fat (PointsPlus® value 8*) Jelly-filled: 300 calories, 14g fat (PointsPlus® value 8*) Cruller: 300 calories, 17g fat (PointsPlus® value 8*) Fritter: 380 calories, 17g fat (PointsPlus® value 11*)
Just like with mini candy bars, there's a good chance you'll consume more calories with these than if you treated yourself to a single donut, since it's so easy to keep going back for "just one more." Keep track, and chew wisely!
Low-fat and reduced-fat donuts might sound as far-fetched as unicorns and leprechauns, but they really do exist! Holey Donuts! makes 'em. Each donut in the massive lineup (with the exception of the cinnamon bun options and the donut holes) has 145 - 230 calories and just 3 - 5g fat (PointsPlus® value 4 - 6*). NICE! And there are some CRAZY-DECADENT varieties: Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Crumb, Boston Cream Oreo Cookie, Pink Velvet, and SO many more. Check 'em out! P.S. Just like our beloved VitaTops, these are stored in the freezer, where they'll remain fresh tasting for a long time.
Gotta have something chocolate-frosted and cream-filled? Enjoy a Boston Cream Cupcake. Need something cinnamony? Make this quick Coffee Cake in a Mug. Is it a frosting + sprinkles combo you're jonesing for? Try the Very Vanilla Fluffcakes. Jelly donuts calling your name? Have a look below...
1/12th of recipe (1 cupcake): 92 calories, 1.75g fat, 155mg sodium, 19g carbs, 0g fiber, 9.5g sugars, 0.5g protein -- PointsPlus® value 3* Lucky you -- we've decided to release this book-exclusive recipe for our favorite jelly-filled treats in the world! It can also be found in the pages of Hungry Girl 200 Under 200. Ingredients: Half of an 18.25-oz. box (about 2 cups) moist-style yellow cake mix 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/3 cup no-sugar-added applesauce 1/4 cup sugar-free strawberry preserves
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine cake mix with baking powder. Add applesauce and 1 cup water, and stir until blended. Evenly distribute cake mixture among the cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 - 22 minutes. Spoon preserves into the bottom corner of a plastic bag. Snip off that corner with scissors. Use a knife to carefully poke a small hole in the middle of the top of each cupcake. Evenly pipe preserves through the hole in the bag into the holes in the cupcakes. Allow to cool completely, and enjoy! MAKES 12 SERVINGS
HG Tip! Feel free to experiment with your favorite flavors of sugar-free preserves, or even make these with a low-sugar variety!
Chances are, you know a donut freak or two -- click "Send to a Friend" to pass 'em this info!
The first Friday in June -- that's today -- is National Donut Day. It's also the start of National Dairy Alternative Month, so wash down your donut (or donut swap) with a cup of coffee splashed with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze!
SmartPoints® value not what you expected? Click here for more info on how the values are calculated, plus more FAQs about PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® values on our website.


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Computerworld is reporting that RIM's two BlackBerry 10 "Port-a-Thon" contests, held over the past weekend, resulted in 15,000 ported apps submitted for the BlackBerry 10 platform in about 37 hours. The two "Port-a-Thons" encouraged app developers to take non-BlackBerry 10 apps and port them to the platform, offering cash rewards (starting at $100 per app) for ports that pass RIM's approval.
The "15,000" count, confirmed in a tweet by RIM Vice President of Developer Relations Alec Saunders, refers specifically to the number of application ports submitted by eager coders, not necessarily the number of successful, approved ports the contest produced. According to the contest FAQ pages, the actual usable count of applications from the contest will take at least a week to be determined, as RIM must vet each app before declaring it "approved."
There were actually two separate halves to the Port-a-Thon contest: one focused on porting Android apps and the other on porting non-Android apps. The non-Android contest spread the net quite wide, being open to apps from a whole slew of sources (including Appcelerator, Maramalade, Sencha, jQuery, PhoneGap, Qt, AIR, Enyo, and previous versions of BlackBerry OS), while the Android contest was, as the name implies, strictly for Android apps. The story with Android apps is a bit muddled, though; as we noted in our BlackBerry Playbook 18-month revisit, RIM has made the porting process from Android to RIM's tablet relatively straightforward, so Android apps which have previously been ported to the PlayBook were ineligible for the contest.
The high level of community engagement is good, and developers churning through 15,000 apps in a single weekend is certainly a sign of interest in the BB 10 platform, but it's not all wine and roses for RIM yet. Creating incentives with cash and a deadline to port over as many apps as possible doesn't necessarily make for quality work or extensive testing on the ports. Far more importantly, however, is that pure app quantity does not a healthy platform make: careful curation of stunning launch apps counts far more than thousands of duds and duplicates. RIM knows this: they have bet the farm on BlackBerry 10's launch, and so we're hoping when BB 10 hits the streets in a couple of weeks that it has an array of excellent, vibrant applications waiting to be installed and used.


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Smooth flying: No closings and no weigh-ins
A recent FAA directive that sent shudders through weight-conscious passengers appears to have left Charlottesville unscathed in the crucial arena of passenger vanity.
Although the FAA announced in January that airlines flying planes with 10 to 19 seats must begin weighing passengers and their bags, the three commercial airlines serving the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport say they're unaffected by the order. And airport director Bryan Elliott confirms that no weigh-ins have occurred.
That's good news for this area's small local airport as well as some of its more weight-conscious passengers.
"No one, but no one, gets to see those three magic numbers on my illuminated scale dial," says one Albemarle woman, who spoke on condition of confidentiality. The woman feared that the local airport's reliance on "puddle-jumpers" meant she'd have to drive to Dulles to avoid the weight watchers.
No official cause of the January 8 crash of a twin-engine commuter plane in Charlotte, North Carolina has yet been determined. The crash killed 19, and the National Transportation Board has said the fully loaded Beech was within 100 pounds of its maximum allowable weight.
In other airplane news, Elliott notes that the while the recent snowfall delayed and canceled many local flights, the airport never actually closed. "Our crews worked 72 hours straight to keep the airport safe and operational," he says, adding that schedules got back to normal on the afternoon of Monday, February 17.
[For the future of air transport, see the essay on page 47.]


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Listen free for 30 days
The Closer is back.
Jack Salter is still hunting killers, but his new quarry is unlike the others. The man who calls himself Remote wants the same thing Jack does, to make the world a better place by removing those who do evil - but Remote's methods are even more extreme. To catch him, Jack will have to seek an alliance with him - one that leads to a trap with no exit. Alone and unarmed, Jack must fight for his freedom in the bizarre lair of a monster whose relationship to pain is even stranger than Jack's. Meanwhile, his partner Nikki is fighting a battle of her own - to break the gargantuan, psychotic biker named Goliath to her will, before he breaks out of the improvised prison she's keeping him in.
There are many secrets to be uncovered - but the Closer's usual methods are not an option. To get to the truth, he'll have to go further than he ever has before, past the very edge of his remaining humanity.