I just watch on CNN that there are billions of livable planets in galaxy in other words planet that humans can live in. I am speechless.
What is your take on this?

Nice one . At least the human race has a ready supply of planets to fuc/k-up after we are done with planet earth.

'Livable' indeed!
Why haven't life forms evolved in those so called 'livable' billions of planets?
What did they say was the probabilitu that life on earth came evolution again?

Crazy scientists - they have messed up this one, it's now time to look for another planet to colonize. Just let me leave this planet before you start a war with creatures you can never defeat. I don't know why these white lunatics called scientists are gluttons. The western civilization, with all its face-lifts hasn't even surpassed the ancients ones, in terms of spirituality and knowledge - yet they're about to mess up another planet.

careytommy: 'Livable' indeed!
Why haven't life forms evolved in those so called 'livable' billions of planets?
What did they say was the probabilitu that life on earth came evolution again?

^^^Well, maybe their own Gods' haven't got round to their own 'Genesis' and 'Adam and Eve' moment yet. But they're not having our own that's for sure, as he's got his hands full at the moment dealing with the children of Adam.

Well there are an estimated 100 billion stars in the our galaxy. So if we were to go by probability (meaning the chances of finding planets very similar or identical to Earth), there should be quite a few nice planets around.

There are also about 100 bilion galaxies in the universe. So we have a whole lot of additional stars, and potential habitable planets.

Question is - can they ever be found, and could we ever be transported to at least 1 with our current technology?

No. Not for a very long while, it seems.

I have a feeling though that people from other planets and with superior technology might have reached out to us at some point.

are they still speculating or they now have proof? every logical thinking person know that we are not the only one around, there numerous living planets here in the milky way and other galaxies, many will indeed have advanced form of life while others may still be in the formative cellular stage, still yet others may already have/be reaching their end time, their own armagedon!
communicating with the advanced one maybe possible for now, but going to them may still be light years away

Astronomers: Billions of 'super-Earths' in habitable zone of red dwarf stars

If you're trying to count how many planets could be candidates for harboring life in our galaxy, this might blow your mind: Scientists now say there could be billions of them.

Astronomers working with the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) HARPS instrument estimate that in our galaxy, there are tens of billions of rocky planets not so much bigger than Earth orbiting red dwarf stars within the habitable zones of those relatively cool stars. A habitable zone is the area in a star system where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface without boiling away or staying frozen.

Specifically, the planets that have astronomers so excited are called super-Earths, meaning they can have up to 10 times more mass than our planet. That's important distinction because some scientists believe these super-Earths have a better chance of being habitable than planets about the size of our Earth.

While scientists have previously concluded that every star in the Milky Way has at least one planet in orbit around it, this is the first time they've been able to get a good count of just how many super-Earths might exist.

Still, scientists haven't concluded what "habitable" means in this context. Sara Seager, a professor of planetary science and physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told CNN in an e-mail that while the ESO result is exciting, there's a lot more work to be done. Since a super-Earth would likely have a more massive atmosphere than Earth, such a planet would be much hotter than Earth and liquid water on the surface might not be possible.

Xavier Bonfils, of the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, France, said in a release that these new observations indicate that 40% of all red dwarfs have rocky planets orbiting in their habitable zones. Our own sun is a hotter G V, or yellow dwarf, star and is more than twice as massive as a red dwarf.

Because about 80% of stars in the Milky Way are red dwarfs (also referred to as M-class stars), this leads to the conclusion that tens of billions of rocky planets exist in habitable zones in our galaxy. The Jupiters and Saturns of the galaxy, which are more massive and gaseous giants, are more rare around red dwarfs.

A lot of these promising planets are relatively nearby neighbors. The estimates suggest that there are 100 super-Earths in habitable zones around stars 30 light years or less from us.

Seager says having a quantitative estimate of the number of red dwarfs is a "great stride" in the science of exoplanets.

"We are sure, though, that because there are billions of stars in our galaxy alone, and because planet formation is a random process, many stars will end up with potentially habitable planets," she said.

The next step for the ESO team is to identify more super-Earths using both the current HARPS as well as other instruments, to study their atmospheres, and to search for life.

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/28/astronomers-billions-of-super-earths-in-habitable-zone-of-red-dwarf-stars/?hpt=hp_c2

If humanity is to survive, we must become a space-faring species. I admire our species, because we are able to transform our environment, but this is also our curse. As we use up our resources, we must find other sources for our insatiable appetite.

^^^Yeah it's all about space imperialism. Colonize as many planets as possible and subdue the natives if they offer any resistance and if we can conquer them.

Very sci fi - yet so true to life right now on earth.

Interesting...and scary.

Nnenna1: ^^^Yeah it's all about space imperialism. Colonize as many planets as possible and subdue the natives if they offer any resistance and if we can conquer them.

Very sci fi - yet so true to life right now on earth.

Yes a Terran Confederation. However, I do think that humans must colonize other planets if we are to survive. Stephen Hawkings was correct when he said that we need to colonize space, or that will be the end of the human race.

http://news.yahoo.com/stephen-hawking-colonize-space-end-human-race-192615409.html

There are no aliens as far as we know. Even if they exist, they are probably too far away to be reached in millenia.

Seun, please give us a science section!

Any attempt to explore and colonize space, any attempt to feed our eyes and see beyound the extraordinary: will surelly bring about great wrath from God or possibly, an end to Human race....i begin to wonder if these wackle scientists are looking for God in space....why can't they just back down before they put my groving and splendid life to a scary end?

These are mere speculations. There is no proof that human beings in our present form can survive on those planets and stars. We are even afraid to venture into those planets in person because of the risk involved. The farthest we've set our own foot is our own moon. We keep sending only robots to Mars. While Hubble telescope is doing the remaining job for us. Thereby fueling our speculations.
Besides, travelling to those planets will take millions of years. Human beings must achieve immortality before embarking on that journey or we invent space craft that travels with the speed of light. So we still have a long way to go.

cashmentor: Any attempt to explore and colonize space, any attempt to feed our eyes and see beyound the extraordinary: will surelly bring about great wrath from God or possibly, an end to Human race....i begin to wonder if these wackle scientists are looking for God in space....why can't they just back down before they put my groving and splendid life to a scary end?

wtf?

Why would God be mad at you exploring space?

seek and ye shall find, so saith the Lord! if we do not explore space we shall not appreciate the work of the Lord better. Our God is not in the sky nor in the Earth, he his a universal energy abode of whom is beyond the universe yet in the universe right inside our minds

i don't understand this mentality of some christians like cashmentor who seem to see any sort of science as bad.

Presumably God knew what he was doing when he made human beings creative and inquisitive..

Thank you all for your comments. This is what a forum should look like, where people learn from each other not curse and tease each other. These are the true Nigerians we want!

Thanks, once again.

The issue of livable planets is a very trickish one. Before live can evolve on any planet, many parameters have to align within a very narrow range of values.

First the planet must be situated within a temperature zone that allows liquid water. Then the size and mass must be within a range that allows it to keep its lighter gases of nitrogen, oxygen and co2. If it is too big, then the atmosphere would be too thick and the lighter gases would combine with other elements to form heavier gases and compounds.

There are so other factors like magnetism of the core, presence of protective gases in the atmosphere, etc.

I am not saying that this conditions are unique to earth, but billions in our galaxy is a huge overstatement.

The Biggest problem is that there is virtually no way of interacting with aliens beings, due to the distance barrier. Even if we assume the nearest inhabitable planet is 10 light years away, how do we get there and then come back to relay information. Even if we can travel at the speed of light which in itself is an impossibility, it would take 20years to do a round trip.

cashmentor: Any attempt to explore and colonize space, any attempt to feed our eyes and see beyound the extraordinary: will surelly bring about great wrath from God or possibly, an end to Human race....i begin to wonder if these wackle scientists are looking for God in space....why can't they just back down before they put my groving and splendid life to a scary end?

I think it is time for you to join the Age of Reason. It seems like many religious people reject scientific knowledge because it conflicts with their stone age myths. Religions may have been needed in antiquity to help deal with the unknown, but, today, religion is used as a cop-out, a crutch, an excuse and a "reason" for people's idiocy, bigotry, ignorance and hate.

Keep in mind, I have nothing against spirituality, because I fall under that umbrella.

hmm..., we may not really have billions of habitable planets, but certainly there may be one or two planets being occupied by advance life out there! The only way presently,of communicating with them will be through radio waves, that is why the Americans have the seti program searching for signals from the 'aliens' The major problem here will be knowing there sgnal codes, since we do not know there advancement we may not really know how they have coded their signals. The seti program and others are using what we know and do with the EM-waves to search for other beings EM-waves Their signals may be here already, but we are unable to here them! Just as CNN is in the village but nobody can watch the CNN!

now all we need are some mass relays

oyb: now all we need are some mass relays

Someone has been playing Mass Effect a lot. I guess we need to colonize these billions of livable planets, so that the Reapers will have a hard time harvesting all of us. It would be nice if we could find some mass relays though.

Interesting! Unfortunately we will not be able to confirm at least not in the nearest future.

ekt_bear:


wtf?

Why would God be mad at you exploring space?

why was God mad at the folks in the scripture, building a tall structure looking for God....only to be struct by God with Confusion (many Languages).... I'm not against science, infact, i love science; but too much Curiousity, expecialy in science often times land us in trouble!

Nebeuwa:

I think it is time for you to join the Age of Reason. It seems like many religious people reject scientific knowledge because it conflicts with their stone age myths. Religions may have been needed in antiquity to help deal with the unknown, but, today, religion is used as a cop-out, a crutch, an excuse and a "reason" for people's idiocy, bigotry, ignorance and hate.

Keep in mind, I have nothing against spirituality, because I fall under that umbrella.

let's not go outside the scope of this topic! We were given DOMINION over the earth and everything in it, and not Space! Why would i hate science when i use the Computer/Internet? My point is that we shouldn't over do science: every thing has got a limit!

I think the Earth meant in that place is the observable Universe, so we could say that we have been given dominion over the universe that we could explore!
If we are in a compound with buildings separated by fences, is it good to try to know our neighours across the fence or not?

cashmentor: let's not go outside the scope of this topic! We were given DOMINION over the earth and everything in it, and not Space! Why would i hate science when i use the Computer/Internet? My point is that we shouldn't over do science: every thing has got a limit!

What do you mean that "we shouldn't over do science?" You sound like the theologians in the past who were afraid of science. Sometimes I feel that religion is holding back human progress. Nearly all religions teach their followers to accept their dogmas unquestioningly, and this inhibits free and original thought and innovation. Examples abound throughout history, up to the present day.

A good example is provided by the Catholic church. Galileo, one of the most brilliant scientists in the history of man, was denounced to the Inquisition and persecuted for the rest of his life because he taught that the Earth revolves around the Sun, which contradicted the church's dogma that the Earth sits immovably at the centre of the universe. Even worse, the great philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for 'heresy'.

In the United States, religious fundamentalists have forced many public schools to restrict the teaching of evolution and other scientific theories, and instead indoctrinate children with ideas of 'creationism' also known as intelligent design, thereby killing scientific curiosity and understanding in thousands of young minds and inhibiting future scientific progress. In many countries including Nigeria, poorly educated people are brainwashed by religious leaders into believing that a better afterlife awaits them. This spreads defeatism and dampens the struggle for social justice and a better standard of living.