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Breaking: Earth special after all

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Jupiter vs. “hot Jupiter” exoplanet TrES-3b/Aldaron, CC

From Scientific American:

More than 400 years ago Renaissance scientist Nicolaus Copernicus reduced us to near nothingness by showing that our planet is not the center of the solar system. With every subsequent scientific revolution, most other privileged positions in the universe humans might have held dear have been further degraded, revealing the cold truth that our species is the smallest of specks on a speck of a planet, cosmologically speaking. A new calculation of exoplanets suggests that Earth is just one out of a likely 700 million trillion terrestrial planets in the entire observable universe. But the average age of these planets—well above Earth’s age—and their typical locations—in galaxies vastly unlike the Milky Way—just might turn the Copernican principle on its head.

Just in time. That wrong principle spawned crackpot cosmology, and the defense of crackpot cosmology has led to a war on falsifiability in science Even on testability.

With the estimated errors taken into account, the researchers conclude that Earth stands as a mild violation of the Copernican principle. Our pale blue dot might just be special after all. “It’s not too much of a fluke that we could arise in a galaxy like the Milky Way, but nevertheless, it’s just enough to make you think twice about it,” says Jay Olson from Boise State University, who was not involved in the study. Both he and Zackrisson think the Copernican principle could be saved by some unknown caveat to the findings. “Whenever you find something that sticks out…” Zackrisson says, “…that means that either we are the result of a very improbable lottery draw or we don’t understand how the lottery works.” More.

Never an “unknown caveat to the findings” when you need one. Doubtless, however, someoe will b paid to oblige.

See also: Copernicus, you are not going to believe who is using your name. Or how.

Don’t let Mars fool you. Those exoplanets teem with life!

and

How do we grapple with the idea that ET might not be out there?

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Paper.

Comments
One wonders what kind of designer chooses that method if life was a goal.
It sounds like sculptures telling their sculptor how he should have sculpt them. Or paintings telling their painter how he should have painted them. Firstly, let's humbly start from admitting that we don't know how it was done to begin with. Here's something interesting to read: http://www.reasons.org/articles/have-astronomers-found-plutos-replacementDionisio
February 23, 2016
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mahuna So only the 3rd & 4th generation (Sol and its planet Earth are 3rd generation) have any chance of harboring Life. This drastically narrows the field, Goldilocks Zone-wise. And it also sets a definite, predictable end to Life in the universe: when the last star in the last 4th generation galaxy burns out, the universe is dead (devoid of Life) regardless of how much longer some stars continue to shine. One can only wonder what the Designer intends to do with the “after-life” universe. One wonders what kind of designer chooses that method if life was a goal. It seems like he just let the design slowly unfold, evolve so to speak.velikovskys
February 20, 2016
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One of the limiting factors that must be kept in mind is that NONE of the 1st or 2nd generation galaxies (and their associated stars and planets) have enough "heavy" elements (carbon, oxygen, iron, etc., etc.) to support life. So we can write off a huge swath of the universe. Additionally, ALL of the newest galaxies (5th generation and up) have TOO MANY "heavy" elements. So only the 3rd & 4th generation (Sol and its planet Earth are 3rd generation) have any chance of harboring Life. This drastically narrows the field, Goldilocks Zone-wise. And it also sets a definite, predictable end to Life in the universe: when the last star in the last 4th generation galaxy burns out, the universe is dead (devoid of Life) regardless of how much longer some stars continue to shine. One can only wonder what the Designer intends to do with the "after-life" universe.mahuna
February 20, 2016
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