[HN Gopher] New exoplanets identified that could potentially har...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       New exoplanets identified that could potentially harbor life
        
       Author : keepamovin
       Score  : 50 points
       Date   : 2024-01-28 16:42 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.earth.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.earth.com)
        
       | thegrim33 wrote:
       | As cool as TESS is, the title is too clickbaity, the article has
       | absolutely nothing to with planets potentially harboring life.
       | It's just a press piece about how more exoplanets have been
       | found. "The habitability of these planets remains a subject of
       | further research."
        
         | OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
         | Also, "These findings await confirmation by NASA, but the
         | researchers are hopeful that future observations will provide
         | definitive validation."
        
         | notfed wrote:
         | -"Chemistry lab creates new molecule, potentially a cure for
         | cancer"
         | 
         | -"Man finds 1000 of ants in kitchen, potentially new species"
        
         | aforty wrote:
         | What exactly is unclear about the title?
         | 
         | "New exoplanets identified that could potentially harbor life"
         | 
         | The word "potentially" setup my expectations perfectly.
        
           | gcr wrote:
           | When I hear "potential" to harbor life, I think of "potential
           | to harbor life greater than the mean exoplanet." Otherwise
           | like, why comment on it at all ?
           | 
           | Imagine headlines like "Farm sells latest batch of apples
           | with potential to be a choking hazard." Wouldn't it be
           | reasonable to expect the average lay reader to be wary of
           | that farm's output?
        
             | aforty wrote:
             | Well I think the problem is with how to interpret that
             | word. The potential is there because these exoplanets are
             | in the habitable zone near their respective stars. That's
             | the headline and the story: these planets could be
             | habitable and neither the title or article make any claims
             | that they could indeed have any life on them.
        
           | vkou wrote:
           | 'Child born with potential to become a trillionaire' is
           | technically true about any child, but barring some unique
           | aspect of the child is an utterly meaningless headline.
        
       | andreygrehov wrote:
       | Suppose there is life on some exoplanet. Now what?
        
         | ngneer wrote:
         | Invent warp drive?
        
         | Bnichs wrote:
         | Now there is the biggest incentive in human history to invest
         | in long distance space travel and communication tech.
         | 
         | Before the americas were discovered by Europeans, sailing and
         | travel tech was nothing compared to what it became after there
         | was a new undiscovered area that caused for a major shift in
         | the mindset of where to pool resources.
        
         | euroderf wrote:
         | Put the Arecibo message on heavy rotation.
        
         | broast wrote:
         | We watch each other carefully.
        
         | garbanz0 wrote:
         | Do they have oil? If so, we must stop the terrorists there.
        
         | neals wrote:
         | We eat!
        
       | TravisCooper wrote:
       | Spoiler: There's no life on any of those planets.
        
       | jWhick wrote:
       | aren't new exoplanets being discovered at a monthly if not weekly
       | basis?
        
       | h4ch1 wrote:
       | I always like to self-cope by telling myself life other than us
       | exists in a plane of existence/dimension that we cannot
       | comprehend and that's why we haven't found anything.
       | 
       | Fingers crossed that we stumble upon another 3 dimensional carbon
       | based lifeform though, can't even wrap my head around how that'd
       | affect civilization, would certainly be a mindset altering change
       | globally.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-01-28 23:01 UTC)