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This greatly increases my expectations of life on other planets if true.

tjradcliffe 12y ago
Particularly when paired with recent detection of water in the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/24/water-small-warm-planet-atmosphere http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/24/water-small-w... Water, water, everywhere... There are people who don't understand what a big deal this is. They think that because this small blue dot happens to have a lot of water, and there is evidence of water elsewhere in the solar system, that water must be common. That is a huge unjustified leap, comparable to "everything I see falls toward the centre of the Earth so everything in the universe must be falling toward the centre of the Earth or moving around it in a perfect circle". That kind of leap rarely works out especially well. These sorts of observations that demonstrate that water actually is relatively common in the universe, and that is extremely exciting insofar as the prospects of life-as-we-know-it are concerned.
- autokad 12y ago
  its worth noting that all this article did was show that hydrogen (not water) was present in abundance? Unless I am taking that wrong. and if i am taking it right, a great big 'DUH' as hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe.
  - Bluestrike2 12y ago
    Neither article focuses solely on hydrogen. The Discover article is about interstellar ice, while the Guardian article above is about the observation of water vapor: > Scientists from the University of Maryland used Hubble’s wide field camera to analyse light from HAT-P-11b’s host star through the planet’s atmosphere. They found that light with a wavelength of 1.4 micrometres was absorbed, matching the absorption spectrum of water molecules.
cristianpascu 12y ago
Water is one of zillions of elements that need to get together for there to be life. Expectations increasing? Yes. Greatly? :)
- tim333 12y ago
  It's a big one though. You also need a planet with a suitable temperature. Beyond that most of the other stuff seems pretty much everywhere.
- unclebunkers 12y ago
  It's about 24. There are about 24 different elements found in the least element diverse life forms on earth if I recall.
kirkbackus 12y ago
Careful. Don't miss the precedent to the "every planet could have a drink". It all hinges on "if the solar system’s formation was typical", which is a question that has not been answered. Also, why don't they address the implications if the solar system's formation was not typical?
- viewer5 12y ago
  Is the common idea currently that our solar system's formation was atypical? Or do you just mean "we just need to be sure that's the case" out of due diligence?

Particularly when paired with recent detection of water in the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/24/water-small-warm-planet-atmosphere http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/24/water-small-w... Water, water, everywhere... There are people who don't understand what a big deal this is. They think that because this small blue dot happens to have a lot of water, and there is evidence of water elsewhere in the solar system, that water must be common. That is a huge unjustified leap, comparable to "everything I see falls toward the centre of the Earth so everything in the universe must be falling toward the centre of the Earth or moving around it in a perfect circle". That kind of leap rarely works out especially well. These sorts of observations that demonstrate that water actually is relatively common in the universe, and that is extremely exciting insofar as the prospects of life-as-we-know-it are concerned.

autokad 12y ago
its worth noting that all this article did was show that hydrogen (not water) was present in abundance? Unless I am taking that wrong. and if i am taking it right, a great big 'DUH' as hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe.
- Bluestrike2 12y ago
  Neither article focuses solely on hydrogen. The Discover article is about interstellar ice, while the Guardian article above is about the observation of water vapor: > Scientists from the University of Maryland used Hubble’s wide field camera to analyse light from HAT-P-11b’s host star through the planet’s atmosphere. They found that light with a wavelength of 1.4 micrometres was absorbed, matching the absorption spectrum of water molecules.

cristianpascu 12y ago

Water is one of zillions of elements that need to get together for there to be life. Expectations increasing? Yes. Greatly? :)

tim333 12y ago
It's a big one though. You also need a planet with a suitable temperature. Beyond that most of the other stuff seems pretty much everywhere.
unclebunkers 12y ago
It's about 24. There are about 24 different elements found in the least element diverse life forms on earth if I recall.

kirkbackus 12y ago

Careful. Don't miss the precedent to the "every planet could have a drink". It all hinges on "if the solar system’s formation was typical", which is a question that has not been answered. Also, why don't they address the implications if the solar system's formation was not typical?

viewer5 12y ago
Is the common idea currently that our solar system's formation was atypical? Or do you just mean "we just need to be sure that's the case" out of due diligence?