[Carl Vehse]

I’m getting tired of these fake news articles promoting every hunk of rock orbiting a star as a “life-friendly planet.”

The alleged “life-friendly” planets are about 1.1 times the mass of the earth. The star is an infrared-emitting ultra-cool M dwarf with about 9% of the Sun’s mass. That means the planets have to be so close to the dwarf star they are tidally locked (one side of each planet is permanently facing away from the star). The planets are as likely “life friendly” as Planned Parenthood is to unborn children.

[Wuli]

Thanks for the post.

The number of variables that constitute “earth like”, as in “life as we know it” is not small. These articles always pick up on a mere few “similarities” and propagate the whole as “earth like”.

I am NOT in favor of public funding for such searches at this time in human history. There will be way more than enought time when we have graduated to at least supported human-exploration (”manned flights”) of most of our own solar system. By then - a long way off - our technology MIGHT be ready for travel beyond our own sun’s orbit. ONLY when we are that capable will such “earth like” planet information be materially relevant. There are more immdiate needs in terms of public funding for space exploration, by telescopes or otherwise.

[Jamestown1630]

I have a problem with the assumption that ‘life’ needs to be ‘human’ life, or ‘life’ as we find on Earth.

There could be kinds of Life out there that we can’t even conceive of - even intelligent life - with which God chose to fill that particular space.

[daniel1212]

The alleged “life-friendly” planets are about 1.1 times the mass of the earth. The star is an infrared-emitting ultra-cool M dwarf with about 9% of the Sun’s mass. That means the planets have to be so close to the dwarf star they are tidally locked (one side of each planet is permanently facing away from the star).

The planets are as likely “life friendly” as Planned Parenthood is to unborn children

Best statement of the thread.