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Exoplanets

At Phys.org: Planetary interiors in TRAPPIST-1 system could be affected by solar flares

It's worth realizing that if the energy from stellar flaring is sufficient to noticeably heat the entire planet, it's more than enough to "cook its goose." Read More ›

At The Debrief: The Case for Alien Life Elevated By the Exciting First-Ever Confirmation of Two Exoplanet Water Worlds

Bold claim: "However, given that water is the fundamental building block for all life as we know it, the exciting first-ever confirmation of two exoplanet water worlds still dramatically increases the likelihood that alien life exists in the universe. " Read More ›

At Earth Sky: How likely is an Earth-like origin of life elsewhere?

Paul Scott Anderson writes: We know that life originated on Earth some 3.7 billion years ago. But we still don’t understand exactly how life came to be. Likewise, we know little to nothing about life on other rocky worlds, even those that might be similar to Earth. Is life a rare occurrence, or is it common? Or somewhere in between? Scientists debate the subject of abiogenesis, the idea of life arising from non-living material. If it can happen on Earth, can it happen elsewhere, too? A new paper from retired astrophysicist Daniel Whitmire at the University of Arkansas argues that it can. Whitmire published his new peer-reviewed paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology on September 23, 2022. Abiogenesis and our own existence Basically, the paper is a counter-argument to the view held Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: News from the search for extraterrestrial life 2

One reason for hope for finding life elsewhere in the universe is that the universe appears to be fine-tuned for life. What the universe won’t do is tell us where the life is. Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: Exoplanets: Life forms made one third of Earth’s minerals

If life is “a cosmic imperative that emerges on any mineral- and water-rich world,” say the researchers, then life emerged early on Earth along with minerals. Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: Among 5000 known exoplanets, there are some really strange ones

To sum up, whatever we see or read about planets in science fiction, something out there is likely stranger still. It will be most interesting to see how many of the more conventional exoplanets have life and if there is in fact a reliable formula for predicting it. Those who claim that Earth is just an ordinary planet are certainly wrong — but is Earth unique? The universe is fine-tuned, as is Earth, and that would be an argument for life on exoplanets. Read More ›

At Mind Matters News: Former astronaut names planet he thinks most likely to have life

Chris Hadfield points to Kepler-442b as Earth-like but some researchers defend the possibility of life even on tidally locked planets, in “edge” zones. Read More ›

Researchers: Moons make planets habitable — but not all planets can have them

University of Rochester: The researchers found that rocky planets larger than six times the mass of Earth (6M) and icy planets larger than one Earth mass (1M) produce fully—rather than partially—vaporized disks, and these fully-vaporized disks are not capable of forming fractionally large moons. Read More ›