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Conference to grapple with Earth’s rarity – a welcome change

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In “Life on Earth: Is our planet special?” (BBC News , 9 December 2011), Howard Falcon-Lang tells us,

Far from being unique, many now regard Earth as an ordinary lump of space rock and believe that life “out there” is almost inevitable. But could the truth be somewhat more complex?

On Friday, top scientists are meeting at the Geological Society in London to debate this very issue, posing the question: “Is the Earth special?”. What emerges is that aspects of our planet and its evolution are remarkably strange.

Prof Monica Grady is a meteorite expert at the Open University. She explained in what sense the Earth could be considered special.

“Well, there are several unusual aspects of our planet,” she said. “First is our strong magnetic field. No one is exactly sure how it works, but it’s something to do with the turbulent motion that occurs in the Earth’s liquid outer core. Without it, we would be bombarded by harmful radiation from the Sun.”

It gets better.

A key barrier to determining the odds of the habitability of other planets has been the need to minimize the ways in which Earth is special. “Special” doesn’t mean that no other planets could be like Earth, but that we need to assess our chances rationally.

As opposed to pointless speculation like “Could exoplanets support life that has a different chemical composition?” Absent the proposed composition, who knows?

Comments
Hey "Dr"REC- FROM "The Privileged Planet", Chapter 16 offers a “Skeptical Rejoinder” answering the following 14 objections:
14) You haven’t shown that ETs don’t exist. “This is true, but we did not intend to. In fact, ironically, design might even improve the possibility of ETs.”
Well yeah... And that was on my blog on May 12, 2006 Ya see "doc" I have been arguing FOR the existence of ETs since the 1960s...Joe
December 10, 2011
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Yes, DrREC and when we find those other organisms with advanced technology it is a safe bet that their home planet's factors will match those in "The Priviledged Planet". Ya see, "Dr", that is why someone should bring that book to the conference- it tells us what to look for in order to find what we are looking for. When a hunter is looking for deer he/ she looks for signs of deer activity- tracks, scat, tree bark knawed off of a tree, antler velvet.Joe
December 9, 2011
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Joe December 8, 2011 at 9:28 am "IMHO in a design scenario we should expect to find living organisms on other planets, especially organisms capable of technology and scientific endeavors. Well at least at one time- maybe they are all dead and we are the last ones standing… (not)" http://intelligentreasoning.blogspot.com/DrREC
December 9, 2011
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Hopefully someone brings a copy of "The Privileged Planet" to the conference.Joe
December 9, 2011
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