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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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28 October 2010 Last updated at 18:33 GMT
Earth-sized worlds much more common than giant planets
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11647089
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
Kepler photometer in clean room The Kepler mission should find tens or
even hundreds of Earth-sized planets
Nearly one in four stars like the Sun could have Earth-sized planets,
according to a new estimate published in the journal Science.
A US team has found that on average small, so-called rocky planets are
much more common in orbit close to their star than giant planets
planets similar in size to Jupiter.
This estimate is based on observations from nearby stars taken by the
the twin 10-metre Keck telescopes in Hawaii. These show that 22 of the
stars had detectable planets.
The researchers estimated that about 1.6% of the Sun-like stars in
their sample had Jupiter-size planets and 12% had so-called
"super-Earths", which are between three and 10 times the mass of the
Earth.
Best guess
The Keck telescopes are not powerful enough to detect planets that are
any smaller, so the scientists have assumed that this trend toward
more smaller planets continues and estimated that 23 of the stars had
Earth-sized planets.
Dr Andrew Howard, from the University of California at Berkeley,
admits that the estimate is currently impossible to back up using
existing data.
However, he says it is the first estimate that has been obtained using
observations of relatively small planets.
"This extrapolation is the least certain part of our analysis. The
true answer might be one in eight or one in two - but we know that it
isn't one in 100," he told BBC News.
Based on these statistics, Dr Howard says that Nasa's Kepler space
telescope - which is to to survey 156,000 stars - will detect between
120 and 260 "plausibly terrestrial worlds".
"If there's life out there, it's most likely that it exists on rocky
planets like our own Earth. So if there are more rocky small planets
out there, then it seems more likely that there's life out there too,"
he said.
But according to Dr Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society,
most of the worlds they predict exist would be too close to be
habitable.
"We probably need to wait a bit longer before we find a significant
number of 'Earths' in habitable zones of their parent stars."
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WARNING FROM RAEL: For those who don't use their intelligence at its full
capacity, the label "selected by RAEL" on some articles does not mean that I
agree with their content or support it. "Selected by RAEL" means that I believe
it is important for the people of this planet to know about what people think or
do, even when what they think or do is completely stupid and against our
philosophy. When I selected articles in the past about stupid Christian
fundamentalists in America praying for rain, I am sure no Rael-Science reader
was stupid enough to believe that I was supporting praying to change the
weather. So, when I select articles which are in favor of drugs, anti-semitic,
anti-Jewish, racist, revisionist, or inciting hatred against any group or
religion, or any other stupid article, it does not mean that I support them. It
just means that it is important for all human beings to know about them. Common
sense, which is usually very good among our readers, is good enough to
understand that. When, like in the recent articles on drug decriminalization, it
is necessary to make it clearer, I add a comment, which in this case was very
clear: I support decriminalizing all drugs, as it is stupid to throw depressed
and sad people (as only depressed and sad people use drugs) in prison and ruin
their life with a criminal record. That does not mean that there is any change
to the Message which says clearly that we must not use any drug except for
medical purposes. The same applies to the freedom of expression which must be
absolute. That does not mean again of course that I agree with anti-Jews,
antisemites, racists of any kind or anti-Raelians. But by knowing your enemies
or the enemies of your values, you are better equipped to fight them. With love
and respect of course, and with the wonderful sentence of the French philosopher
Voltaire in mind: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death
your right to say it".
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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