Earth May Be a 1-in-700-Quintillion Kind of Place

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I think it’s is fair to say that we live in a universe where everything is unique.
 
Wildgraywolf said:
I think it’s is fair to say that we live in a universe where everything is unique.
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True, no two stars are exactly the same nor are any two solar systems or galaxies. Still, in all that, there’s only one Earth.

For us Christian believers it reinforces the truth that God created the universe in and through Christ to be his own realm. It all begins and ends in Christ.
 
I am glad they are finally putting numbers to theory.

Once we started finding exoplanets and discovered none even remotely earth like I figured it was only a matter of time before the new discovery that earth is unique.
 
The article says we are a ‘mild inconsistent anomaly’.

That sounds like there could be a few out there. And read ‘a few’ in astronomical terms.
 
Funny how the author thinks earth exists through luck as if there was no intelligence behind its creation.
 
Bradski said:
The article says we are a ‘mild inconsistent anomaly’.

That sounds like there could be a few out there. And read ‘a few’ in astronomical terms.
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Of course, there’s no way to confirm it one way or the other. It’s based on mathematical probabilities–from what we know so far. I’d be happy if we did discover another earthlike world, but it looks like one doesn’t exist in our galaxy, at any rate. 🤷
 
Hopefully,there will be a duplicate only devoid of humans.There we will see what should have happened
 
jinglebelle said:
Hopefully,there will be a duplicate only devoid of humans.There we will see what should have happened
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Not to be nitpicky but if there are no humans how can anything we humans did on our earth be different? I’m not following your logic. 🙂
 
Interesting article, but I think its way to early to make predictions one way or another.

Here is a link to exoplanets that may be earthlike: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_potentially_habitable_exoplanets

Note that the closest is Tau Ceti e. A mere 11 light years away. Gliese 832 c has a better Earth Similarity Index (ESI) and Standard Primary Habitability (SPH) rating and is around 16 light years away. The best ones on the list are over 1100 light years away, like Kepler-442b.

But the real problem is, how long would it take us to get there. If you read this article using current technology such as ion propolsion, it says the following about getting to Proxima Centauri (4 light years away).
In short, at a maximum velocity of 56,000 km/h, Deep Space 1 would take over 81,000 years to traverse the 4.24 light years between Earth and Proxima Centauri. To put that time-scale into perspective, that would be over 2,700 human generations. So it is safe to say that an interplanetary ion engine mission would be far too slow to be considered for a manned interstellar mission.
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Then there is the gravity assist method:
So, if Voyager 1 was traveling in the direction of the red dwarf Proxima Centauri at a constant velocity of 60,000 km/hr, it would take 76,000 years (or over 2,500 generations) to travel that distance. But if it could attain the record-breaking speed of Helios 2‘s close approach of the Sun – a constant speed of 240,000 km/hr – it would take 19,000 years (or over 600 generations) to travel 4.243 light years. Significantly better, but still not in the realm of practicality.
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An so on up to a short 1000 years to go 4.6 light years using Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP). So unless we can make a breakthrough in space travel time, this is all very theoretical. Also when you look at the data they use to calculate what a habitable planet might be, you have to admit that it is very speculative. Interesting, but we need much better data.

God bless,
Ut
 
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