# New Planet Discovered With Life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947 "2007-04-28T11:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/41 "2007-04-29T11:19:32Z")
I really wish astronomers would save that kind of breathless guff for more promising candidates when they can examine them in greater detail, such as G class orange-yellow dwarf stars (like our sun). There are at least two dozen candidates within fifty light years from Earth. From the link in post #1, > [@](#): > > Gliese 581 C is the smallest extrasolar planet, or “exoplanet,” discovered to date. It is located about 15 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun; one year on the planet is equal to 13 Earth days. Because red dwarfs, also known as M dwarfs, are about 50 times dimmer than the Sun and much cooler, their planets can orbit much closer to them while still remaining within their habitable zones, the spherical region around a star within which a planet’s temperature can sustain liquid water on its surface. According to [Solstation](http://www.solstation.com/stars/gl581.htm) Gliese 581 only has 3% luminosity as compared to our sun. And another probably exaggerated claim. > [@](#): > > Possible waterworld > Computer models predict Gliese 581 C is either a rocky planet like Earth or a waterworld covered entirely by oceans. > “We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit], and water would thus be liquid,” Udry said. Which is all well and good, but aren’t Mercury and Venus so close to our sun that their rotational period becomes essentially locked. Either so that one face of the planet remains permanently facing the sun or a rotational period locked in a 2: 3 resonance like Venus. That’s hardly conducive to having a completely liquid surface as suggested by one of the astronomers. Mars in our system would be more hospitable to life than something like the large planet that orbits so closely to a near dead red dwarf star with a year that lasts 13 days. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/42 "2007-04-29T12:29:37Z")
On the one hand, we haven’t any way to get there in a reasonable timescale or send and receive messages. On the other hand, we’ve no idea if it can even support life, let alone has any of its own. All very well for it to have temperature and gravity within a nominally tolerable range, but that’s hardly starting to meet the necessary parameters. _Venus_ is a gnat’s fart away from being habitable, cosmologically speaking, and look what a hellhole that is. And on the gripping hand, we need to hope devoutly that it isn’t already occupied by a technologically advanced civilisation in dire need of _Lebensraum_ and more than capable of beating the shit out of us. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/43 "2007-04-29T13:42:33Z")
[QUOTE=threnodyangelfire] How would one skin an ewok? [/QUOTE] No need! Mmmm Crispy Ewok skin. Mmmm ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/44 "2007-04-29T13:52:55Z")
Those thing are all hairy. Sorry, I’ll have to insist that MY Ewoks get skinned. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/45 "2007-04-29T14:05:42Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Those thing are all hairy. Sorry, I’ll have to insist that MY Ewoks get skinned. [/QUOTE] City boy. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/46 "2007-04-29T14:21:32Z")
I’d like to think that there are Golgafrinchans who had crash landed there in their B Ark who are all hair dressers and telephone sanitizers. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/47 "2007-04-29T14:33:53Z")
::Comes in with clever Douglas Adams joke:: God dammit! Only on SDMB could I be beat to the punch on this! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/48 "2007-04-29T15:53:03Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] City boy. [/QUOTE] You bet. Give me your unblemished prairies of concrete and asphalt. Give me your rats and pigeons. You can have all the bears and wolverines. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/49 "2007-04-29T17:53:27Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] You bet. Give me your unblemished prairies of concrete and asphalt. Give me your rats and pigeons. You can have all the bears and wolverines. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yeah. We got a _lot_ of them bears and wolverines here in Berkeley. 😛 They skin their Ewoks from the inside out. Ew! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/50 "2007-04-29T19:03:41Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] ::Comes in with clever Douglas Adams joke:: God dammit! Only on SDMB could I be beat to the punch on this! [/QUOTE] The thread was 3-1/2 hours old when you checked in. That’s pretty late to expect to offer an original cliche’. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/51 "2007-04-29T19:25:46Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] _Venus_ is a gnat’s fart away from being habitable, cosmologically speaking, and look what a hellhole that is. [/QUOTE] Hey, all’s it needs is a few nice condo rehabs, a microbrewery and a couple of sushi or Italian joins, and gentrification will be right around the corner. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/52 "2007-04-29T19:30:09Z")
People! It’s obvious that they’ve discovered the _original_ Kryptonian Planet. 1. It orbits around a red sun 2. It has 5 times the mass of the Earth (or so). So it’s obviously populated by human’s that: a) are stronger than humans b) in our yellow sun will have extra energy that activates all kinds of cool superpowers And soon we’ll see that it has, indeed, been destroyed by its sun going nova. Or the planet burst into pieces. Or something. d&r ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/53 "2007-04-29T20:02:26Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] How are they gonna handle Ewoks? Eat them? I’m for that. Mmmm. Ewoks. [/QUOTE] [Rotisserie-ready ewok complete with “steek.”’](http://wirelessdigest.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/ewok.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/54 "2007-04-29T23:18:07Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Those thing are all hairy. Sorry, I’ll have to insist that MY Ewoks get skinned. [/QUOTE] Yeah I concur. There has to be a quick way to do it. An ewok-exfoliating machine mayhaps!? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/55 "2007-04-29T23:25:43Z")
[QUOTE=threnodyangelfire] There has to be a quick way to do it. [/QUOTE] Maybe you could use a blowtorch, like pin feathers on a chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/56 "2007-04-29T23:30:23Z")
How to they skin lambs? That should work. And then we’ll have a movie out of it, “The Silence of the Ewoks”. ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/57 "2007-04-29T23:33:36Z")
We could roll em in wax, and then wrap cotton around them and just pull really hard. Ewok brazillian waxes. Uggh. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/58 "2007-04-29T23:57:08Z")
[QUOTE=threnodyangelfire] We could roll em in wax, and then wrap cotton around them and just pull really hard. Ewok brazillian waxes. Uggh. [/QUOTE] Yikes, I hope they get a bullet in the brain first. ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/59 "2007-04-30T00:08:14Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Yikes, I hope they get a bullet in the brain first. [/QUOTE] Nope. I’m feeling cruel today. Fear me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2007, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947/60 "2007-04-30T07:36:59Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”. [/QUOTE] No, it’s “The theme is quest.” If Cecil says that Marie Antoinette dropped acid, it must be true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-planet-discovered-with-life/401947.md?page=2)