# Planet suitable for habitation discovered **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453 "2011-05-19T15:31:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/21 "2011-05-19T19:24:49Z")
> [@campp](#): > > We’re going to need a LOT of tunes. And everyone bring a cooler. Radio? Who needs a _radio_?! Mock. Yeah! Ing. Yeah! Bird. Yeah! Yeah. Yeah! ---
**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:** [May 19, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/22 "2011-05-19T19:25:24Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Er… 1981 was _thirty_ years ago… twenty years ago, the aliens would be listening to Nirvana. Then there us Hope. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/23 "2011-05-19T19:40:18Z")
Generation ships, here we come! ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/24 "2011-05-19T19:59:47Z")
Can I have a pet Glieseian when our spaceship gets back from there with samples? Can I? Can I? ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/25 "2011-05-19T20:31:09Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > But what about some creature on a planet with continual cloud cover? Would the possibility of other suns, other worlds, even come to mind? You mean like [Krikkit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krikkit#Krikkit)? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/26 "2011-05-19T20:37:10Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > But what about some creature on a planet with continual cloud cover? Would the possibility of other suns, other worlds, even come to mind? Once they developed radio and machines that can fly above the clouds, sure. The occasional meteorite strike could also clue them in. For that matter, the day/night cycle and thermodynamics would also clue them in about their sun existing if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/27 "2011-05-20T12:53:41Z")
I doubt that any planet of Gliese 581 has a technological civilization. If there were a technological civilization that close to us, I suspect we’d know by now. We would probably have picked up radio transmissions from them. I would _dearly_ love to be proven wrong on this. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > the day/night cycle If the planet is tidally locked to its star, there wouldn’t be a day-night cycle. > [@JohnT](#): > > Er… 1981 was thirty years ago… twenty years ago, the aliens would be listening to Nirvana. But then, in another year, they’ll get _Achy Breaky Heart_. They’ll invade for sure then. It won’t be much consolation to us that invading won’t get that song out of their heads. > [@cjepson](#): > > Sol 3 would be a pretty strange place to visit. The thin air and spotty cloud cover would cause jarring variations in light level on the surface If they came to Pittsburgh, at least the spotty cloud cover wouldn’t be a problem. Not this year, anyway. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/28 "2011-05-20T13:04:06Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > But then, in another year, they’ll get _Achy Breaky Heart_. They’ll invade for sure then. It won’t be much consolation to us that invading won’t get that song out of their heads. We’re doomed!!! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/29 "2011-05-20T13:22:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > We’re doomed!!! Have you ever been doomed before? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/30 "2011-05-20T13:38:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What if we’re the first? 😃 Let’s leave a giant granite Monolith. You know, just as a goof… ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/31 "2011-05-20T14:17:20Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I doubt that any planet of Gliese 581 has a technological civilization. If there were a technological civilization that close to us, I suspect we’d know by now. We would probably have picked up radio transmissions from them. I would _dearly_ love to be proven wrong on this. My guess is that we here on Earth won’t be sending out radio waves for much longer, universe-time-wise. Maybe another couple hundred years, for a three hundred year total run of blasting radio waves out into space. We’ll have something better by then. So looking for radio waves for civilizations ‘out there,’ while fun, and we might as well, doesn’t disprove technological civilization. I think much better evidence is lack of us having been colonized. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/32 "2011-05-20T14:25:48Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Have you ever been doomed before? Yeah, the [Arachnotrons](http://www.doomwadstation.com/bestiary/) are a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/33 "2011-05-20T15:05:42Z")
> [@bup](#): > > My guess is that we here on Earth won’t be sending out radio waves for much longer, universe-time-wise. Maybe another couple hundred years, for a three hundred year total run of blasting radio waves out into space. We’ll have something better by then. I don’t know. I was thinking about this in the shower this morning. We don’t seem to be giving up wireless transmissions. In fact, we’re more dependent on our mobile phones than we were twenty years ago. I don’t see us giving up mobile phones without some collapse-of-civilization type event. Of course, I could be wrong. I obviously don’t know what path technology will take in the future. I know even less about what path technology might have taken on planets around other stars. > [@](#): > > I think much better evidence is lack of us having been colonized. That could just mean that sending ships to other star systems isn’t economically feasible. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/34 "2011-05-20T15:09:09Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > We don’t seem to be giving up wireless transmissions. In fact, we’re more dependent on our mobile phones than we were twenty years ago. Cell towers don’t radiate 100,000 Watts as do radio stations. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/35 "2011-05-20T15:14:21Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I doubt that any planet of Gliese 581 has a technological civilization. If there were a technological civilization that close to us, I suspect we’d know by now. We would probably have picked up radio transmissions from them. I would _dearly_ love to be proven wrong on this. Let’s turn this around. Anyone farther than 100 light years from us wouldn’t be getting any radio signals from our planet yet. And 99.99%+ of the Universe is farther than that from us. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/36 "2011-05-20T15:34:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Cell towers don’t radiate 100,000 Watts as do radio stations. 🙂 Even a radio station with an Effective Radiated Power (EWP) rating of 100 kW is actually radiating at only about 10-30 kW and would not provide a coherent signal at interplanetary, much less interstellar, distances. The discovery of Gliese 581 g as being a rocky world falling into a potential habitable zone was publicized in September of last year. Referring to the world or conditions upon it as “Earth-like” is a stretch at best; it is more accurate to say that it is a world that probably has a solid surface on which liquid water could be present. There are likely better candidates for worlds that could support the development of Earth-like life that we are simply not capable of observing yet, but there is little reason to believe that the composition of our solar system is unique or special. It is also entirely possible that self-organizing, auto-replicating, thermodynamic- regulating systems could come to exist in conditions that are nothing like terrestrial conditions, giving caution to constraining any hypothesis or search for life that is constrained to Earth-like conditions. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/37 "2011-05-20T15:43:15Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I don’t know. I was thinking about this in the shower this morning. Totally unfair debating tactic. You’re a girl, so mentioning yourself in the shower is automatically distracting. Now I can’t talk about anything that requires thinking. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/38 "2011-05-20T15:58:38Z")
They already have heard _You light up my life_. These guys are well on their way and they are pissed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/39 "2011-05-20T17:39:41Z")
This should scare them from invading, [performed 20 years ago.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeuNckmt7h8) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453/40 "2011-05-20T18:14:32Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > This should scare them from invading, [performed 20 years ago.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeuNckmt7h8) “Mommy, I found this picture of you in the attic. Did you used to sing in a rock band?” “Well, yes, I did. That was a long time ago, before I even met your daddy.” “What was the band called?” “Ummmmmm…have you finished your homework yet?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-suitable-for-habitation-discovered/582453.md?page=3)