http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE9e_-tecGQ

Well I've gotta hand it to the Namerican Dream (USA). If ever there was a culture that went to Heaven, they certainly did. They have proven themselves tirelessly to be the best when it comes to Flight, Astronomy and being 'out there'.
Of course, on the flip side - their Political culture has gone along for the ride ...just like Angels do.

But I wonder?
Is this a properly 'revealed' discovery or just coincidence when all is not well with this Planet?
Think about it, think of that movie 'The Island' with McGregor & Johansson. Suddenly we have a new lease of life for those who wish to "Go to Heaven and leave a Hell behind". I'm sure there are many who think "we are going to the stars so why not just expend this planet to get there anyway?"
Why use words like conserve and sustainability anymore ...there's are whole New World out there now.
Hmmm? Kinda sounds like history repeating itself when Europe discovered Namerica.

views?

Also, just like to add this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUnINDZolDY&feature=related
and part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oIXRYyvB8M&feature=related
just to highlight the Pros and Cons of the Astronomical (Heaven) Propoganda/Dream as seen through many Industries, Civilisations and Regions of the world.
WARNING: These two clips are highlighted in the end of PArt 2 as being very Bible/Christian assertive.

::)

...I'm just a Diver in the deep dark Abyss ;)

It's kind of hard to take it seriously when it's on youtube.

freediver wrote on Oct 9^th, 2010 at 10:02am:

It's kind of hard to take it seriously when it's on youtube.

True, but it IS in the news too....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20101004/hl_time/08599202248900

Thanks gizmo.

Found: New Planet Gliese 581g Is Habitable Like Earth

The star known as Gliese 581 is utterly unremarkable in just about every way you can imagine. It's a red dwarf, the most common type of star in the Milky Way, weighing in at about a third of the mass of the sun. At 20 light years or so away, it's relatively nearby, but not close enough to set any records (it's the 117th closest star to Earth, for what that's worth). You can't even see it without a telescope, so while it lies in the direction of Libra, it isn't one of the shining dots you'd connect to form the constellation. It's no wonder that the star's name lacks even a whiff of mystery or romance.

But Gliese 581 does have one distinction - and that's enough to make it the focus of intense scientific attention. At last count, astronomers had identified more than 400 planets orbiting stars beyond the sun, and Gliese 581 was host to no fewer than four of them - the most populous solar system we know of, aside from our own. That alone would make the star intriguing. But on Wednesday, a team of astronomers announced that it had found two more planets circling the star, bringing the total to six. And one of them, assigned the name Gliese 581g, may be of truly historic significance. (See TIME's illustrated history of Earth.)

For one thing, the planet is only about three or four times as massive as our home world, meaning it probably has a solid surface just like Earth. Much more important, it sits smack in the middle of the so-called habitable zone, orbiting at just the right distance from the star to let water remain liquid rather than freezing solid or boiling away. As far as we know, that's a minimum requirement for the presence of life. For thousands of years, philosophers and scientists have wondered whether other Earths existed out in the cosmos. And since the first, very un-Earthlike extrasolar planet was discovered in 1995, astronomers have been inching closer to answering that question. Now they've evidently succeeded (although to be clear, there's no way at this point to determine whether there is life on the new planet).

"We're pretty excited about it," admits Steve Vogt of the University of California at Santa Cruz, a member of the team, in a masterpiece of understatement. "I think this is what everyone's been after for the past 15 years." (See the top 50 space moments since Sputnik.)

Planetary scientist James Kasting of Penn State University, who wasn't involved with the discovery, agrees. "I think they've scooped the Kepler people," he says, referring to the telescope that launched into space early last year on a mission to determine how common Earthlike planets might be. The "Kepler people" have a number of candidate Earths in the can but are still working to confirm them. (See pictures of Earth from space.)

Being first isn't the main reason Vogt is excited, however. "Someone had to be first," he says. "But this is right next door to us. That's the big result." What's particularly big about it is a matter of simple arithmetic. With only 116 stars closer to Earth than this one, it was hardly a sure thing that so small a sample group would produce two habitable planets, including Earth. And two such planets may be an undercount, Vogt says, since just nine out of those 100-plus stars have been studied in any detail. Indeed, one of Gliese 581g's sister planets, known as Gliese 581d (O.K., they don't put a lot of creative energy into naming these things), could conceivably be a habitable world itself.

One of the four planets known to orbit Gliese 581 before the latest discovery, 581d was found by a team of Swiss astronomers in 2007 and was thought to be outside the habitable zone and thus too cold for liquid water. But a reanalysis last year brought it into the zone, albeit just barely. The problem is, 581d is too big to be Earthlike; it's probably made mostly of nonwater ice, like Neptune and Uranus, which makes a poorer candidate for life than 581g. (Comment on this story.)

Lost in the excitement over possible life on the new world is what a remarkable achievement its mere discovery was. Detecting a planet this small is monstrously hard - and would have been impossible when Vogt and co-discoverer Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington first got into the planet-hunting game in the early 1990s. The instruments you use to detect tiny back-and-forth motions in the star - motions caused by the orbiting planet's gravitational tugs, which are often the only way to infer that the worlds exist at all - simply weren't sensitive enough. Since then, says Vogt, "I've been busting my gut to improve the instruments, and Paul has been busting his gut to do the observations." In all, those observations span more than 200 nights on the giant Keck I telescope in Hawaii over 11 years, supplemented by observations from the Geneva group - and that painstaking work finally confirmed 581g's existence.

None of this proves that there is water on Gliese 581g. "Those are things we just have to speculate about," says Vogt. But he goes on to point out that there's water pretty much everywhere else you look. "There's water on Earth," he says, "and on the moon, and Mars, and on Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, and in interstellar space. There's enough water produced in the Orion Nebula every 24 seconds to fill the Earth's oceans."

Maybe we can use a 'Heinlein Universe Ship' to colonise the planets in that solar system?????

let's go there and make a planet with FD as king

I think it is the 'emphasis' of an officially stated 'habitable' planet.
I'm sure some more will suddenly come about to be revealed to the public ...all many 'light-years' away, but its the classic Carrot dangling at the end of a Stick and like I said - at a strange time when there is much going on in regards to the Planet 'suffering' due to Man-made conditions and Galactic conditions.
People are people, so I'm not surprised that any culture would exploit a resource, drain it and move on - so why not this planet?
I just think it is part of the Namerican Psyche and this 'Habitable Planet' is just part of their process of belief and existence.
The Medical Industry has its Carrots and Fear-mongering to keep everyone in check like with Pandemics and Cancers.
Every Industry has its Carrots and Fear-Mongering. Australian Oceanographers say we haven't even scratched the 'surface' of the amount of undiscovered deep sea species to be recorded.

Who is FD by the way?

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 9^th, 2010 at 4:06pm:

I think it is the 'emphasis' of an officially stated 'habitable' planet. I'm sure some more will suddenly come about to be revealed to the public ...all many 'light-years' away, but its the classic Carrot dangling at the end of a Stick and like I said - at a strange time when there is much going on in regards to the Planet 'suffering' due to Man-made conditions and Galactic conditions. People are people, so I'm not surprised that any culture would exploit a resource, drain it and move on - so why not this planet? I just think it is part of the Namerican Psyche and this 'Habitable Planet' is just part of their process of belief and existence. The Medical Industry has its Carrots and Fear-mongering to keep everyone in check like with Pandemics and Cancers. Every Industry has its Carrots and Fear-Mongering. Australian Oceanographers say we haven't even scratched the 'surface' of the amount of undiscovered deep sea species to be recorded. Who is FD by the way?

FD=Freediver...

;D
Yes indeed.

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 9^th, 2010 at 4:06pm:

I think it is the 'emphasis' of an officially stated 'habitable' planet. I'm sure some more will suddenly come about to be revealed to the public ...all many 'light-years' away, but its the classic Carrot dangling at the end of a Stick and like I said - at a strange time when there is much going on in regards to the Planet 'suffering' due to Man-made conditions and Galactic conditions. People are people, so I'm not surprised that any culture would exploit a resource, drain it and move on - so why not this planet? I just think it is part of the Namerican Psyche and this 'Habitable Planet' is just part of their process of belief and existence. The Medical Industry has its Carrots and Fear-mongering to keep everyone in check like with Pandemics and Cancers. Every Industry has its Carrots and Fear-Mongering. Australian Oceanographers say we haven't even scratched the 'surface' of the amount of undiscovered deep sea species to be recorded.

I think you are reading too much into it. Sometimes a planet is just a planet. I don't think any of the scientists involved would be viewing this as an excuse to harm planet earth, either consciously or unconcsciously.

They are totally jumping the gun. Nobody has even found Oxygen in the absorption spectrum.  We don't yet have the sensitivity to determine that.

Nobody actually knows what its temperature is. It could be like Venus with a surface temperature of 800 degrees. They claim that it doesn't rotate, which suggests that it's going to be very similar to Venus.

Maybe I am reading too much into it - I was feeling 50/50 about it anyway.
Just 'coincidence' then, nothing more.
:)

Quote:

They claim that it doesn't rotate, which suggests that it's going to be very similar to Venus.

Why would that make it hotter?

q

I think Venus and Mars are two really good examples of what we could do to this planet if we don't watch it.

I've recently been told, don't know if it is true or just fear-mongering, but the Fossil Fuels that we have been extracting from deep underground and transferring them into monoxide and into the atmosphere - are what 'lubricates' the Tectonic Plates and hence why a a growth in Earthquake/seismic activity of late.

It's crap.

Pretty imaginative crap though.
;D

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 10^th, 2010 at 10:43am:

I think Venus and Mars are two really good examples of what we could do to this planet if we don't watch it. I've recently been told, don't know if it is true or just fear-mongering, but the Fossil Fuels that we have been extracting from deep underground and transferring them into monoxide and into the atmosphere - are what 'lubricates' the Tectonic Plates and hence why a a growth in Earthquake/seismic activity of late.

Richard Hoagland crap.

freediver wrote on Oct 10^th, 2010 at 10:16am:

Quote: They claim that it doesn't rotate, which suggests that it's going to be very similar to Venus. Why would that make it hotter?

One side of the planet faces the star (sun) all the time. That is similar to Venus, which has a very slow retrograde rotation of 243 days - very close to a Venusian year.

The result of that is incredible storm systems, with winds up to 350km per hour in the upper atmosphere. The atmosphere rotates around Venus every 4 Earth days.

The high temperatures have volatilised any sulphide minerals resulting in clouds of sulfuric acid.

Venus is a good clue as to the nature of this new planet.  I'm not saying that's conclusive though. We need more data before we come up with terms such as 'habitable'

The giveaway to life on Earth is Oxygen, which gives rise to the Rayleigh scattering which gives it its characteristic blue colour.

Oxygen is very unusual on any planet. It indicates metastable processes.

Thats what gets me - this is the first 'habitable' labelled planet, this side of Titan. Why would they say that - knowing full well that there is no 'certain' proof? This is why I think it is Carrot Propoganda against efforts to improve this world that we have.

Quote:

hence why a a growth in Earthquake/seismic activity of late.

Except that there hasn't been an increase in Earthquake/seismic activity. You will find that it has remained pretty constant.

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 11^th, 2010 at 12:21pm:

Thats what gets me - this is the first 'habitable' labelled planet, this side of Titan. Why would they say that - knowing full well that there is no 'certain' proof? This is why I think it is Carrot Propoganda against efforts to improve this world that we have.

They depend on maintaining public interest for their funding.

Well actually there has been a growth.
Also - the Marianna's Trench is taking in the sea bottom faster than the Pacific Rise can produce. The sea bottom is crashing down under the plate faster than it can be reproduced at the other end of the pacific.
You can't tell me we haven't had a growth in natural phenomenon like earthquakes, tsunamis', erratic weather ...in recorded history. Tell me you didn't see the Indian Ocean plate rise an drop. Tell me your not seeing the Yellowstone national park rise almost a metre a year and accelerating.
I think you need to take that cigarette out of your mouth and take a good long hard look at yourself.

Life_goes_on wrote on Oct 11^th, 2010 at 12:39pm:

Quote: hence why a a growth in Earthquake/seismic activity of late. Except that there hasn't been an increase in Earthquake/seismic activity. You will find that it has remained pretty constant.

I agree

Sounds more like a Junkie/Alcoholic saying "I don't have a problem (I can quit anytime)".
::)

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 12^th, 2010 at 12:06am:

Well actually there has been a growth. Also - the Marianna's Trench is taking in the sea bottom faster than the Pacific Rise can produce. The sea bottom is crashing down under the plate faster than it can be reproduced at the other end of the pacific. You can't tell me we haven't had a growth in natural phenomenon like earthquakes, tsunamis', erratic weather ...in recorded history. Tell me you didn't see the Indian Ocean plate rise an drop. Tell me your not seeing the Yellowstone national park rise almost a metre a year and accelerating. I think you need to take that cigarette out of your mouth and take a good long hard look at yourself.

We haven't had a 'growth in natural phenomenon'....we've had a growth in our ability to detect and report phenomena like earthquakes, tsunamis and erratic weather....

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 10^th, 2010 at 10:43am:

I think Venus and Mars are two really good examples of what we could do to this planet if we don't watch it. I've recently been told, don't know if it is true or just fear-mongering, but the Fossil Fuels that we have been extracting from deep underground and transferring them into monoxide and into the atmosphere - are what 'lubricates' the Tectonic Plates and hence why a a growth in Earthquake/seismic activity of late.

Venus and Mars are outside the habitable zone for human-type life....

Well, applying the lable habitable to this planet not only seems incredibly optimistic but showed a complete lack of sensible restraint. Besides at 20 light years I'm not taking public transport so I hope they have parking.

Let see. Now 20 light years = 117,573,371,500,000 miles.

These comments from yahoo answers gave me a chuckle..


Quote:

You guys are all thinking way too scientific-y... All you need is a a space shuttle capable of long distance travel over numerous generations. If a shuttle can effectively hold enough food and fuel for this trip, you will need a couple willing individuals (100 people or so, 50 females/50 males that are fertile) to procreate throughout the voyage. They have a couple kids... Then those kids have a couple kids... All the way, until this colony reaches it's destination. This way we can go today with our current technology.

Something this author may never be accused of, you think???

locutius wrote on Oct 12^th, 2010 at 2:42pm:

Well, applying the lable habitable to this planet not only seems incredibly optimistic but showed a complete lack of sensible restraint. Besides at 20 light years I'm not taking public transport so I hope they have parking. Let see. Now 20 light years = 117,573,371,500,000 miles. These comments from yahoo answers gave me a chuckle.. Quote: You guys are all thinking way too scientific-y... All you need is a a space shuttle capable of long distance travel over numerous generations. If a shuttle can effectively hold enough food and fuel for this trip, you will need a couple willing individuals (100 people or so, 50 females/50 males that are fertile) to procreate throughout the voyage. They have a couple kids... Then those kids have a couple kids... All the way, until this colony reaches it's destination. This way we can go today with our current technology. Something this author may never be accused of, you think???

Yup, that's why I said a 'Heinlein Universe Ship'.....

It's theoretically possible..

It_is_the_Darkness wrote on Oct 12^th, 2010 at 12:19pm:

Sounds more like a Junkie/Alcoholic saying "I don't have a problem (I can quit anytime)". ::)

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php

There was a peak around 2005

---

There is something very wrong with the data in that table. Probably sampling bias.


gizmo_2655 wrote on Oct 12^th, 2010 at 2:55pm:

locutius wrote on Oct 12th, 2010 at 2:42pm: Well, applying the lable habitable to this planet not only seems incredibly optimistic but showed a complete lack of sensible restraint. Besides at 20 light years I'm not taking public transport so I hope they have parking. Let see. Now 20 light years = 117,573,371,500,000 miles. These comments from yahoo answers gave me a chuckle.. Quote: You guys are all thinking way too scientific-y... All you need is a a space shuttle capable of long distance travel over numerous generations. If a shuttle can effectively hold enough food and fuel for this trip, you will need a couple willing individuals (100 people or so, 50 females/50 males that are fertile) to procreate throughout the voyage. They have a couple kids... Then those kids have a couple kids... All the way, until this colony reaches it's destination. This way we can go today with our current technology. Something this author may never be accused of, you think??? Yup, that's why I said a 'Heinlein Universe Ship'..... It's theoretically possible..

And what do they do when they get there? Hope they can just land and walk out the door and start eating fresh fruit? Hope they can maintain this ship forever?

It is a pretty serious undertaking trying to get a few men to the moon and back.

Good statistic Muso.
But like all things 'earthly', I must adhere to the principle of Tides and say that maybe in 2015 there will be another 'peak' period ...and maybe the time between such peak periods will shorten?
...I'm just going with 'coincidence' thats all, which is something Science can't always prove (the Grey Nurse Shark population was a good example of the short-comings of Science).

I don't think we have Global Warming well underway, but we have the 'potential' to do so ...just like we had the 'potential' to annihilate human existence in all out Thermonuclear War (USSR/USA) for some silly belief of making the entire Northern Hemisphere 'all white'.
So if we nearly 'shot ourselves' in the head, then I'm sure we are nearly doing ourselves in with pollutants like a Drug/Alcohol overdose.
...I'm just going with 'common sense' thats all.

Belief systems, like the reason behind the Cold War (see Gen Macarthur) is quite amazing with Humanity and there is no reason to deny that a part of the world that has the cultural characteristic and dream to 'fly' away to 'Heaven' (and leave a Hell behind for everyone else) would put out such a thing as this.
You watch, there will be more 'Habitable' Planets made publically aware ...all out of reach like a Carrot on a Stick. NASA scientists also did the "Fear of" factor with the Supernova nearby that could wipe us all out sooner than we think.
So everybody "bow down" and give total empowerment to NASA and the American Dream.

This Topic aside ...I do think the 'majority' of NASA does a great job on behalf of everyone on this planet. They are not perfect.

The world looks to us in regards to Water, Oceans, etc. This would be 'official', except for some Harkonnen's (ALP/Coalition) ruling the roost here in Australia on behalf of some other parts of the world.
;) ::)

Send all the right-wingers, conservatives and capitalists there.

ONE-WAY.

freediver wrote on Oct 12^th, 2010 at 8:59pm:

There is something very wrong with the data in that table. Probably sampling bias. gizmo_2655 wrote on Oct 12th, 2010 at 2:55pm: locutius wrote on Oct 12th, 2010 at 2:42pm: Well, applying the lable habitable to this planet not only seems incredibly optimistic but showed a complete lack of sensible restraint. Besides at 20 light years I'm not taking public transport so I hope they have parking. Let see. Now 20 light years = 117,573,371,500,000 miles. These comments from yahoo answers gave me a chuckle.. Quote: You guys are all thinking way too scientific-y... All you need is a a space shuttle capable of long distance travel over numerous generations. If a shuttle can effectively hold enough food and fuel for this trip, you will need a couple willing individuals (100 people or so, 50 females/50 males that are fertile) to procreate throughout the voyage. They have a couple kids... Then those kids have a couple kids... All the way, until this colony reaches it's destination. This way we can go today with our current technology. Something this author may never be accused of, you think??? Yup, that's why I said a 'Heinlein Universe Ship'..... It's theoretically possible.. And what do they do when they get there? Hope they can just land and walk out the door and start eating fresh fruit? Hope they can maintain this ship forever? It is a pretty serious undertaking trying to get a few men to the moon and back.

Well assuming the planet IS habitable, it can, theoretically, be done.....

The ship would have to be a LOT bigger than a shuttle, and 50 couples (50 men/50 women) is way to small a gene pool....Need to be 2000+.

But with hydroponics for food and oxygen, and lateral spin to provide gravity........it's doable..

Just what the galaxy needs; another planet for humanity to stuff up through its own incompetence.

culldav wrote on Oct 13^th, 2010 at 11:30am:

Just what the galaxy needs; another planet for humanity to stuff up through its own incompetence.

Depends who we send dav....

We could send Greenpeace enmass.....Then there'd be no risk of environmental damage to the new planet....

freediver wrote on Oct 12^th, 2010 at 8:59pm:

There is something very wrong with the data in that table. Probably sampling bias.

Well, for those Earthquakes greater than a Modified Mercalli index of 4.5, the sampling is 100%. There is nothing to indicate that Earthquakes are getting any worse. If anything, they are getting slightly less frequent over the timescale provided.