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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010
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Alien Life 'Inevitable': Astronomer

Countless Earth-like planets likely in universe

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(Newser) – Scientists now believe there could be as many habitable planets in the cosmos as there are stars, and that makes life’s existence elsewhere “inevitable” over billions of years, says one. “It is sort of like running an experiment in your refrigerator—turn it off and something will grow in there,” Alan Boss says. The universe may be full of other life, but he says it’s highly unlikely we’ll find intelligent beings existing while we do, the Telegraph reports.

“Intelligent life seems to be fleeting," he says. "In terms of the universe it only exists for a fraction of time." In coming weeks, NASA’s Kepler space telescope will set off to find other habitable planets and will probably find one within 4 years, Boss notes.

This composite image provided by NASA of the Tycho supernova remnant combines infrared and X-ray observations from NASA's Spitzer and Chandra space observatories, and the Calar Alto observatory.
This composite image provided by NASA of the Tycho supernova remnant combines infrared and X-ray observations from NASA's Spitzer and Chandra space observatories, and the Calar Alto observatory.   (AP Photo/NASA)
This image provided by NASA shows the spiral galaxy Messier 101 and is a composite of views from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory.
This image provided by NASA shows the spiral galaxy Messier 101 and is a composite of views from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory.   (AP Photo/NASA)
Ball Aerospace has completed environmental and operational tests for NASA's Kepler Mission scheduled to launch in March 2009.
Ball Aerospace has completed environmental and operational tests for NASA's Kepler Mission scheduled to launch in March 2009.   (PRNewsFoto/Ball Aerospace & Technologies)
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8 comments
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radnip
Feb 15, 09 1:27 PM CST
Man, what're the religions going to do...? Reply
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Chilblain
Feb 15, 09 1:54 PM CST
The intelligence of humans is utterly debatable. Just read most of these news stories............. Reply
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vendetta
Feb 15, 09 3:42 PM CST
engage. Reply
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Forderon
Feb 15, 09 7:11 PM CST
"Fleeting" couldn't describe it better. Everything is so far away from each other that even if find another planet with life, we'll likely be seeing it as it was billions of years in the past, and wouldn't even exist currently. So contact is going to be impossible without insanely revolutionary technology. And even then, there's no guarantee of what KIND of life it will be. It definitely won't be anything like us. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
iamdakotah
Feb 19, 09 7:33 PM CST
Well put
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