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Astronomers have discovered a new Earth-like planet that is larger than our own and may be more than half covered with water, according to a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature.
The so-called "super Earth" is about 42 light years away in another solar system and has a radius nearly 2.7 times larger than that of our planet, according to the study by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.
The discovery of the planet, called GJ 1214b, represents a "major step forward" in the search for worlds similar to the Earth, added the University of California's Geoffrey Marcy in a commentary also in Nature.
The "newfound world" is too hot to sustain life as we know it, said the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in a statement.
Close, but no cigar, but this discovery does lend credence to the belief that life exists elsewhere. Who knows, maybe sometime in the distant future, we may travel to an earthlike place in another solar system. There is also the possibility that someone from another civilization, far removed from Earth, may travel here........
......But, alas, he may take a look around, see a Democratic or Republican Congresscritter, and decide that there really is no intelligent life here after all. :mrgreen:
Article is here.