Welcome to the family, Planet X.

[kevyn]

Well, it's FINALLY happened.

Scientists today announce Earth-like planet discovered 20.5 light years away.

Planet X orbits Gliese 581, a red star relatively close to us. And the planet may be the first truly Earth-like planet to have been found outside our Solar System.

And get this: It may have a relatively similar climate, and even be covered by water.

Could there be life? Or potential for colonisation?

One thing's for sure: were I to live long enough for homo sapiens to travel there, I could not go. It's 1.5 times the Earth's diameter, and has a mass 5 times greater. The gravity would be double... and I would weigh almost 800 pounds! A human body couldn't handle that.

But for life that evolved there, it would be a completely different story.

I sure hope this holds up under scientific scrutiny. Another Earthlike planet. Incredible.

Comments

[that-dang-otter.livejournal.com]

E = 1/2 MV^2. Accelerating 1 kilogram to something close to c takes 9e18 joules. Annual world energy production is about 1e18 joules. Cut the speed to 1/2 c and you're down to only all the world's energy production for two years. Not even Al Gore can buy that many carbon credits!

(* These numbers subject to influence by alcohol, reader is responsible for checking all calculations.)

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a big amount of energy needed, but 2x the world's annual energy production per kg doesn't seem insurmountable. Nuclear fusion would be able to produce that kind of energy, and hey! We have a fusion reactor going on right next door -- the sun. The amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth every minute is greater than the world's total annual fossil fuel energy production. It doesn't seem unreasonable for that kind of energy to be harnessed for fast travel, at some point in the future.