Recently European scientists have discovered the most “Earth-like planet outside our solar system” (CNN.com). Obviously there would be several differences between Earth and this planet because it is not an exact replication of Earth but one that merely has a reasonable number of similarities. Among those similarities is that the temperature would be close to what the temperature here on Earth is as well as that the planet is close in size to the Earth, both factors making it to be, “the first potentially habitable planet besides Earth or Mars” (CNN.com). The differences of this new planet compared to Earth is that “sun” wouldn’t burn as brightly, as it would not be the same sun Earth has. This “sun” would, “hang close, large and red in the sky, glowing faintly like a charcoal ember. And it probably would never set if you lived on the sunny side of the planet” (CNN.com). It would also be possible for a person to celebrate their birthday every thirteen days due to the fact that the new planet circles its “sun” at a much faster speed than the Earth circles its sun. Still based on theory it is proposed that this new planet should have an atmosphere, though the scientists who discovered the planet and are doing the research are still unsure of what is in that atmosphere. It is important to determine what is in the atmosphere because if the atmosphere is too thick the surface temperature could become to hot and therefore be uninhabitable (CNN.com). According to the article there have been 220 planets that astronomers have discovered outside our solar system and have had the “Goldilocks problem”; “They’ve been too hot, too cold or just plain too big and gaseous, like uninhabitable Jupiter” (CNN.com). According to the astronomers who discovered this planet this is one of the most promising discoveries, as far as planets go, in a long time.
Why does this discovery mean so much for scientists today? Maybe scientists are desperate to discover another inhabitable planet due to the increasing deterioration of Earth. Today there is an increasing amount of panic among the people, arising because some feel that existing “rules” are no longer applicable, specifically concerning the planet and what is supposed to be normal. Kuhn says that, “Failure of existing rules is the prelude to a search for new ones” (Kuhn, p.68). If the things that we believe to be stable and constant for us as humans begin changing or disappearing from existence altogether, people are going to panic. A hundreds years ago the planet being destroyed was not a huge issue of concern because things did not exist that could create such a drastic effect. But as the world grew and as technology advanced the world/environment began suffering. Now that things that we once didn’t need to question, like “is the planet going to survive forever?’ are being doubted people are starting to research and create new “rules” or theories. Hence the creation of systems to purify salt water, due to the fact that the Earth’s fresh water supply is diminishing. Or the recent increase in the ever present recycling campaign because people realize that some stuff is not reusable and just contributes to the overpopulation of landfills. Maybe the discoverers of this new planet did not go out with the intention of finding a new planet solely for the purpose of humans inhabiting it because Earth may some day no longer exist. But I think the discovery it is going to lead a lot of people to start thinking about the creation of a new planet to inhabit. Like Kuhn says it takes a crisis or the failure of something that used to be a concrete given for people to start thinking in new in different ways so that they can ultimately fix the crisis or failure.
Bibliography-
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/25/habitable.planet.ap/index.html
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