This is it y'all. Hold on to your hats.

The briefing participants are:

· Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington

· Michael Gillon, astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium

· Sean Carey, manager of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at Caltech/IPAC, Pasadena, California

· Nikole Lewis, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore

· Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

A Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) about exoplanets will be held following the briefing at 3 p.m. with scientists available to answer questions in English and Spanish.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and updated scheduling information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Sara Seager is a leading exoplanet scientist who, among other things, is working on the problem of how to identify bio signatures in exo planet atmospheres.

It looks like they may have found proof of life on another planet. This is a big deal.

lrn36 said:

Sara Seager is a leading exoplanet scientist who, among other things, is working on the problem of how to identify bio signatures in exo planet atmospheres.

It looks like they may have found proof of life on another planet. This is a big deal.

Thanks! I'll stream this while doing my monthly auditing!!

Hmm, it looks like it could be specifically about exoplanets, and not life forms. They probably found a planet that has similar conditions to Earth or maybe they developed a method to identify more exoplanets. It's still pretty exciting.

http://mashable.com/2017/...gAA14EpqqT

[Edited 2/21/17 14:39pm]

I always thought that NASA ended up turning into Star Fleet

kpowers said:

I always thought that NASA ended up turning into Star Fleet

Combo NASA and UN.


See The Expanse for why I say UN.

EmmaMcG said:

I doubt they'll ever actually find life, or intelligent life anyway, on other planets. Not to say I don't think alien life exists, I'm about as positive as can be that it does, it's just that I don't think it exists anywhere close to us. Considering how big the universe potentially is, and how unlikely it was that life flourished on earth, I'd say the chances of finding similar life on any planet/moon within a billion lightyear radius is highly unlikely. There are more stars than can possibly be counted. Potentially more stars than there are numbers. And around each star could be a number of planets. So for that reason, among others, I'm sure that earth is not the only planet capable of sustaining life but like I said, it was a billion to one shot that we arrived on this planet so it's not likely that life sprung up on any nearby planets. Which is also the reason that no alien civilization has ever discovered us, assuming they even care to look.

From the sound of it, if it exist in our galaxy we'll find it. It's really marvelously insane all the various projects that are chugging along quietly.

lrn36 said:

Hmm, it looks like it could be specifically about exoplanets, and not life forms. They probably found a planet that has similar conditions to Earth or maybe they developed a method to identify more exoplanets. It's still pretty exciting.

http://mashable.com/2017/...gAA14EpqqT

[Edited 2/21/17 14:39pm]

Aww, they shouldn't have said anything, you know it would be the highest rating they've ever had. I'm curious why they need a press conference to say the found more exoplanets.

morningsong said:

kpowers said:

I always thought that NASA ended up turning into Star Fleet

Combo NASA and UN.


See The Expanse for why I say UN.

Yup

EmmaMcG said:

I doubt they'll ever actually find life, or intelligent life anyway, on other planets. Not to say I don't think alien life exists, I'm about as positive as can be that it does, it's just that I don't think it exists anywhere close to us. Considering how big the universe potentially is, and how unlikely it was that life flourished on earth, I'd say the chances of finding similar life on any planet/moon within a billion lightyear radius is highly unlikely. There are more stars than can possibly be counted. Potentially more stars than there are numbers. And around each star could be a number of planets. So for that reason, among others, I'm sure that earth is not the only planet capable of sustaining life but like I said, it was a billion to one shot that we arrived on this planet so it's not likely that life sprung up on any nearby planets. Which is also the reason that no alien civilization has ever discovered us, assuming they even care to look.

my only issue is that nasa is a gov entity

therefore prone to holdin back info to the public....

SO!!! if they makin all this 'public knowledge'

what about it have they or are they NOT

gonna make public???

if you look at it this way, you can see some more shit witit....

the 'freedom of info act' is actually this thing where they make

you think they will make shit public anyway...

fact is you pretty much gotta ask for it specifically...

after fitty years they supposedly release info (classified)

and it been fitty years since folks been askin

'what do they know about...???'

so to me, this is prolly shit they been knowin and

makin it sound like it's brand new....

it's all good as long as the Discovery is not Groot's Evil Twin...

EmmaMcG said:

Which is also the reason that no alien civilization has ever discovered us, assuming they even care to look.

I hope that never happens. What makes you think they'll be friendly? They might regard us the same way Columbus regarded the Tainos.

uPtoWnNY said:

why do people assume that anything but humans are out to do harm???

actually this is a part of other issues also. the thought that others would do

as they would do...

if there was contact made here on earth, if they didn't respond to bein hailed

these fukkks would try to shoot it down. not only would they try to shoot it

down, IF they couldn't shoot it down they would just try harder to shoot it down.

anything that could travel here from other galaxies is obviously advanced...

you get advanced by not killin yo own planet... if we were invaded it would

prolly be to keep us from killn this planet and if it has to get nasty it will be

because the flu hates the flu shot...

Seven Earth-sized planets about 40 light-years away. Nothing about life or ET or the Zeta Reticulans, Sorry.

NASA

7 new Earth-like exoplanets discovered, NASA announces

This illustration shows the possible surface of TRAPPIST-1f, one of the newly discovered planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. Scientists using the Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes have discovered that there are seven Earth-size planets in the system. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Talk about lucky number seven. Astronomers have discovered not one, not two, but seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a star called TRAPPIST-1.

What’s more, three of them are in the habitable zone— the happy place where liquid water can exist on the surface of rocky planets, as it’s not too hot or cold.

“The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of if, but when,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, said at a news conference announcing the discovery.

Zurbuchen called it a "major step forward" towards the goal of answering the very big question: Is there life on other worlds?

The discovery "is very promising for the search for life beyond our solar system,” Michael Gillon, astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium, added during the press conference.

This is the first time astronomers have found so many Earth-sized planets circling the same sun.

Since the seven planets orbit the star-- which is roughly 40 light years away-- fairly close to each other, the view from one planet would reveal another planet to look as big, if not bigger, than the way we see the moon.

NASA IDENTIFIES 1,284 NEW EXOPLANETS, MOST EVER ANNOUNCED AT ONCE

The three planets in the habitable zone, also known as the Goldilocks Zone, are called TRAPPIST-1 E, F, and G. Exoplanet “E” is about the same size as Earth and even gets around the same amount of light as we do.

Scientists already knew of thousands of planets beyond our own solar system. All told, the tally of confirmed exoplanets stood at 3,449 before Wednesday’s announcement. But only a small number of discovered exoplanets meet the criteria for being possible Earths-- Earth-sized planets that are not too big, and in the habitable zone of a star.

NEW NEIGHBOR: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER CLOSEST HABITABLE EXOPLANET

While this discovery was made using the Spitzer Space Telescope, one of the most important instruments in the search for other planets is the Kepler Space Telescope, which is credited with 2,331 confirmed exoplanet discoveries. It uses a technique called the transit method, watching for a star to dim when a planet passes in front of the distant sun. About 74 percent of known exoplanets have been discovered using that method, according to NASA.

Exoplanet discoveries just keep coming.

Earlier this month, astronomers announced that they had evidence of perhaps as many as 114 new exoplanets; the data they used to find those came from Hawaii’s Keck Observatory, which made observations of over 1,600 stars for over two decades. One of those newly-discovered planets that has garnered attention is a hot, rocky “super Earth” called Gliese 411b.

Scientists have even discovered a planet orbiting the closest star to Earth, aside from the sun. Called Proxima b, that planet is somewhat larger than our own planet and lies about four light years away— close by cosmic standards but still incredibly far away from a human perspective. (One light year— the distance light can travel in one Earth year— equals almost 6 trillion miles.) The important Proxima b discovery was announced last August.

KingBAD said:

RodeoSchro said:

Seven Earth-sized planets about 40 light-years away. Nothing about life or ET or the Zeta Reticulans, Sorry.

Party pooper.

XxAxX said:

KingBAD said:

why do people assume that anything but humans are out to do harm???

actually this is a part of other issues also. the thought that others would do

as they would do...

if there was contact made here on earth, if they didn't respond to bein hailed

these fukkks would try to shoot it down. not only would they try to shoot it

down, IF they couldn't shoot it down they would just try harder to shoot it down.

anything that could travel here from other galaxies is obviously advanced...

you get advanced by not killin yo own planet... if we were invaded it would

prolly be to keep us from killn this planet and if it has to get nasty it will be

because the flu hates the flu shot...

. Because as above, so below, meaning the pattern we see here on earth may well be present elsewhere in the universe. That is, if big fish eats little fish here, then it may be likely true on other planets. The universe seems to display a consistent pattern of destructive consumption, from what we've seen so far. That being said we could all be part of an Alien Reality TV Show where what we think is real....ain't. Or maybe there are tons of variation on a theme? Who can really say. I hope we're nice to ET when we meet them

nothin here has caused extinction that wasn't from natural causes EXCEPT...

people lived harmoniously among animals until animals had to become weary of people...

thing eat things... but again, travlin across galaxies requires havin food already so

unless somethin comes here that is just a space virus to us. the cosmos doesn't do

good or bad, right or wrong, or run accordin to some script destruction is the beginnin

of creation as far as i''ve seen things go...

morningsong said:

RodeoSchro said:

Seven Earth-sized planets about 40 light-years away. Nothing about life or ET or the Zeta Reticulans, Sorry.

Party pooper.

Sorry! Believe me, I'd like to see some ETs show up! I've asked a few astronauts whove been to the ISS if they've ever seen anything alien or out of the ordinary. None of them ever have.

I'm beginning to believe that while there may be other beings out there, none of them are as advanced as we are. It's highly likely that we will be the ones to show up on someone else's planet first, rather than vice versa.

RodeoSchro said:

morningsong said:

Party pooper.

Sorry! Believe me, I'd like to see some ETs show up! I've asked a few astronauts whove been to the ISS if they've ever seen anything alien or out of the ordinary. None of them ever have.

I'm beginning to believe that while there may be other beings out there, none of them are as advanced as we are. It's highly likely that we will be the ones to show up on someone else's planet first, rather than vice versa.

jest messing with you. But yeah, I'm wonder that too, if it'll be us knocking on somebody else's door. Thankfully stuff is so far apart in that case, we would really have to work for it.

Somebody's feeling creative.

KingBAD said:

XxAxX said:

KingBAD said: . Because as above, so below, meaning the pattern we see here on earth may well be present elsewhere in the universe. That is, if big fish eats little fish here, then it may be likely true on other planets. The universe seems to display a consistent pattern of destructive consumption, from what we've seen so far. That being said we could all be part of an Alien Reality TV Show where what we think is real....ain't. Or maybe there are tons of variation on a theme? Who can really say. I hope we're nice to ET when we meet them

nothin here has caused extinction that wasn't from natural causes EXCEPT...

people lived harmoniously among animals until animals had to become weary of people...

thing eat things... but again, travlin across galaxies requires havin food already so

unless somethin comes here that is just a space virus to us. the cosmos doesn't do

good or bad, right or wrong, or run accordin to some script destruction is the beginnin

of creation as far as i''ve seen things go...

that is actually from the Bible, innit? true evolutionary theory never embraced that as far as i know.

but interestingly, (bear with me) the Sumerian people (6,000 years BC) accurately described the solar system, wrote and drew pictures of the solar system, including Neptune and Uranus, whereas western 'civilization' didn't even know about those two planets until the 1700s and 1800s. the Sumerians claimed to have obtained this knowledge from the 'star people', who gave them astronomy as well as other arts.

the 'star people' (Annunaki) as told by the Sumerians, did indeed terraform planet Earth into the 'Garden of Edin' (note the biblical similarity) and are said to be set for a return when they swing back 'round these parts, which they periodically do...

another interesting thing the Sumerians claimed (again as told to them by the star people), is that there actually is a tenth planet, "Planet X", which NASA has recently indicated might actually exist (see link below), since this is a theory that currently explains wobbles in the orbits of the outermost planets. Planet X is said to be on an eliptical orbit around the sun, which brings it by every 3,600 years.

just thought that might interest you, as perhaps at one time when life was newly 'terraformed' humans might not have been eating animals. we do have vegetarian teeth after all.

so many theories about our origins and no one knows for sure. but for sure - 6,000 years BC the Sumerian culture somehow knew about our solar system looooong before western civilization knew..... (cue X-File theme)

i was hoping today's announcement would tell us they've found planet X http://solarsystem.nasa.g...ts/planetx

[Edited 2/22/17 16:01pm]

8,000 years to catch up.

XxAxX said:

KingBAD said:

nothin here has caused extinction that wasn't from natural causes EXCEPT...

people lived harmoniously among animals until animals had to become weary of people...

thing eat things... but again, travlin across galaxies requires havin food already so

unless somethin comes here that is just a space virus to us. the cosmos doesn't do

good or bad, right or wrong, or run accordin to some script destruction is the beginnin

of creation as far as i''ve seen things go...

that is actually from the Bible, innit? true evolutionary theory never embraced that as far as i know.

but interestingly, (bear with me) the Sumerian people (6,000 years BC) accurately described the solar system, wrote and drew pictures of the solar system, including Neptune and Uranus, whereas western 'civilization' didn't even know about those two planets until the 1700s and 1800s. the Sumerians claimed to have obtained this knowledge from the 'star people', who gave them astronomy as well as other arts.

the 'star people' (Annunaki) as told by the Sumerians, did indeed terraform planet Earth into the 'Garden of Edin' (note the biblical similarity) and are said to be set for a return when they swing back 'round these parts, which they periodically do...

another interesting thing the Sumerians claimed (again as told to them by the star people), is that there actually is a tenth planet, "Planet X", which NASA has recently indicated might actually exist (see link below), since this is a theory that currently explains wobbles in the orbits of the outermost planets. Planet X is said to be on an eliptical orbit around the sun, which brings it by every 3,600 years.

just thought that might interest you, as perhaps at one time when life was newly 'terraformed' humans might not have been eating animals. we do have vegetarian teeth after all.

so many theories about our origins and no one knows for sure. but for sure - 6,000 years BC the Sumerian culture somehow knew about our solar system looooong before western civilization knew..... (cue X-File theme)

i was hoping today's announcement would tell us they've found planet X http://solarsystem.nasa.g...ts/planetx

[Edited 2/22/17 16:01pm]

the theory of evolution was a politically based creation much like other religious types of sciences

(remember descartes wrote his phylosophy with the church in mind, to escape bein burned or some shit... which is why a lot of science is also skewed...

i'm still of the mind that what was shown today has nothin to do with anything they 'just found'.

and i'm stand firm on knowin there are histories that will only be known when the writers of it return... most things (histories) are put forth to the advantage of the writers of that history.

in other words, the history of the palestinians is way different from the jews in the tellin of it

and i'm quite sure that folks that have a 'common sense' view of both histories will see the lie in either....

there isn't much of anything i ever read that i believed tho...

Chancellor said:

it's all good as long as the Discovery is not Groot's Evil Twin...

[Edited 2/23/17 10:25am]

Google's page is cute.

[Edited 2/23/17 15:54pm]