Sez cnn.com: "Galaxy may be full of 'Earths,' alien life" See:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/25/galaxy.planets.kepler/index.html http://tinyurl.com/chkcjc Excerpt: ------------------------------------------------- Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland constructed a computer model to create a synthetic galaxy with billions of stars and planets. They then studied how life evolved under various conditions in this virtual world, using a supercomputer to crunch the results. In a paper published recently in the International Journal of Astrobiology, the researchers concluded that based on what they saw, at least 361 intelligent civilizations have emerged in the Milky Way since its creation, and as many as 38,000 may have formed. Duncan Forgan, a doctoral candidate at the university who led the study, said he was surprised by the hardiness of life on these other worlds. "The computer model takes into account what we refer to as resetting or extinction events. The classic example is the asteroid impact that may have wiped out the dinosaurs," Forgan said. "I half-expected these events to disallow the rise of intelligence, and yet civilizations seemed to flourish." Forgan readily admits the results are an educated guess at best, since there are still many unanswered questions about how life formed on Earth and only limited information about the 330 "exoplanets" -- those circling sun-like stars outside the solar system -- discovered so far. ------------------------------------------------- Wonderin if this means individuals like my step mother's sighting of a classic flying saucer hovering above her home in Newfoundland, witnessed back in 1947, might actually be taken a little more seriously. Alas... probably not. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
