
Nasa to host major press conference on 'discovery beyond our solar system' - rock57
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-announcement-press-conference-today-solar-system-exoplanet-sun-planets-news-latest-a7590281.html
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johansch
From Reddit:

"Observation 1: There is no SETI representative.

Observation 2: There have been SETI representatives in the past, even when
there were no aliens.

Conclusion: It's aliens."

[https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/5v5hy6/nasa_to_host_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/5v5hy6/nasa_to_host_news_conference_on_discovery_beyond/ddzsfej/)

:)

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webmaven
It is probably the discovery of additional earth-sized extrasolar planets in
TRAPPIST-1's Goldilocks Zone[0].

It would be _really_ cool though, if at least one of those planets turns out
to have an oxygen atmosphere...

The inclusion of Sarah Seager[1] an exoplanet scientist working on the problem
of identifying the signatures of life in exoplanet atmospheres[2], is
suggestive.

[0] [http://www.trappist.one/](http://www.trappist.one/)

[1] [http://www.saraseager.com/](http://www.saraseager.com/)

[2] [http://www.space.com/28756-alien-life-search-exoplanet-
atmos...](http://www.space.com/28756-alien-life-search-exoplanet-
atmospheres.html)

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perseusprime11
Why will they keep hosting "major" press conferences for exoplanets? Don't we
already know as time passes, we will discover more exoplanets like ours?

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webmaven
I think the point here is not simply that they found more, but _what_ they
found.

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dghughes
Does NASA know this makes everyone queasy with anticipation when they announce
stuff like this? :{

In a good way but still...

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anotheryou
Announcements of announcements are really lame. It deserves a collective term
with journalism about upcoming XY.

Is journalism lagging so far behind social media, that they need to give the
news before it happens? Or is it just good PR teams that amplify the hype by
triggering it early?

For big visions it makes sense to talk about it before some release, but a new
music album, an app releasing next month, all annoying.

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pseudocoup
The participants (less Nasa leadership) are all researchers with expertise in:
atmospheres of exoplanets and biosignatures.

I wager the announcement will be about TRAPPIST-1b and/or c having atmospheres
capable of supporting life.

My moonshot bet is that they'll announce the discovery of evidence of
biosignatures.

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nylonstrung
Watch it be something far less exciting than the vagueness would lead one to
believe.

Like when they promised "a discovery about extraterrestrial life" that turned
out to be arsenic-based life in a pond which turned out to not actually be
asrsenic-based

