

Why the universe may be teeming with aliens  - bootload
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026831.600-why-the-universe-may-be-teeming-with-aliens.html?full=true

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catone
Maybe I am missing something, but this article doesn't seems to support the
hypothesis the title advances.

First it explains that the habitable zone for planets is bigger than we
thought, but then it also introduces a ton of new criteria (other than
distance from the planet's star) that must be met for a planet to support life
(size, composition, orbit, etc.).

To me that implies that there is likely LESS life out there, not more. The
summary version of the article as I read it is: over the past 20 years the
habitable zone got bigger, but we realized that habitable zone is only one
requirement of many for a planet to be habitable.

How does that support the article's title? (Serious question, not trying to be
snarky. Me = not a science guy.)

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nebula
May be the author derived the title from this last sentence: _What if exotic
forms of life could thrive where there is no liquid water at all - swimming
around in lakes of liquid methane on Saturn's frigid moon, Titan, for
example?_

But then these things have been known and being considered for decades. What
calls for an article on this with such a sensational title?

Looks like this publication has a thing for sensationalism.IMO, not a very
good indicator of being scientific.

