Life in the universe
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Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? And how did it get started? Scientists are seeking the answers in the cosmos, our solar system and right here on planet Earth. Subscribe NOW to The Economist: http://econ.st/1Fsu2Vj Is there life elsewhere in the universe? Anyone who has pondered the immensity of the cosmos has probably wondered at some time or another whether life exists beyond our planet? The search for life beyond Earth has been buoyed by recent discoveries made by NASA's Kepler telescope - it's looking for planets outside our solar system known as exoplanets. Kepler measures the brightness of distant stars and tracks a stars dimming when a planet passes in front. Up until 1995, exoplanets were purely theoretical - but scientists have since identified thousands of them. in July, NASA scientists announced the discovery of one of their most exciting exoplanets yet - Kepler-452B. Located some fourteen thousand light-years away the planet is in the habitable zone which means it's the right distance from its own Sun and also the right size to potentially be earth-like. There is a limit to how much we can learn about Kepler-452B because of its distance. NASA is launching the James Webb telescope in 2018 to find earth-like planets closer to home so they can study their atmospheres for bio signatures that would indicate the presence of life. But there's another way to learn more about distant planets beyond what the Kepler telescope can tell us, and that is to look for signs of intelligent life. Frank Drake has been listening out for signals of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe for over 50 years. Mr Drake came up with something called the Drake Equation which is a mathematical formula that estimates how many advanced civilizations capable of transmitting signals might exist in the universe. He co-founded the SETI Institute, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Scientists at the SETI Institute have been searching for intelligent life for the past few decades.…
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