Galaxy has 'billions of Earths' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, a US conference has heard.

Dr Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science said many of these worlds could be inhabited by simple lifeforms.

He was speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago.

So far, telescopes have been able to detect just over 300 planets outside our Solar System.

Very few of these would be capable of supporting life, however. Most are gas giants like our Jupiter, and many orbit so close to their parent stars that any microbes would have to survive roasting temperatures.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7891132.stm

So ... where is everybody? And how come they never call?

[DesertRat]

1. Maybe they have...

;)

[Kellen RN]

2. The methods used to find these planets are only capable of

finding planets as small as Uranus or so. They measure the gravitational "wobble" of a star from a large planet orbiting it. They are going to launch a telescope that measures the dimming of stars as smaller planets move across them. I think the telescope is called Kepler and will be able to tell how far away from the star the planet is and its size, thus telling us whether the smaller planets we hope to find could inhabit life. Astronomers say they think they'll find many such planets in the few years this telescope will be active. Very exciting stuff.

[joshcryer]

3. Kepler launches in 12 days, and if all goes well, it'll change our understanding forever.

If it does show that planets are amazingly abundant (as it seems every star seems to have some planetoid or another), then more parts of the Drakes equation get filled.

[and-justice-for-all]

4. kick ass!!!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html