New Research Suggests Estimates Of Extraterrestrial Life Were Wildly Exaggerated

Share:

New research from scientists at the University of California shows that previous estimates of how many habitable planets exist in outer space were hugely exaggerated, according to The Daily Mail.

The researchers assert that many planets heretofore regarded as habitable are in fact “dead planets” enveloped with toxic gas. Lead scientist Professor Timothy Lyons stated, “Imagine a ‘habitable zone for complex life’ defined as a safe zone where it would be plausible to support rich ecosystems like we find on Earth today. Our results indicate that complex ecosystems like ours cannot exist in most regions of the habitable zone as traditionally defined.”

LiveScience noted:

To investigate, Lyons and his colleagues created a computer model of the atmospheric climate and photochemistry (a field that analyzes how different chemicals behave under visible or ultraviolet light) on a range of planets. The researchers began by looking at predicted levels of carbon dioxide, a gas that’s deadly at high levels but is also needed to keep temperatures above freezing (thanks to the greenhouse effect) on planets that orbit far from their host stars.

Utilizing computer models, the scientists found that planets that existed at great distances from a star needed so much carbon dioxide to trap heat on their planet in order to support life that the carbon dioxide would be poisonous. NASA scientist Edward Schwieterman explained, “To sustain liquid water at the outer edge of the habitable zone, a planet would need tens of thousands of times more carbon dioxide than Earth has today. That’s far beyond the levels known to be toxic to human and animal life on Earth.” – READ MORE

Share:
No Comments Yet

Leave a Reply

2021 © True Pundit. All rights reserved.