The galaxy: ‘rich in small, Earth-like planets’
p2pnet view Off Topic:- “On one hand this is sloppy reporting with one paper feeding off of the fumes of another paper’s imaginary story. Yet on the other hand, this should be a wake up call and a preview of just how people around the world will react if (when) confirmation of extrasolar worlds similar to our own is finally released. I do not get the impression that the Kepler folks or NASA PAO quite has this figured out yet.”
That’s the final paragraph in a SpaceRef.com report which kicks off with “articles were sparked by a talk that was given by Harvard’s Dimitar Sasselov at TEDGlobal at Oxford this month. It was posted to the TED site last week and picked up by various sites. The smoking gun is the slide in the background at about 8:15 in the talk.”
Below are Gargle links to the first five ‘Lots of Earth-like Planets’ stories as they were at 7:30 am Pacific >>>
- Nasa Discoveries Spark Hopes Of Alien Life – Sky News – 21 minutes ago
Nasa’s planet-hunting deep space observatory has found hundreds of new potential planets, sparking hopes of finding other worlds similar to Earth. The objects were found in Nasa’s Kepler Mission, a space observatory designed to discover Earth-like … - Could We Travel to New Earths? – MyFox Detroit – 21 minutes ago
(Canvas Staff Reports) – NASA’s Kepler space probe may have discovered five new solar systems and up to 140 Earth-like planets – but is there any hope we could travel to them someday? The probe found more than 706 potential new planets and possibly … - Anybody out there? 140 ‘Earths’ found – Times of India – 19 hours ago
Nasa’s Kepler space probe has found more than just 706 potential new planets — it may also have found five new solar systems. Buried in the deluge of data sent back by the probe are clear signs that at least five of the 150000-plus stars it has studied … - More Earths exist in galaxy, any number – Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist – International Reporter – 1 hour ago
Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, Head of SAROUL (Scientific Advance Research of Universe & Life) had mentioned in his book “Two Big Bangs Created the Universe” (Formed in Eternal Space) in November 2003 that there are earth like planets in the galaxy, … - 700 new planets discovered by NASA – Toronto Sun – 18 hours ago
By QMI Agency NASA’s deep-space Kepler probe has found hundreds of new planets — many similar to earth — sparking new hope of life outside our solar system. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed Sunday that in six weeks of …
In his report, “Here is the slides [sic] – plus another”, says Keith Cowing in SpaceRef.com.
“Now I see where the story had is origin — so Fox and the other papers are off the hook — although they did manage to scramble things a bit. I think Sasselov’s use of English is at fault here. Also, my original comments about the Kepler team’s PR skills have been underscored by this fumbled release of stunning news.
“How odd that this venue was chosen – one where you have to pay thousands of dollars to get in– in a foreign country– as the place where this announcement is made by Kepler Co-Investigator Dimitar Sasselov. What is really annoying is that the Kepler folks were complaining about releasing information since they wanted more time to analyze it before making any announcements. And then the project’s Co-I goes off and spills the beans before an exclusive audience — offshore. We only find out about it when the video gets quietly posted weeks later.”
He includes his earlier post, to wit >>>
Here is what Sasselov said (transcript reflects his less than perfect use of English): “What the new telescope Kepler has been able to tell us in the past few weeks – and lo and behold – we are back to the harmony and to fulfilling the dreams of Copernicus. You can see here [Chart] – small planets dominate the picture. The planets which are marked “like Earth” – definitely more than any of the other planets that we see. Now for the first time we can say that. There is a lot more work we need to do with this. Most of these are candidates and in the next few years – we will confirm them – but the statistical result is loud and clear – and the statistical result is that planets like our own Earth are out there. [Chart] Our Milky Way galaxy is rich in this kind of planet. So the question is what do we do next? Well we can study them now. We know where they are. And we can find those that we call “habitable” meaning that they have similar conditions to what experience here on Earth and where a lot of complex chemistry can happen …”
Keith’s original note: Looks like Fox News, The Australian, and the Daily Mail have jumped the gun again. To read their headlines and their short stories, you’d think that a bunch of Earthlike planets have been confirmed circling other stars with “both land and water” – and that this is how NASA has been characterizing the Kepler results. Alas this is not what NASA has been saying – at least not publicly.
Now you know. 
… and identi.ca
SpaceRef.com – Kepler Co-Investigator Spills The Beans: Lots of Earth-like Planets, July 25, 2010
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