Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum New Planet Discovered, Twice Earth's Size

""This is the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected and the first of a new class of rocky terrestrial planets," Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution in Washington said in a statement. "It's like Earth's bigger cousin.""

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/new_planet;_ylt=Au7lsXqz0a6QUMw9otZWNFbQOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiajg0MHZ2BHNlYwNjaWQxNzAw

"It is orbiting a star called Gliese 876, 15 light years from Earth, with an orbit time of just 1.94 Earth days. They estimated the surface temperature on the new planet at between 400 degrees and 750 degrees Fahrenheit."

How's that for a short year and speedy travel? It might be quite difficult just to catch up to the thing, let alone land on it. Any ideas?

This is really phenomenal news. It seems like just a decade or so ago that we discovered the first extrasolar planet. That one and all those since found have been gas giants. This is the first dirty rock. In a scant 10 years we've come so far!

Obscurantists and supernaturalists try to hijack the process, but real science is solving more mysteries - and creating the mysteries of tomorrow.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but people could have developed on this planet, and they would be twice as tall as us. Basketball would be played on football fields.

But of course, they would be four times as heavy. World Federations Wrestling would be incredible. Hulk Hogan would be a mere featherweight.

:-)) dear rp, unfortunately the this will not be so. for two reasons ...
1.When we talk about gravitational fields then we should understand that the same gravitational attraction is applied to the body cells as well. Which means each and every organic organism must be capable of handling that pull...so the question reduces to whether a cell can exist handle so much pressure that it doesnt blow up.
2.Let us assume the building blocks i.e the cells are itself differnt in its construction and are capable to handling the gravitational pull.. then the degree of freedom required for intelligent and proper growth will not be available... the whole body machine will exhaust itself before evolving....

Sometimes i laugh but then i realize why I am on earth and why not on Jupiter.
Btw you are not alone in speculating such scenarios I have seen very respectable people discussing it like kids.

I figure people on a high-G planet would be shorter by half so as to compensate for gravity trying to keep their blood in their leg veins and thus avoid death by thromboembolus. Or maybe they'd be four legged and wide and short, like cockroaches.

You got it Rose.:-))

Of course you're right. I wasn't thinking clearly.
On this new planet just refusing to get up and change the channel would be a criminal offence.
And taking out the garbage could take up to a week.

You too RP..