NASA To Announce A Huge Discovery Outside The Solar System

[Lianachan]

Over here, it has just been placed on the no. 1 spot of Der Spiegel's website.

Just to make the point, this is certainly an unusual discovery, and I have no doubt it was made by lots of hard, excellent work by top-notch people in their field. It is also interesting for the general public, as it makes a good case for the search for extraterrestrial life. It's certainly worth a press release.

But "major"? I'd consider ozone in an extraterrestrial atmosphere "major", or a "real" twin of Earth in the habitable zone. But this? Don't you have it one size smaller? As the Berliner says.

But you knew I'd be saying that.

Again this again.

[Arneb]

This is almost too much, coming from a real scientist

[Lance]

Calling this "major" is tantamount to crying wolf I think.

[Lance]

This guy nails it!

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[Мастер]

This guy nails it!

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Aliens landing at Area 51? That's old news.

[Lance]

This guy nails it!

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Aliens landing at Area 51? That's old news.

Only to some. Shhh.

[Lianachan]

Google like the news.

[Lance]

I saw that last night. They're pretty quick!

[Arneb]

And didn't we foresee how tha NASA PR machine would play this out? Yes, we did.

[g-one]

Some related humour:

Did you get a load of the illustration that NASA released to help us imagine the distant solar system? The space agency’s dreamy artwork never lets us down. This time, they manage to make the surface of TRAPPIST-1f look like a cross between a Successories inspirational poster and the kind of album cover that Pink Floyd would have chosen if everyone in the band had played the pan flute. According to NASA, a scientific organization dedicated to facts, the illustration shows “the possible surface” of one of the distant planets. Try fact-checking that one, New York Times! PROVE US WRONG.

Obviously, the agency puts out silly stuff like this because it helps to ensure their findings get better media coverage, which comes in handy when it’s time to ask Congress for $73 billion to develop new flavours of Tang. Still, it’s worth imagining the meeting at which the artist first presented his vision of this distant world:

Artist: “I tried to follow your instructions and make it look as much as possible like the backdrop to an off-off-Broadway show about a flamboyantly gay porpoise. What do you think?”

NASA: “Needs more space mermaids.”

http://www.macleans.ca/society/science/ ... rappist-1/

[Lance]

[Arneb]

If they have to use CGI, can't they use at least good CGI. I admit there wasn't a lot of time to slap something up, but gee, this is rotten.

[Lianachan]

Listverse gives 10 reasons why it's A Big Deal.