NASA To Announce A Huge Discovery Outside The Solar System

[Lance]

What could it be?

On Wednesday, February 22 at 1pm EST (6pm GMT), NASA is going to hold a news conference to announce a major finding relating to planets outside the Solar System.

NASA To Announce A Huge Discovery Outside The Solar System This Wednesday

Someone should invite this paper's author to IRU. We'd know already.

[tubeswell]

[g-one]

It's allens, I know it!

[Enzo]

Ooooh, I love a good mystery. But then I also love a good donut. And it is paczki time here in the midwest.


(And we just came back from having root beer at A&W.)

[Halcyon Dayz, FCD]

The scientists mentioned are involved in the search for habitable planets.
Gillon is an observer, and Seager has an interest in bio-signature gasses.

It's allens, I know it!

So you might be right.

[Мастер]

How far outside the solar system? Won't it take a while for the announcement to get here?

[Lance]

And it is paczki time here in the midwest.

I don't know what those are, so I Googled.

I found this, and I now hate you because OMFG I want them! I want them ALL!

[Lance]

The scientists mentioned are involved in the search for habitable planets.
Gillon is an observer, and Seager has an interest in bio-signature gasses.

It's allens, I know it!

So you might be right.

That would be astounding!

[Arneb]

And it is paczki time here in the midwest.

I don't know what those are, so I Googled.

I found this, and I now hate you because OMFG I want them! I want them ALL!

Just to make you even more envious, you'll find these in every bakery in Germany, every day. They are called "Pfannkuchen" in Berlin (usually eaten in quantity for New Years Eve), "Berliner" everywhere else, or "Puffelchen" in the Rhineland, where carnival is the preferred time. They are usually filled with jam from different fruits, and can be had either sugarcoated, like the ones in the photo, or powdered sugar if you prefer. They are fat, sweet and abso-fuckiong-lutely delicious.

Now, did that hurt! Great, at your service.

Re. the discovery, it will probably be some planet with some "ingredient for life as we know it", one that "could" have water which is "a prerequisite for life as we know it" blablabla. Remember Arsenic-eating bacteria? Remember ALH 84001? So much normal science has been "major" for them, I'm not holding my breath.

[Lianachan]

So much normal science has been "major" for them, I'm not holding my breath.

This.

[Enzo]

Some studies have indicated that there might be some correlation between this and some other thing to the extent that there could be some minor indication of a tendency to agree with previously suggested potential outcomes.


We found a liitle trace signature of something so there could be some slime living on this planet.

[Lance]

As I understand it, spectrographic analysis of atmospheric gasses could indicate:

>Oxygen in high enough quantities indicates photosynthesis, and therefore plant life.
>The products of industrialization, indicating intelligence.

I know they have been looking for things like this but finding them is probably a long shot.

[Arneb]

Yes, they say that ozone would be a dead giveaway, because that is even easier to destroy than molecular oxygen. When will we know more?

[tubeswell]

Or is it something to do with this?

[Lance]

Or is it something to do with this?

I don't think so.

a major finding relating to planets outside the Solar System

(Emphasis added)

[Lianachan]

Announcement is at 13:00 EST, which by my reckoning will be 18:00 here. Boo! That's ages away.

[Мастер]

Announcement is at 13:00 EST, which by my reckoning will be 18:00 here. Boo! That's ages away.

It will be a different day here!

[Lance]

Well, it's only an hour and a half for me. I'll let you all know early.

[Enzo]

Half an hour for me?

But I am watching NCIS. I notice it has that Nixon/Chipmunk guy as one of the characters.

[tubeswell]

Well, it's only an hour and a half for me. I'll let you all know early.

Which page?

[Lance]

I'm watching NASA TV, on TV.

[Lance]

They found a bunch of rocky planets around a close star; 7 of them. Three of which are in the habitable zone. Nothing about life though.

[Arneb]

Oh, that's SO major.

[Lianachan]

Oh, that's SO major.

This. Again.

[Arneb]

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.