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Computer simulations of the formation of planets orbiting in the habitable zones of low mass stars such as Proxima Centauri by astrophysicists at the University of Bern show that these planets are most likely to be roughly the size of the Earth and to contain large amounts of water.
In August 2016, the announcement of the discovery of a terrestrial exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri stimulated the imagination of experts and the general public. This star is the nearest star to our sun, though it is 10 times less massive and 500 times less luminous. This discovery, together with the discovery in May 2016 of a similar planet orbiting an even lower-mass star (Trappist-1), convinced astronomers that such red dwarfs (as these low-mass stars are called) might be hosts to a large population of Earth-like planets.
Indeed, we already know that red dwarfs do have advanced civilizations.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @10:07AM
60% of the stars observed in the Kepler Prime Mission were G-type.
Even if only 15% of all stars aren't red dwarfs, that's still a lot of stars. The hotter stars may have a better chance of forming life and doing it more quickly than red dwarfs, along with wider habitable zones (AU from beginning to end of zone). Red dwarfs may have smaller protoplanetary disks, although that might help them produce Earth-sized rather than Jupiter-sized planets.
Panspermia could still be on the table, but getting microbes from one solar system before the star explodes to a habitable planet in another solar system would be a feat.