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What Makes a Planet Habitable?

posted by martyb on Friday May 03 2019, @04:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the Drake-Equation dept.

AnonTechie writes:

Which of Earth's features were essential for the origin and sustenance of life? And how do scientists identify those features on other worlds?

A team of Carnegie investigators with array of expertise ranging from geochemistry to planetary science to astronomy published this week an essay in Science urging the research community to recognize the vital importance of a planet's interior dynamics in creating an environment that's hospitable for life.

With our existing capabilities, observing an exoplanet's atmospheric composition will be the first way to search for signatures of life elsewhere. However, Carnegie's Anat Shahar, Peter Driscoll, Alycia Weinberger, and George Cody argue that a true picture of planetary habitability must consider how a planet's atmosphere is linked to and shaped by what's happening in its interior.

For example, on Earth, plate tectonics are crucial for maintaining a surface climate where life can thrive. What's more, without the cycling of material between its surface and interior, the convection that drives the Earth's magnetic field would not be possible and without a magnetic field, we would be bombarded by cosmic radiation.

Source: WHEN IT COMES TO PLANETARY HABITABILITY, IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS

Also Covered By: What makes a planet habitable

Basically, it is what is inside that counts — I've heard this numerous times from various teachers in school. This seems to be true for planets as well.

[See also: the Drake Equation, abiogenesis, anthropic bias, and the Fermi Paradox. --Ed.]

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  • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:14PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:14PM (#838497)

    Imagine a world without America. The Nazis would have killed all the Jews, the Moslems would have blown everyone else up. So it's obvious that it's America that makes a planet habitable. Go USA!

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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:21PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @06:21PM (#838501)

    In your scenario, the Moslems would still be alive. While the world would still be habitable, without bacon what's the point of existing?

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @10:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @10:50PM (#838617)

      (((Allah akhbar)))