Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Kepler potentially Discovers 140 Earth-like planets
During a recent presentation at the TEDGlobal Conference in Oxford New york, Kepler co-investigator Dimitar Sasselov released data from the probe identifying 140 new objects as potential Earth-like planets located throughout the Milky Way. According to Sasselov, of those objects thus far detected by Keppler small Earth-sized planets "dominate the picture" and he estimates the number of worlds in the Milky-way alone with the potential to harbor some form of life at 100-million. Though not yet officially confirmed by NASA, if Sasselov's interpretation of the data holds true, then further analysis of these exoplanets could lead to the first confirmation of life on another world.
-CAINE-
Also check out Ian O'Neil's article on this story from Discovery News which was my primary source and go search TED for more talks.
Image credit:David A Hardy
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