Extraterrestrial life
A new batch of conspiracy theories come after new Curiosity rover pictures feature images mirroring an iguana and a crashed spaceship.
It's hard for researchers to gauge what's going on in the long-term with the heavenly bodies. But now, scientists in Brazil have found a solar twin to the sun that may help shed light on just that. Approximately 250 light-years away, the star named HIP 102152 is a virtual match for our own sun. Sitting in the constellation Capricornus, the star is referred to as a "solar twin" for the degree to which it's identical to our planet. However unlike the Sun, this star is 8.2 billion years old. Since our sun is 4.6 billion years old, scientists believe they'll be able to learn more about what's in store for our own star as it ages in the coming eons.
Britain will be joining the ranks of avid extraterrestrial life seekers with a new concentrated effort utilizing seven major telescopes that will sift through radio broadcasts looking for a message from another planet.
SETI, the search for extra terrestrial intelligence, may have once been considered a flight of fancy or ostracized by the broader scientific community, at least in Carl Sagan's Contact, but the project has, by now, generally gained acceptance. Listening for aliens seems like an improbable but good idea. However, a new extra terrestrial intelligence-seeking initiative, called the Lone Signal Project, may warrant a little more skepticism.
Despite the fact that Earth-like planets in habitable zones are being identified at a faster and faster rate, there's still no confirmation that life exists or could exist on any of them. One scientist is arguing that's because we need to think outside the box more.
Researchers conducting a theoretical study say it's easier to detect oxygen on planets orbiting dying stars adding that scientists should be able to find such potentially life sustaining planets within the next decade.
Scientists have discovered a relatively close planet that could harbor the conditions needed for liquid water, and possibly life.
