William Atkins
Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:19
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 4
According to Dr. Alan Boss, our Milky Way galaxy could contain one hundred billion Earth-like planets. However, he says very few of these planets would be able to support intelligent life. But, what about primitive (microscopic) life?
Dr. Alan P. Boss spoke to scientists at their annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (
AAAS). The meeting was held between February 12 and 16, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
The theme of the
AAAS annual meeting was
“Our Planet and Its Life: Origins and Futures,” which (according to its website)
“recognizes that 2009 is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.”
Dr. Boss is associated with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in Washington, D.C.
Although he said that our galaxy could contain billions of Earth-like planets, he went on to state that only a few of these celestial bodies could contain intelligent life. We only know of one: Earth (of course).
However, he did state that many of these planets could be inhabited by simple life forms—that is, primitive (microscopic) life.
According to the BBC News article “
Galaxy has 'billions of Earths',” Boss based his figure on the premise that
“each Sun-like star has on average one ‘Earth-like’ planet.”
Page two continues with the number of life-supporting planets that could be possible in the Universe.
