Wednesday Discussion

π——π—’π—˜π—¦ π—£π—Ÿπ—”π—§π—˜ π—§π—˜π—–π—§π—’π—‘π—œπ—–π—¦ π—œπ—‘π—™π—Ÿπ—¨π—˜π—‘π—–π—˜ π—§π—›π—˜ π—˜π— π—˜π—₯π—šπ—˜π—‘π—–π—˜ 𝗒𝗙 π—Ÿπ—œπ—™π—˜?

While staying up-to-date with the scientific world, I frequently discover intriguing articles for discussion. When it comes to my Wednesday science fiction blogging, I deliberately choose topics to incite debate.

This week, I stumbled upon an article in β€˜Scientific American’ discussing the recent research of Cayman Unterborn, an astronomer from Arizona State University. He’s been studying plate tectonics and believes they may play a crucial role in the development of complex life.

According to him, around 2.5 billion years ago, volcanic activity might have kept the oceans from freezing. He thinks that this allowed the oceans to stay at the optimal temperature for the development of life.

What does this mean for exoplanets? Plate tectonics, in his opinion, might not be a common feature, with only 1 in 3 potentially habitable worlds possessing this characteristic. Even with the latest estimate update, there are still around 13 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy!

I’d like to know your opinion. Is the presence of tectonics crucial for the development of life? Do you believe this will have consequences for us in terms of colonization or terraforming down the line?
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Published on June 19, 2024 08:37
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