Gazing Afar for Other Earths, and Other Beings - nyt, January 30, 2011
This article describes various efforts humanity undertakes in its search for other forms of life out there on different planets. We learn about a satellite observatory called Kepler, which is used by the scientists to look for the stars which are best for harboring planets. As it happens, recently astronomers revealed a list of 400 such stars which they found using Kepler. With the same tool the scientists even hope to find among them a subset of planets where it's not too hot nor too cold for the water to stay in liquid state, which is a prerequisite of life. Some resarchers go even further, saying that life can be based on a completely different elements, not carbon and oxigen.
I was surprised to read in this article that if we are to find life based on completely alien chemical rules, "Traditional religious images of ourselves as God’s creatures, or even of God, could be in for a rough time." I think this is far from being so, because any religious person would explain that if Got is omnipotent, He could have created as many life forms as He wished, based on one or many different sets of chemical rules. From this point of view our search for life on different planets should not necesserily bring end to our religios beliefs.
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