NASA's Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets – the single largest finding of planets to date.
“This announcement more than doubles the number of confirmed planets from Kepler,” said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This gives us
hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth.”
"Analysis was performed on the Kepler space telescope’s July 2015 planet candidate catalog, which identified 4,302 potential planets. For 1,284 of the candidates, the probability of being a planet is greater than 99 percent – the minimum required to earn the status of “planet.” An additional 1,327 candidates are more likely than not to be actual planets, but they do not meet the 99 percent threshold and will require additional study. The remaining 707 are more likely to be some other astrophysical phenomena."
quotes are also from:
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/n...largest-collection-of-planets-ever-discovered
==================================
The
EarthSky publication makes this comment -
"And how likely is it that this life will develop intelligence? This remains an open question (which is scientist-speak for “we haven’t got a clue”).
But many scientists consider intelligent life almost inevitable, in which case the galaxy should be teaming with alien civilizations."
http://earthsky.org/space/intelligent-life-universe-aliens-contact#
One thing to notice is that these quoted sources consider the "origin" - the "mechanism" for getting intelligent life on all those zillions of planets - is ... what I call "blind faith evolutionism".
as Christians we know there is "another option" for getting intelligent life on a planet.
so what does that life mean to your idea of Christianity?
One thing it means is that more and more Christian parents will find that they are sending their students to schools where the teachers take intelligent life in our universe "as a given".
And then there is the Presidential election aspect --
================================
NYTimes - May 11, 2016
"
Mrs. Clinton has vowed that barring any threats to national security, she would open up government files on the subject, a shift from President Obama, who typically dismisses the topic as a joke. Her position has elated U.F.O. enthusiasts, who have declared Mrs. Clinton the first “E.T. candidate.”
“Hillary has embraced this issue with an absolutely unprecedented level of interest in American politics,” said
Joseph G. Buchman, who has spent decades calling for government transparency about extraterrestrials.
Mrs. Clinton, a cautious candidate who often bemoans being the subject of Republican conspiracy theories,
has shown surprising ease plunging into the discussion of the possibility of extraterrestrial beings."
from NY times -
hhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/us/politics/hillary-clinton-aliens.html
=====================
Washington Post April 2016
During the 1990s, there was an effort by
Laurance Rockefeller (of the Rockefeller Rockefellers) to encourage the United States government to release any classified information it had about extraterrestrials, alien spacecraft and UFOs. The effort, referred to as
the Rockefeller Initiative by UFO truthers, included meetings between Rockefeller and senior Clinton administration staff. In August of 1995, the Clintons
stayed at Rockefeller's ranch in Wyoming, and Hillary was
photographed with him while holding
a book titled, "Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life." (A large number of documents pertaining to Rockefeller's advocacy on this issue were
released under the Freedom of Information Act several years ago.)
from:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...story-of-john-podestas-space-alien-obsession/
