Earth’s twin - potentially habitable planet discovered
Thanks to a number of people for dropping me a line about this - I’d have caught it in the daily news-trawl anyway, but it’s flattering to know that you care about my coverage!
So, yes; Earth-like exoplanet spotted. Lot’s of poor journalism about though, which I’ll not bother linking to. For the more detailed facts of the matter, I refer you on to the ever-reliable Centauri Dreams, which discusses what is known for certain (and what is mere conjecture) about the planet and the solar syastem it is situated in, and then looks at the potential of the planet as an environment habitable to humans.
Of course, not everyone is particularly impressed by this - transhumanist philosopher Michael Anissimov believes (with some justification) that we should use our time and effort more effectively, and stop getting excited about other planets until we’ve properly addressed the issues and potentials of the one we find ourselves on already.
That difference in attitudes throws an interesting light on the post I just made about modern (and post-modern) science fiction themes, come to think of it. While I’m overjoyed that we’re exploring space (albeit only by telescope at the moment), I’d dearly like to see a lot more focus on issues closer to home - though not at the expense of the gosh-wow space stuff, if at all possible. Yes, I’ll have my slice of hypocrisy cake and eat it, thanks. 
[This post adapted and expanded from an original at Futurismic, because I don't have the time to write things out twice if I can possibly avoid it. Shout-outs for news alerts to Jetse and Ariel - thanks, guys.]
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April 28th, 2007 at 1:55 am
[...] A new potentially habitable planet has been discovered orbiting the star Gliese 581. At five times Earth’s mass, though, we’d have to come up with some means of dealing with the gravity. I’m not ready to weigh over 800 pounds just yet. Nevermind that we also need to figure out how to travel over 20 light years. But hey, the Romans once thought the regions north of Germany were uninhabitable, too. More on this and some great links from Paul Raven. [...]
April 28th, 2007 at 1:55 am
[...] A new potentially habitable planet has been discovered orbiting the star Gliese 581. At five times Earth’s mass, though, we’d have to come up with some means of dealing with the gravity. I’m not ready to weigh over 800 pounds just yet. Nevermind that we also need to figure out how to travel over 20 light years. But hey, the Romans once thought the regions north of Germany were uninhabitable, too. More on this and some great links from Paul Raven. [...]
May 1st, 2007 at 8:40 pm
fancy a chance at naming the new earth…we at dailygalaxy.com - we suggest honoring 581c but someone suggested that Luton Town could do with a second home. the world is your oyster - name that planet
May 1st, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Oops, wrong URL…here is the correct one: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/05/a_great_debate_.html