Astronomers seem to be ahead of telescope technology right now. They are looking into the future and readying themselves for a time when deep space telescopes can spy on distant solar systems, in an effort to find other planets capable of sustaining life, like our own Earth.
A doctoral candidate at Unviersity of Washington has pioneered a new technique to find planets with liquid water, which is believed to be a prerequisite of life. His paper is currently published in Astrophysical Journal.
The hunt for pale blue dots, as the late astronomer Carl Sagan used to say, is on but it will likely take years to develop the ability to probe into deep space far enough to see any other water worlds.
Listen here.
Photo: Earth as seen from Voyager, 1990, courtesy of NASA.
This really is fantastic information. Anyone ought to distribute it to Delicious.