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Scientists hail ‘strongest evidence’ so far for life beyond our solar system (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

NASAs "habitat words observatory" was ment to be the next major telescope after the Roman space telescope, and was meant to have its primary function be the search for extraterrestrial life which would help tremendously with these kinds of situations.

Was being the key word as apparently the shitbag GOP administration decided they want to axe ALL future telescope programs including the Hubble replacement Nany Roman... Scumbags.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Their only interest in space is glory and imperialism. They don't give a shit about the science they just want to claim Mars as US territory. And as someone that has been a huge space nerd ever since I was a kid I am absolutely livid at the defunding of NASA.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

“For Services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonization spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement.”

From the SpaceX TOS. Oligarchs want to rule as kings on Mars, not as Americans.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

And at this rate they will be one and the same anyway.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Even the commercialisation of space flight bothers me. I mean, I know its inevitable but when the point of crewed space flight currently is still overwhelmingly for science, there's just something gross about for-profit companies making a mint off human endeavour. But I also grew up in the 80s when science and the future seemed bright and exciting and not a capitalist dystopia.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

Discovering aliens is too dangerous, they might be woke.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

My name is on Roman. If they cancel it I will be so fucking devastated.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

This is just super fucking cool. It's so rad they can pick out chemical signatures from the light passing through a planet's atmosphere from a star 120 light years away. Absolutely gonzo bananas, the JWT is too cool. I will go on a personal mission to punch Donald Trump in the taint if they actually do cut the Roman telescope.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago

My theory is that the inhabitants of K2-18b are deliberately flooding their atmosphere with dimethyl sulfide to make it unappealing to humans.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

I hope they're hostile, contagious, and almost here.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

In the best case, the detection is at the 2.4 sigma confidence level (less than the usual 3 for reasonable confidence and will below the 5 required for strong confidence), and if previously suspected issues with the instrument are true, the detection could disappear completely.

I do not have a strong confidence in this result. (But at least they didn't publish it in Nature, in which case you would absolutely know it's wrong...)