New Earth-like Planet: Kepler-22b
NASA's Kepler space telescope has found a new planet -- the most Earth-like yet -- circling a yellow star similar to Earth's sun and 600 light-years away, according to the space agency. The most promising thing about this world, called Kepler-22b for now is that it's in the so-called Goldilocks zone around its host star. Its surface temperature is estimated at an average of 72 degrees, which means liquid water -- considered essential for life as we know it -- would be possible there. But just how realistic are the prospects for life on that distant world? Even in their excitement, the researchers caution that they have found no proof that we are not alone. The Kepler team has done a prodigious job of detection and mathematical calculation, but Kepler has not actually seen the planet or taken any chemical measurements. They know its host star is slightly smaller and cooler than the sun, and they found that its light dims ever so slightly once every 290 Earth days. Tha...