Everybody’s excited about “earthlike” planets this week

Everybody’s excited about “earthlike” planets this week February 27, 2017

Cuz of this discovery. Now “earthlike” has a huge amount of squish to it (Earthlike how?  Size? location? having water? having  a moon to drive tides? Similar age?). So I want to know a lot more.  Of course, the quickest and dirtiest thing to do is check for the presence of chlorophyll via spectrographic analysis.

My friend John Farrell pointed to a rather curious piece in Crux wondering “Could Catholicism handle the discovery of extraterrestrial life?

Given that Catholics have always believed in the existence of non-human created intelligences called “angels” and have even asserted, via no less than inspired Scripture that they have visited our planet in such events as the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Agony in the Garden, and at the tomb of the Risen Christ, I don’t see why it would be a big deal if other non-human intelligence whom it pleased God to wrap in a bioenvelope of water and some form of carbon or silicon compound should show up on some planet somewhere.

Could there be challenges to our faith thereby?  Sure.  But only after a number of hurdles are leapt.  I wrote about it here.  Let’s just say it’s not something I lose sleep over.

For a related take, go here.


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