We Are (Almost Certainly) Not Alone

Today, European astronomers announced the discovery of 32 new planets orbiting sun-like stars.

This astounding discovery, announced in News Daily, brings the total number of known exoplanets to nearly 400. According to the announcement, that may mean "40 percent or more of Sun-like stars have such planets."

Naturally, not all the exoplanets discovered are truly Earth-like. Some are five times the size of our planet; while others are giants five times the size of Jupiter. Many of the suns are quite different from our familiar sun, too. While some are huge, others are relatively tiny, cold red dwarfs.

What that may mean is that any life out there is quite different from our own.

Imagine a being adapted to a gravitational pull that would squash us flat in a nanosecond. Would such a being be gelatinous? Unimaginably massive? Vaporous? The possibilities are as endless as the night sky. But day-by-day, the likelihood of actually finding and connecting with such life is improving.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng