James Webb and the search for life beyond Earth
Wednesday, July 16, 2014 - 07:30
in Astronomy & Space
Before the invention of the telescope, before every continent was on a map, even before the revelation that Earth was not the center of the Universe, humans have wondered at the possibility of life beyond our planet. Now, scientists know there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone (one of 10 billion galaxies in the mere observable Universe), and 10-20 percent of these stars could have earth-size planets within the habitable zone. Science has arrived, for the first time in human history, at the crux that will push the world to expand from the question, "is there extraterrestrial life" to the question of "how can we find it?"