Earth 2.0

NASA Makes an Ahh-Mazing AHA! Discovery: Earth’s Older and Bigger Cousin 

452banimated_1280x720_360degreesWhile NASA has confirmed another Earth-like planet in the “habitable zone” around a star much like our sun, I wouldn’t pack my bags just yet. Kepler-452B is one of a dozen newly discovered, similarly small, and potentially livable planets in our quest to find a new Earth, but it has some drawbacks. Assuming we could travel at the speed of light (spoiler: we can’t), it would still take us 1,400 light-years to get there, we’d have to adjust to the planets gravitational pull (if you think you’re carrying a few extra pounds now…), and its sun is approximately 20% brighter than ours (bring sunglasses and up the SPF). Still, of the 1,030 Earth-like planets out there, Kepler-452B is the closest in size to our Earth, can potentially hold pools of water on its surface, may have a rocky terrain, and – under the right conditions – could support life since it has been in the habitable zone for 1.5 billion years longer than our own Mother Earth.

“On the 20th anniversary year of the discovery that proved other suns host planets, the Kepler exoplanet explorer has discovered a planet and star which most closely resemble the Earth and our Sun,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “This exciting result brings us one step closer to finding an Earth 2.0.”

For those of us who grew up watching Battlestar Galactica, Star Blazers, Star Trek and Star Wars, the possibility of one day traveling to visit “Earth’s older and bigger cousin” brings joy to our inner science maverick.

It is our Ahh-mazing AHA! Discovery for August 2015:  Planet Kepler-452B located in the habitable zone for over 6 billion years.

Do you have an Ahh-mazing “AHA” Discovery to share?
Email inquiries@aquanew.com. This can be any idea or endeavor that may help others in their own revelation or better quality of life. Alternatively, want to nominate someone with special skills of creativity and innovation? Let us know!

Past “AHA” Discoveries: 

▪   February 2015: Designer Walter Herbst, hosted by BIZ941 Magazine – Practical Tool Ingenuity

▪   March 2015: Dr. Steven Nissen, hosted by NPR Radio – Science Busting on Dietary Cholesterol

▪   April 2015: Theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner Peter Higgs – Higgs Boson “God Particle.”

▪   May 2015: Electromagnetic sensor used on glaciers – SkyTEM

▪   June 2015: Watt-Ahh inventor, Rob Gourley – Polarized Water stabilizing low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide for two years.

▪   July 2015: Comet Lander Philae’s potential discovery of alien life.

Be the Ahh! – Drink Watt-Ahh®!

Photo by: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle