Friday, September 16, 2011

New! Improved!

Good old science. Just when you're ready to call it a day, science shows up with a new idea. Though it would be tempting to cite the existence of the first commercially available jet pack, I science wants us to aim higher. A lot higher.
More than fifty new alien planets, including one so-called "super-Earth" that could potentially support life, have been discovered by an exoplanet-hunting telescope from the European Southern Observatory. Exoplanets! Planets that could support life. One in particular, called HD 85512 b, has captured astronomers' attention because it orbits at the edge of its star's habitable zone, suggesting conditions could be ripe to support life. Support life!
That's a whole lot better than the rock we currently inhabit. The air is dirty. The oceans are foul. The forests refuse to grow back at a rate that we can comfortably harvest them. And don't get me started on endangered species. Why not start fresh? Isn't it about time to latch on to some of that Star Trek ethos and start boldly going where no man, woman or Vulcan has gone before?
First of all, we'll have to find a better name than HD 84412 b. It sounds like a big screen TV. "Terra Nova" and "Earth II" have already been taken. Since marketing is everything, I suggest we use some of that science speak and call it "Super Earth." It would be all fresh, and clean. Unsullied by the war and disease and pollution that is currently plaguing our little blue sphere. We could start all over. And this time we promise to get it right. Starting with jet packs for everyone.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it worth the long drive to find out whether the inhabitants of Planet X have already loaded up their own land, sea and sky with radioactivity and hydrocarbons?
RK

Kristen Caven said...

How about "Wump World?"