The search for intelligent extraterrestrial life gains a boost with discovery of a planet that has air and water sufficient to support life.


In those respects, the newly discovered planet is similar to Earth .

And while astronomers are not yet able to look for signs of biology on the planet, the discovery is a milestone in planet detection and the search for extraterrestrial life, one with the potential to profoundly change our outlook on the universe….
The new “super-Earth” is called Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581, a diminutive red dwarf star located 20.5 light-years away that is about one-third as massive as the Sun….
Computer models predict Gliese 581 C is either a rocky planet like Earth or a waterworld covered entirely by oceans.

Now we’ll see whether (or when, many predict) we get Contact. At least it’s in the news.
Recall that with the idea in physics of the multiverse, we could easily have life in the dimension next-door but not know it, just as people living in the two dimensions of “Flatland” would have no concept of someone in the third dimension. Now there’s the possibility of Earth-like life in the dimensions in which we exist.