Hendri Giallorossi

The search for other Earth-like planets in the galaxy got a major boost today (Nov. 4) with the discovery of hundreds of newfound alien planets identified by NASA's Kepler spacecraft, a haul that includes 104 strange, new worlds that could potentially support life.
Scientists with NASA's planet-hunting Kepler mission announced the discovery of 833 new planet candidates during a press conference today, bringing the total number of candidate worlds to 3,538. Of the 104 planets in the habitable zone, 10 of them are about the size of Earth, scientists say.

"We're opening a new era of exploration of our galaxy," said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., where scientists are discussing the latest exoplanet discoveries during the second Kepler Science Conference this week. [7 Ways to Discover Alien Planets] 

The mission of the Kepler spacecraft, launched in 2009, is to determine what fraction of stars in the Milky Way harbor Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone. As of today, scientists are on the brink of answering that question.
The Kepler telescope spent the past four years staring at a patch of sky in the constellation Cygnus, looking for minuscule dips in the brightness of stars that signify a planet crossing in front of, or transiting, their star.
The search has turned up a cornucopia of bizarre worlds, including "hot Jupiters" that orbit very close to their host stars; icy Neptune-like worlds; and large rocky "super-Earths."
Scientists announced the first confirmed planet in a habitable zone, Kepler 22-b, at the first Kepler Science Conference two years ago. Research now suggests that most stars in the galaxy have at least one planet.
Kepler stopped taking data May 11, when it suffered a failure of the second of four reaction wheels used to point the spacecraft. But Kepler hasn't quit kicking yet. Scientists will continue to mine the vast stores of Kepler's star brightness data — freely available online — to look for new planets.
"There's a full year of data yet to be analyzed," Borucki said, adding that he expects scientists will find more of the smallest planets at longer Earth-like orbits.
An independent analysis of Kepler's data found that one in five sunlike stars harbors an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone.
Just last week, scientists announced the discovery of the first Earth-size rocky planet, Kepler-78b. However, the planet, which whips around its star once every 8.5 hours, has a blazing surface temperature of about 3,680 degrees Fahrenheit (2,027 degrees Celsius) — far too hot for life as we know it.
Other rocky planets found by Kepler include Kepler-10b and Kepler-36b

http://www.space.com/20400-the-search-for-another-earth.html

No true Earth analogues — Earth-size planets with Earth-length years in the habitable zone around sunlike stars — have yet been found, but Kepler scientists are optimistic.
"The trend of finding Earth-like planets is likely to continue," said research scientist Jason Rowe of the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, Calif.

Source : space.com / @tanyalewis314

Pictured below is the 600-metre-long Hillier Lake that can be found in a densely wooded area of Middle Island in Western Australia – one of 100 or so small islands that make up the Archipelago of the Recherche. This vivid pink lake is something of a mystery and the only one of its kind in the world.

The colour is permanent and never changes, even when water is removed and placed in a separate container. Scientists have proven that the lake’s colour is not due to the presence of algae, unlike the other salt lakes Down Under, but they still don’t seem to be able to explain why it’s pink! Another possibility is that the colour comes from red bacteria in the salt crusts.

Mahluk terakhir yang mampu bertahan hidup di bumi kelak diramalkan berupa jasad renik sangat kecil yang hidup jauh di bawah tanah kata peneliti Inggris.

Menurut sebuah riset terbaru yang menggunakan model komputer sebagai alat ukur untuk meramalkan nasib isi bumi miliaran tahun mendatang, hanya mikroba yang akan sanggup terus hidup di tengah kondisi ekstrim yang diperkirakan akan terjadi saat itu.

Peneliti yang hadir dalam Pertemuan Astronomi Nasional Inggris mengatakan menemukan dugaan bagaimana matahari menjadi sangat panas dan terlalu terang sehingga mengubah semua isi dunia secara drastis.
Jack O'Malley James, dari Universitas St Andrews di Skotlandia mengatakan: "Suplai oksigen akan tersisa sedikit sekali, jadi mahluk yang mencoba bertahan harus bisa hidup dengan suhu sangat rendah atau di bawah suhu oksigen lingkungan, tekanan tinggi, serta kadar garam yang juga meroket karena lautan mengering."

Masa depan bumi menurut para peneliti akan sangat bergantung pada kondisi matahari, dan dengan bertambahnya waktu sang surya diperkirakan akan akan makin membara.
Para peneliti dari universitas St Andrews, Dundee serta Edinburgh menggunakan fakta ini untuk kemudian meramalkan bagaimana kondisi lingkungan di planet kita pada masa depan.
Dalam miliaran tahun sesudah era ini diduga panas matahari akan menjadi sangat luar biasa sehingga samudra menguap.

"Kalau titik balik ini terlampaui, maka kemudian kadar air melonjak dalam atmosfir bumi karena penguapan air termasuk gas rumah kaca, yang kemudian mendorong terjadinya efek rumah kaca... Akibatnya bumi akan mengalami kekeringan hingga 100 derajat selsius atau bahkan lebih dari yang kita alami sekarang ini," kata O'Malley James, yang tengah memburu gelar PhD-nya.
Ditambah dengan kadar oksigen yang menurun, maka kondisi ini diperkirakan akan menyebabkan musnahnya tanaman dan hewan dengan cepat.
Setelah kemusnahan masal ini diperkirakan mikroba sangat kecil yang lazi disebut extremophile ini akan jadi satu-satunya mahluk hidup yang tersisa.

Organisme renik ini sudah hidup di bumi saat ini dan dikenal tangguh menghadapi lingkungan yang ganas.
Seiring dengan makin brutalnya kondisi alam saat itu, peneliti memperkirakan mikroba ini pun akhirnya akan musnah dan dalam 2,8 miliar tahun tak akan ada lagi kehidupan di bumi.