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>> I'm willing to take him at his word on the fact that the planet he
>> discovered; You can take Kim Jong Il at his word if you like. I don't actually care. >> a) is a gas giant; and
>> b) contains *water vapour* in its atmosphere. Really? And a planet with around twice the gravity of earth and a temperature
between 0 and 40 centigrade won't have water? Do the math. (It's PV=nRT in case you have forgotten your physics). And the state changes are at http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/phase.html >> These are physical facts, and are exactly the sort of thing that
>> astro-physicists (or astronomer if you want to be generic about it) specialise
>> in working out. >> Now while he might not be a biologist (although he's probably familiar with the
>> basics), the conditions which biologists agree are the most likely to harbour
>> life are those in which *liquid water* exists. And most likely a planet that
>> has an actual surface. Sorry, no cigar. The 'surface' has nothing to do with it. >> As an astro-physicist, I think he's qualified to make the inference, derived
>> from his observations, that such conditions do not exist on this planet.
>> Certainly much more qualified than yourself. You assume that I don't have physics degree? Who's jumping to conclusions now? >> But while we're on the subject of taking scientists at their word - you were
>> the one who originally took his statement that there was water on this planet
>> as fact, and then extrapolated that (and ignored all his other 'facts') to get
>> to a completely unsupportable conclusion. So don't get on your high horse
>> about putting faith in the word of invory tower intellectuals now. You really don't understand science do you? On a statement of fact, scientists
are pretty good at statements of scientific fact. But they are pretty poor on
anything to with with
- Sex (Too much time in the lab)
- Politics (Tax will make us all rich)
- Religion (Many of them are actually religious ratbags)
- Insisting that more funding to their field (and in particular to them)
is vital to the survival of humanity (Global warming might come into there
somewhere)
I am willing to take an astronomer at his word on statements of fact about
planetary existance and physical characteristics. On a subject as politically
and religiously loaded as origins of life from someone not even in the feld .. You really don't understand science. >> oh, did I mention that other "intellectual elites" estimate that the radius of
>> the orbit of HD209458 b around its sun is about one eighth that of Mercury's,
>> and that its outer temperature is estimated as being at least 750 degrees
>> celcius? Did you read that's it's a dwarf sun, and therefore comparisons with Mercury
are silly? And besides, the temperature at the surface is largely irrelevant.
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