New study dramatically narrows the search for advanced life in the universe

---

Meh, the article is rather unconvincing. Alright, these planets would be toxic for terrestrial complex life, humans included, but it doesn't mean evolution couldn't create complex life adapted to these environments. Or is Earth's atmospheric oxygen so corrosive it prevents anything more complex than cyanobacteria? High UV radiation in itself is more problematic, but even that doesn't necessarily make it impossible.

As for detecting atmospheric oxygen, it's a good target not because it's a necessary condition for life to exist there, but because it would be close to a sufficient condition to conclude the planet bears life. Free oxygen is too reactive to exist for long on its own, so its detection is a very good telltale sign. It's interesting to look for because it's "easy" and "reliable" (comparatively).

The last paragraphs kind of explains why the article is so bad: They were looking to prove an unrelated conclusion. Would currently-detectable planets be unlivable for humans? Yep. (Also, their habitability potential for us isn't even worth worrying about because they're too far away anyway. No point in restricting the search to our own image, we only need to restrict to what we could plausibly recognise.) Does the Earth need to be protected? Oh yes. Not because we are so speciaaaaaal but because we live here!!

---

Gazing at the skies, hoping for contact... Unlikely, but it would be such a fantastic opportunity to learn.

My alternative profile