Possible Subterranean Life Means More Exoplanets Could Harbor Life

(Before It's News)

Artistic representation of the current five known potential habitable worlds. Will this list broaden under a new habitability model? Credit: The Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL)

When we think of life on other planets, we tend to imagine things (microbes, plant life and yes, humanoids) that exist on the surface. But Earth’s biosphere doesn’t stop at the planet’s surface, and neither would life on another world, says a new study that expands the so-called ‘Goldilocks Zone’ to include the possibility of subterranean habitable zones. This new model of habitability could vastly increase where we could expect to find life, as well as potentially increasing the number of habitable exoplanets.
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© nancy for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: exoplanets, Extrasolar Planets, goldilocks zone, Habitability, Planetary Habitability Index

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