7 Alien 'Earths' May Be Swapping Life via Meteorites
Tiny life-forms can move easily between these recently described planets, according to a study of the travel times between worlds.
The discovery of alien life would be revolutionary. But what if we uncovered it on two—or even seven—planets all orbiting the same star?
That’s the tantalizing possibility offered by the cosmic grouping called TRAPPIST-1, where seven Earth-size worlds circle a star roughly 39 light-years away. According to a new study, those planets are packed so tightly around their stellar host that the seeds of life could be hopping between them with ease.
The study, conducted by Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is based on a theory known as panspermia, which in turn is based on the fact that planetary debris can be swapped between the worlds in our solar system. This is especially
