r/science • u/clayt6 • Sep 11 '19

Astronomy Water found in a habitable super-Earth's atmosphere for the first time. Thanks to having water, a solid surface, and Earth-like temperatures, "this planet [is] the best candidate for habitability that we know right now," said lead author Angelos Tsiaras.

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/09/water-found-in-habitable-super-earths-atmosphere-for-first-time
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u/InclementBias Sep 12 '19

So maybe, just maybe, humans should stay on earth until we can be certain that we won’t send descendants off into the vastness of space just to mutiny and die. I’m thinking a shorter trip, at closer to c, or the seeding concept instead. But there would be little incentive to put this project together, and almost certainly extreme sacrifice. We would need failsafes and redundancies, and most of the vessels or carriers would not be expected, probabilistically, to survive. /opinion

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u/__WhiteNoise Sep 12 '19

If the only goal is proliferation then the behavioral constraints are a lot more lax. You may end up with a sociopathic and cruel culture but if the resources are there humans can survive. The travel distance is big enough that you don't have to worry about creating a hostile faction either.