Why we'll never find another planet like Earth

so why can't another planet have plants? pointless article yahoo. fire chris chase

There are several major errors in this piece.
1) Plants did not soak up the carbon dioxide and make the Earth habitable to animals. In fact, plants are aerobic organisms, and evolved from non-photosynthesizing organisms that depended on oxygen every bit as much as we do. What happened was that anaerobic bacteria, which produced copious amounts of oxygen as a waste product, eventually dumped more oxygen into the system than could be soaked up by all the free iron that was then in Earth's oceans. Once there was no more free iron, most of them died.

2) Plants are not mandatory for the creation of channels, as can be seen quite easily by studying the surfaces of Mars and Titan. Neither possesses plants (nor any life that we can detect), yet they have river channels, and evidence of sediment deposition.

3) That we have not found plants doesn't mean we won't. The universe is a very big place, and it's really far too early to make any bold predictions about the existence of extra-terrestrial life, much less the nature of that life.

The Earth is flat.

Man will never fly.

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
-- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what ... is it good for?"
-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
-- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction".
-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

This Is Stupid...We Still Are At The Very Beginning Of Space Exploration and We Have No Idea What Is Actually Out There...

"Only when enough vegetation grew to break down rock into minerals and mud, and then hold that mud in place, did river banks form and begin to channel the water. "

So he's saying that Mars used to have plants? Fail.

Maybe one has to be a little older to realize how amazing it is that we now can examine planets in other solar systems. When I was in school, 50 years ago, much of what we were taught about planets in our own solar system has proven incorrect. Even Earth! As our capabilities grow, what will we learn next? If past is prologue, something unexpected.

Scientists didn't think they would find so much diversity of life miles under the ocean surface at the 700+ degree hot vents either.

You have GOT to be kidding me!

Never's a long time, almost infinity. And it's certainly time enough to sort through the billions of trillions of stars and planets to find another Earth, not necessarily a doppleganger, but certainly close enough to call Earth 2.0.

incredible display of irresponsible and shortsighted thought by the "scientific amemican"

Just because we may never find it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

The earth is flat.The sun circles the earth. The earth is the center of the universe. All considered true at one time. All are false. We will never find another "earth". Maybe not an exact copy, but then again, you can't prove a negative. Who knows?. Not me, but I find it hard to believe that we are the only life in this huge vast enormous region of space called the universe.

Pretty closed minded conclusion I think...

As Carl Sagan said, there are billions and billions of galaxies, each one containing billions and billions of stars....

You can't say we will "never" find one--the fact that ours exists is proof that others have the potential to exist--at this very same moment in time.

Using the word "never" is down right pessimistic and dogmatic.

There's 100 billion stars in this galaxy, I guarantee that there are many Earth-like planets. Maybe not exactly like Earth with photoperiod and gravity, but probably similar.

Scientists were astonished to find life in the boiling hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. The life is abundant and being studied since it was found. New life forms have been found in Yellowstone hot springs as recently as 2007. The many colors you see in the springs are caused by life forms. Each color populates a different temperature zone. Up to 220 degrees F.

So to say we will not find something in the vastness of space is absurd.

So, he's saying while we MIGHT find another planet with life on it, we WON'T find another one with plants? This guy's an idiot. Tell him to go read some stuff by Carl Sagan and Ron Bracewell.

Now I'm not a scientist (though I do play one on TV). But this guy's logic for saying plants could not evolve on other planet's in the same fashion as Earth seems, well, just plain dumb. Again I think the odds of there NOT being Earth-like planets elsewhere is more astronomical.

Well sure your not going to get an exact copy of earth for many reasons but to say we cannot find one suitable for life similar to our own is idiotic, at best.