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hayley reed's picture

Life on a new planet?

In discussing the relationship between literature and evolution I thought it would be interesting to bring up a recent discovery scientists have made. Astronomers have discovered a planet located just outside of our solar system that potentially could be inhabited. There is still a lot of speculation surrounding this planet because much of  it’s terrain still remains unexplored. But, astronomers have been able to deduce that this planet might have water in a liquid form and the star that it closely orbits is very much like our sun. So in other words, life may have the potential to exist on another planet! This discovery just blows me away because after years of speculation about life on other planets there is now actually reason to believe there might be life on other planets. Just think- the literature that future generations read could be based in scientific discoveries made today!!! Some generations get to discover new planets but, our generation is able to discover a planet that could support life.

I think my fascination with this discovery stems primarily from my fascination with the passage of time. The greatest contribution an individual can make to history is to live in the present and observe their surroundings. In a way, this idea stems back to the disccusions we shared during the first week of class. Our observations and descriptions of reality can have a direct impact on how people in the future interpret our observations. There have been plenty of people who have argued that life can only exist on Earth but, this recent discovery suggests otherwise. To sum my point up, I think what  I like most about the relationship between literature and evolution is how the passage of time seems to fit perfectly right into both fields.

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