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You know .. not that my opinion has to count for anything, but I've become very disinterested in news about exo-planet discoveries.
I, for the life of me, cannot understand why news of more exo-planets ranks as more than just a casual interest level. A total of 704 exo-planets have been confirmed (as at Nov 30, 2011). Other than incrementing human knowledge of a confirmed number, what exactly else do exo-planet discoveries contribute to Science ?
I am also fairly disinterested in the numbers of exo-planets in 'Habitable Zones' (HZ). Until more work is done which provides us with something more than pure speculation on what does, and doesn't constitute a 'Habitable Zone' … and why …. the numbers of exo's in an HZ, to me conveys almost zero useful information. We already have 8 local unexplored planets, a handful of dwarf planets, ring systems and hundreds of local moons, some of which either contain, or exist within, life supporting HZs …. so what possible difference does 704 (or more) potential HZ exos contribute to real Science?
The Mars MSL/Curiosity probe is the only project I can see, which is attempting to contribute some real science towards all this …
Am I alone in this view ? If yes, then why ? If not, then why ?
Cheers
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