American - Scientist | -
Science requires speculation, creativity, and wild ideas.
Debra Fischer
ScienceCreativityIdeasWild
Within the scientific community, there is healthy skepticism. And the question is, 'How do you ever get to a meaningful null result? How long and how hard do SETI scientists have to look for extraterrestrial intelligence and find nothing before they say, 'There is nothing. We are alone.'
CommunityAloneIntelligenceResult
The universe has told us the most common types of planets are small planets, and our study shows these are exactly the ones that are most likely to be orbiting Alpha Centauri A and B.
SmallUniverseStudyAlphaUsMost
Because Alpha Centauri is so close, it is our first stop outside our solar system. There's almost certain to be small, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri A and B.
SmallStopFirstOutsideSolar
It now seems logical that all the stars, like our own sun, must have formed with a system of planets around them.
StarsSunNowSystemOwnPlanets
The gas-giant planets in our solar system all have large moons.
SolarSolar SystemSystemPlanets
When stars form a planet, they come in a bunch.
StarsPlanetComeFormBunch
We now know that stars which are abundant in heavy metals are five times more likely to harbor orbiting planets than are stars deficient in metals.
StarsKnowNowMorePlanetsHeavy
Whether a star has planetary companions or not is a condition of its birth. Those with a larger initial allotment of metals have an advantage over those without.
BirthOverWithoutStarAdvantage
Computers can't find the unexpected, but people can when they eyeball the data.
PeopleComputersDataUnexpected
55 Cancri is extraordinarily rich in heavy elements and extraordinarily efficient at making planets - much more so than our sun - and those elements are the very ones you need to make planets that aren't just gas giants.
SunRichYouMoreNeedHeavy
Our field is very focused on finding Earth 2.0, and anything we can do to narrow the search is helpful.
SearchFindingEarthFocusedHelpful
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Debra Fischer quotes