Hundreds of years have passed since the industrial revolution. The technology brought by industry has brought infinite benefits to mankind. Let our quality of life continue to improve, let people’s lifespan continue to improve, and let people’s health index continue to improve. More importantly, with the help of technology, we finally stepped out of the earth and started the exploration of the universe.
Of course, everything has two sides. There are advantages and disadvantages. The rapid development of industry does bring many benefits to mankind, but it also brings many disadvantages to the earth and mankind, such as the continuous deterioration of the ecological environment. .
2020 is an extraordinary year. The new virus epidemic that has continued from the beginning of the year to the present continues, and the heavy rains that come in every year in July are also a major challenge to mankind. Take the heavy rains that have occurred in southern my country in recent days. The threat level exceeds that of the 1998 flood. So how will such torrential rains develop in the future?
In fact, everyone knows that the task of flood prevention in the future will become more and more difficult. The main reason why the threat of floods is increasing is that the continuous deterioration of the earth’s ecological environment, the continuous increase of global temperature, and the continuous melting of ice and snow in the North and South Pole will aggravate the rise of sea levels. However, this trend is difficult to truly change in the future. The reason is simple. If human civilization wants to advance, the pace of technological development cannot be stopped, and the pace of industrial development naturally cannot be stopped.
Industry is not stopping, pollution is not stopping, this is a cycle that is difficult to completely change. Therefore, in addition to calling on mankind to strengthen environmental protection, scientists are also actively exploring other ways for mankind. If human civilization is to get rid of the threat caused by the deterioration of the earth’s ecology in the future, the best way out is to emigrate to the outer planet. Only by completely getting rid of the shackles of the earth can human beings truly grow up, and no longer have to worry about the catastrophic consequences of the deterioration of the earth’s ecology.
If human beings want to emigrate to other planets, we must first find a second earth suitable for human existence. If we can find a second home in the solar system, it would be better, but the reality is very cruel. There are only three planets in the habitable zone of the solar system. Except for the earth, the environments of Venus and Mars are very harsh, and they are not suitable for human survival.
Although scientists have been actively exploring and studying Mars for more than half a century, hoping to transform it into a habitable planet in the future, scientists also understand that although Mars is somewhat similar to the earth, it has natural weaknesses, such as no Magnetic field, the atmosphere is very thin, and there is no liquid water on the surface.
Even if we can make some modifications to Mars in the future, it is basically impossible for all mankind to migrate to Mars. Moreover, the natural weakness of Mars makes it difficult to truly adapt to the survival needs of mankind. Therefore, in addition to exploring and researching Mars, scientists have also focused their attention outside the solar system.
Although the earth does not have a second natural planet suitable for human survival, there are countless super-earths in the vast universe outside the solar system. Some of them can adapt to the survival of human beings and are even better than the ecology of the earth. The environment should be perfect. As long as we can find this super-Earth, mankind will have a goal and a way out.
Of course, the vast universe is too big for us to imagine. For the development of human science and technology, even if there is a second earth and a third earth in the starry sky, we will not be able to reach it at all. Therefore, the extra-system super-Earth that scientists are searching for can only be found in the starry sky near the solar system. Only galaxies closer to the solar system can be reached by human science and technology in the future.
Through continuous exploration efforts, scientists have discovered many super-Earths within a hundred light-years of the earth, some of which are very similar to the earth, such as the Gliese 667C galaxy 22 light-years away. There is a super-earth that is 85% similar to the earth.
Gliese 667C is a three-star system. The so-called three-star system means that the galaxy has three stars. I believe many of my friends know that there are not only single-star systems like the solar system, but also many double-star systems, and three-star systems in the vast universe. Some people may think that only a single star system like the solar system can give birth to a beautiful and livable ecological planet.
In fact, this is not the case. There is not much difference between a multi-star system and a single-star system. The only difference is that when we stand on a planet in a multi-star system, we can see two suns or three suns. If the location of the planet is also very suitable, it can also become a beautiful ecological planet like the earth, with hope that life and even intelligent life will be born.
In the Gliese 667C three-star system, the third star is a red dwarf with relatively low brightness and mass. The most likely location for a habitable planet in this star system is near this red dwarf. Through observations, scientists actually found a super-Earth near this red dwarf star, which is Gliese 667Cc.
Its location happens to be in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. Since its host star is a red dwarf star, it receives very good light and radiation. Therefore, the environmental temperature of this planet is only 90% of the temperature of the earth by the sun. And such an environmental temperature is actually better than the current temperature of the earth. You must know that the temperature of the current earth is indeed a bit high.
With the right temperature, it is a super-Earth, so the existence of a thick atmosphere is also a high probability event. All these conditions are met, which means that there may be a large amount of liquid water on the surface of this planet. Scientists have studied the origin of the earth’s water, and it is believed that the water in the early earth may come from the transformation of the earth itself.
In other words, in the early days of every terrestrial planet, its interior had the function of creating water. As long as the planet is located in a suitable place in the habitable zone, there may be liquid water on the surface. Gliese 667Cc is a super-Earth. The mass and volume are much larger than the Earth. The larger the mass and volume, the terrestrial planet, The easier it is to form your own stable and perfect ecosystem.
Therefore, the similarity between Gliese 667Cc and the earth can reach more than 85%. This similarity undoubtedly tells us that it will most likely be a natural planet suitable for human survival. Although the discovery of such a planet makes scientists very happy, scientists still have some worries. What they worry about is whether intelligent life has already been born on this beautiful ecological planet?
Some people may say, why don’t scientists worry about whether there is life on it? In fact, whether there is life or not is no longer a question we should consider. For such a good ecological planet, do you think there will be life on it? We must know that the earth was born 4.6 billion years ago. Early life was born soon after the formation of the ecological planet 4 billion years ago.
It can be seen that as long as a beautiful ecological galaxy is formed, there is a high probability that early life will be born in a very short time. It’s just that it is a very long process for early life to evolve into later intelligent life. It took 4 billion years for life on earth to realize the evolution of intelligent life.
The existence of life in Gliese 667Cc is already a high probability event. We basically don’t need to consider this. The only thing to consider is whether intelligent life has evolved. If there is no intelligent life, humans will naturally have no worries about colonizing this planet in the future. But if smart life has been born on it, then this planet is a smart civilization, and the colonization of mankind is equivalent to a kind of aggression, and interstellar war may break out.
For human beings, we naturally hope to find a natural planet without intelligent life. Such planets are often relatively young. If it is some relatively old ecological planet, there is a high probability that there will be intelligent civilizations, and even more civilization than human beings. Of course, there are countless ecological planets in the universe. As long as human beings can become an interstellar civilization and have the ability to navigate between stars, we don’t have to worry about not being able to find a second earth or a third earth.
Of course, we want to colonize Gliese 667Cc, which is naturally impossible with current human technology. Although 22 light years is a very short distance in front of the cosmic scale, it is undoubtedly a gap that cannot be crossed for current human technology. Only after we have achieved the initial sub-light speed flight in the future can we be able to explore. At that time, we will truly understand this planet and see if it is suitable for human survival.