Discover
plus.google.com“[W]hat would happen if our solar system had formed a little farther up the arm of the galaxy? What would happen if we were at the tip of the arm? What if, theoretically, instead of the humongous black hole in the center of our galaxy, our solar system was there? Would there be major climate difference[s]? Would we be able to survive?”
We can all agree that what’s happened here on Earth is something that’s extremely special in the Universe. Our planet has developed and sustained life on it for over four billion years, and that life continues to thrive even at present. Our planet has been fortunate enough to have stable enough conditions and mass extinction events that have never eliminated 100% of the life that exists on our world. But how ‘special’ does that make Earth, that this is our story? Do we need a large Moon? A solar system like ours? A star like our Sun? And do we need to be located at our present location in the galaxy, or would many places be just as good?
It’s a tough question to answer with certainty given the paltry evidence we have, but we can certainly examine these questions in-depth. Let’s do exactly that for this edition of Ask Ethan!
Source plus.google.com