Surprise finding suggests 'water worlds' are more common than we thought
All life on Earth depends on water, and the cycle of rain, rivers, oceans, and rain again is crucial to maintaining a stable and habitable climate. Planets with water are always at the top of the list when scientists discuss where to look for life throughout the galaxy. According to a recent study, there may be many more planets than previously believed that contain significant amounts of water, possibly even half of them being rock and half water. The problem? Instead of flowing as seas or rivers on the surface, all that water is likely entrenched in the rock. Rafael Luque, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago and the paper's first author, stated that it was unexpected to find evidence for so many water worlds orbiting the most prevalent form of star in the galaxy. It has significant ramifications for the search for terraforming planets. Scientists are discovering evidence of an increasing number of planets in distant solar systems as a result of improved telesco...