Spooky coincidences.

[A Theist]

. To find life forms on another world (potentially sapient) I wonder how that would affect religion as a whole here?

The shock will cause the holy trinity to undergo parthenogenesis, resulting in holy quadranity - the father, the son, the holy ghost, and the holy silicon based green octopus.

Isn't your celebrating a little premature at this point? While scientists seem excited over finding a planet that may 'potentially' support some sort of lifeform, the best they're hoping to find is bacteria akin to here on earth. Scientists don't have enough data yet to make any definitive conclusions. Everything about the planet, its atmosphere, whether or not conditions there can support life, whether or not it has liquid water, at this point is just speculation. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to compare the conditions of a planet from another solar system with our own earth, or even with planets in our own solar system. I think what ever is found will be exciting.

[Dotard]

In the 1980s, Robert Forward proposed two beam-powered propulsion schemes using either lasers or masers to push giant sails to a significant fraction of the speed of light

But no brakes. How do you stop a solar powered sailcraft travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light? Would you need an equal distance to stop as you need to accellerate?

[Ace Otana]

But no brakes. How do you stop a solar powered sailcraft travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light? Would you need an equal distance to stop as you need to accellerate?

What we need is the technology to warp. Travelling at light speed will still take 20 bloody years to get there.
If we could travel 3 times the speed of light we'd be there in 26 weeks.

[Anomalocaris]

In the 1980s, Robert Forward proposed two beam-powered propulsion schemes using either lasers or masers to push giant sails to a significant fraction of the speed of light

But no brakes. How do you stop a solar powered sailcraft travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light? Would you need an equal distance to stop as you need to accellerate?

No absolute eed to slow down. The probe can return large amounts of data just zipping by at near speed of light.

[Rhizomorph13]

In the 1980s, Robert Forward proposed two beam-powered propulsion schemes using either lasers or masers to push giant sails to a significant fraction of the speed of light

But no brakes. How do you stop a solar powered sailcraft travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light? Would you need an equal distance to stop as you need to accellerate?

No absolute eed to slow down. The probe can return large amounts of data just zipping by at near speed of light.

But, but, how are we supposed to set up our first space colony there?

[downbeatplumb]

. To find life forms on another world (potentially sapient) I wonder how that would affect religion as a whole here?

The shock will cause the holy trinity to undergo parthenogenesis, resulting in holy quadranity - the father, the son, the holy ghost, and the holy silicon based green octopus.

Isn't your celebrating a little premature at this point? While scientists seem excited over finding a planet that may 'potentially' support some sort of lifeform, the best they're hoping to find is bacteria akin to here on earth. Scientists don't have enough data yet to make any definitive conclusions. Everything about the planet, its atmosphere, whether or not conditions there can support life, whether or not it has liquid water, at this point is just speculation. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to compare the conditions of a planet from another solar system with our own earth, or even with planets in our own solar system. I think what ever is found will be exciting.

Why are you restricting it to bacteria?
If you'd read the original post one of the things seen was lasers eminating from that system. Highly advanced bacteria then.
There could be nothing or there could be something really cool.
What we need are better telescopes. 20 light years showed be no problem for a next gen space based telescope.

[Anomalocaris]

In the 1980s, Robert Forward proposed two beam-powered propulsion schemes using either lasers or masers to push giant sails to a significant fraction of the speed of light

But no brakes. How do you stop a solar powered sailcraft travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light? Would you need an equal distance to stop as you need to accellerate?

No absolute eed to slow down. The probe can return large amounts of data just zipping by at near speed of light.

But, but, how are we supposed to set up our first space colony there?

Mars sounds infinitely more doable for the foreseeable future.

[Ashendant]

. To find life forms on another world (potentially sapient) I wonder how that would affect religion as a whole here?

The shock will cause the holy trinity to undergo parthenogenesis, resulting in holy quadranity - the father, the son, the holy ghost, and the holy silicon based green octopus.

Isn't your celebrating a little premature at this point? While scientists seem excited over finding a planet that may 'potentially' support some sort of lifeform, the best they're hoping to find is bacteria akin to here on earth. Scientists don't have enough data yet to make any definitive conclusions. Everything about the planet, its atmosphere, whether or not conditions there can support life, whether or not it has liquid water, at this point is just speculation. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to compare the conditions of a planet from another solar system with our own earth, or even with planets in our own solar system. I think what ever is found will be exciting.

Why are you restricting it to bacteria?
If you'd read the original post one of the things seen was lasers eminating from that system. Highly advanced bacteria then.
There could be nothing or there could be something really cool.
What we need are better telescopes. 20 light years showed be no problem for a next gen space based telescope.

When you said that i could only think of this

[Anomalocaris]

. 20 light years showed be no problem for a next gen space based telescope.

BTW, I am not sure what is meant by "no problem"? Let's say the planet is 15,000 Kilometers in diameter and the largest features on it, say a giant impact crater, an ocean or a continent, is 7,000 Kilometers. Using small angle approximation, from 20 light years a theoretically perfect optical telescope will need an aperture of about 800 Kilometers to resolve it.

Hubble's aperture is about 5 meters.

Failing to resolve surface details, or having any intelligent alliens the most we can do it to try to detect through spectral analysis whether the atmosphere contains any gases which should not remain in the atmosphere for long without being continuously resupplied by biological or technological activity. The chance of finding a smoking gun with this technique that will definitely put aside any doubt seems small. Even having set foot on Mars and surveyed its atmopshere with multiple low orbit satellites we can't be sure if what is Martian atmosphere is indicative on ongoing biological processes or not.

[theVOID]

Yep, hubble is completely insufficient for having a good look.

The James Webb telescope being launched in 2 years is much more powerful than hubble and should provide us with a much more significant analysis, especially spectral. The chances of finding liquid water in this region are still very good just considering physical law, the distribution of heavier elements from a supernova and the basic rules of chemistry. For there to be no water at all would mean that we have a lot of rethinking to do.