Scientists just discovered 3 potentially habitable planets
Three planets near Earth may be habitable, an international team of scientists announced Monday. They're calling them the Red Worlds, The Boston Globe reports.
"This is a paradigm shift," said Julien de Wit, an MIT atmospheric scientist. "These planets are the best shots for us to search for other habitats, and maybe even life."
The planets have the potential to sustain liquid water and life, as they all have regions with temperatures that fall below 260 degrees. The scientists used a 60-centimeter telescope in Chile to detect the planets, which orbit a dwarf star 40 light years from Earth.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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