There are a lot of exoplanets that are probably water worlds, too.

Via Winchell Chung.

Originally shared by Ciro Villa

Life on “Water Worlds”

“The conditions for life surviving on planets entirely covered in water are more fluid than previously thought, opening up the possibility that water worlds could be habitable, according to a new paper from the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University.

The scientific community has largely assumed that planets covered in a deep ocean would not support the cycling of minerals and gases that keeps the climate stable on Earth, and thus wouldn’t be friendly to life. But the study, published Aug. 30 in The Astrophysical Journal, found that ocean planets could stay in the “sweet spot” for habitability much longer than previously assumed. The authors based their findings on more than a thousand simulations.”

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-08-worlds-life-analysis-idea-requires.html

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-worlds-life-analysis-idea-requires.html