Astronomer Adam Frank joined host Dave Schrader (email) to discuss his research into finding habitable planets and the likelihood of life and civilizations on other worlds. According to Frank, if one searches through billions of habitable zone worlds before finding just one where a civilization developed, there would have been innumerable exo-civilizations over the course of cosmic history (related article). "Every star you see in the sky, every one, has at least one planet and most of them probably have multiple planets," he reported.
Earth itself may be reaching the end of its habitable period, Frank continued. "Even though the sun still has another five billion years of life, the habitable period [of Earth]... may only be less than a billion years, maybe only a few hundred million years," he explained. If humans push the climate too hard, it may speed the pace of when the planet becomes unsustainable for our kind of civilization, he added.
Frank stated in no uncertain terms how humans have changed the climate, and expressed concern over the so-called climate debate. "There's this huge disconnect between what scientists know [about climate change]... and this public debate," he said, noting there is no debate among scientists. Humans have pushed the climate out of the state it has been in for the last 10,000 years, he revealed.
Frank also spoke about how climate science has contributed to our understanding of how other planets work, the lack of evidence for a multiverse, humanity's increasingly likely march toward becoming a spacefaring race, and the idea we could one day terraform Mars into a habitable world. "I think in the long term it may be possible," he speculated.
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Open Lines followed in the latter half of the program. Jerry in Nashville, Tennessee, conveyed his disapproval for efforts trying to find habitable planets. "We should be trying to save the rain forests... rather than sending a second robot to Mars to get the first one unstuck," Jerry said. The money and resources put toward studying other worlds would be better spent on efforts to help our own planet, he proposed.
Michael, a professional pilot from Washington state, spoke about the reality of chemtrails. According to Michael, he has seen video evidence of chemtrails and believes the planes which distribute them are kept on secret bases, such as Area 51. Chemtrails appear puffier than contrails and are typically distributed in grid patterns in the sky, he said.
Gary in Santa Maria, California, suggested the voters in his state are being led as sheep to slaughter with the state's recent legalization of marijuana. According to Gary, Monsanto will take over the industry. "I don't need my medical or my recreational marijuana being tweaked in any way, shape, or form by Monsanto," he said.