Last fall, everybody was talking about Gliese 581g—a newly discovered exoplanet, far from our own solar system, which seemed like it might be capable of supporting Life As We Know It. Media madness ensued. But, amid all the haters and hypers, I found "G Is For Goldilocks", an article written for Seed Magazine by science journalist Lee Billings.
Billings' article went beyond the headlines, describing how far-flung exoplanets are found, to begin with, and explaining the impact red dwarf stars—like Gliese 581—might have on the formation of the planets that orbit them.
It was a great, and enlightening, read. Just the kind of science journalism I like. Now, for the next two weeks, Lee will bring that style and substance to BoingBoing, blogging about exoplanets and the search for life in the Universe. In particular, he'll be filling you in on the inside scoop about newly released data from NASA's Kepler mission—an exoplanet-spotting spacecraft, looking for more places that could be "just right" for Life.
This should be an exciting two weeks. Welcome, Lee!
