Alpha Centauri System May Have Earth-Like Planet(s)

Alpha Centauri A is 6.8 billion years old. With nearly a 2 billion year head start, you'd have thunk that Centaurians would have contacted earth or at least picked up our radio and TV broadcasts some decades ago and be sending some cool stuff back.

Nope.

If there ARE earth-like planets circling Alpha A or B (A is the more likely to harbor life as we know it) then they're populated by nothing smarter than a chimp, or maybe a liberal.

That doesn't stop 'scientists' seeking big-buck grants though:

Earth may have a twin orbiting one of our nearest stellar neighbors, a new study suggests.

"University of California, Santa Cruz graduate student Javiera Guedes used computer simulations of planet formation to show that terrestrial planets are likely to have formed around one of the stars in the Alpha Centauri star system, our closest stellar neighbors.

Guedes' model showed planets forming around the star Alpha Centauri B (its sister star, Proxima Centauri, is actually our nearest neighbor) in what is called the "habitable zone," or the region around a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface.

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The model also showed that if such planets do in fact exist, we should be able to see them with a dedicated telescope."

Fine. Perhaps a place to colonize once we run out of room on Sol 3.

Tell you one thing for sure; if a habitable earth-like is found, virtually every 1st-World nation on earth will be working on warp factor 6.

And THAT'S a good thing.