News Exercise #178

I personally don’t like how news reports show artists’ impressions of things totally unknowable because it helps religious science skeptics dismiss the science as fantasy. I’ve already seen several such comments on YouTube and Facebook. The same happens when they release artists’ impressions of distant human ancestors. They ignore the fact that artists are not working with scientists.

1. Why is the astronomer in the red sweater “excited”?
2. According to the reporter, what does the fact that three planets are in the habitable zone mean?
3. According to the female astronomer, are these ‘ultra-cool’ stars common or unusual?

Answers:
I personally don’t like how news reports show artists’ impressions of things totally unknowable because it helps religious science skeptics dismiss the science as fantasy. I’ve already seen several such comments on YouTube and Facebook. The same happens when they release artists’ impressions of distant human ancestors. They ignore the fact that artists are not working with scientists!

1. Why is the astronomer in the red sweater “excited”?
He said, “This is the biggest amount of planets that we’ve found in one go (means “at one time”) that look like the Earth in composition, size and mass. All seven are close enough to their star, and far enough to their star that they could host liquid water, and that’s just incredible.
2. According to the reporter, what does the fact that three planets are in the habitable zone mean?
He said, “…which raises the tantalizing possibility that they could conceivably host life.
3. According to the female astronomer, are these ‘ultra-cool’ stars common or unusual?
She said that they were quite populous in our galaxy, meaning that they are common.