Geek Cool:

Meanwhile, in the real world...

Astronomers are making progress in finding planets that resemble Earth more than Jupiter. From CNN.com:

Our planet is not alone. It may not even be lonely.

Astronomers on Tuesday announced the discovery of a new -- and possibly abundant -- class of planets that has more in common with Earth than the uninhabitable gas giants previously discovered.

"We are closer to answering the question, 'Are we alone in the universe?'" said Anne Kinney, director of NASA's Universe Division, Science Mission Directorate. "We aim to answer that question by looking for planets, eventually imaging them and ultimately diagnosing the presence of life on those planets."

Astronomers found the two planets, among the smallest ever detected, orbit different stars less then 50 light years from Earth. One planet circles a red dwarf star, the most abundant in our Milky Way galaxy, igniting hope that the discoveries may just be the beginning.

Well, I tend to think in the long term, the very, very, very long term.

To preserve our species we need to expand, just as the Old World expanded into the New World starting around half a millennium ago. Yes, interstellar travel is just a dream today, but so were so many other things that are now commonplace, including flying over oceans, computers that can be activated by voice command, even DVDs would be inconceivable to people alive merely a century ago.

We need the dreamers, for in the end it is they who will save us, both physically and spiritually.