New Planets Raise Old Religious Questions

For millennia, people have gazed into the night sky and wondered, "Are we alone?"

Now the discovery of seven Earth-size planets orbiting a nearby dwarf star, Trappist-1, has brought us not just a step, but a leap closer to answering that question, according to the scientists who announced it in a Feb. 22 news conference recorded by NASA.

"The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of 'if' but 'when,'" said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA.