For the first time, scientists have found a rocky planet with an atmosphere orbiting in a star’s habitable zone. Researchers from Harvard University say the Earth-like world has conditions similar to those on Earth.

The exoplanet, LHS 1140 b, is 48 light-years from Earth. It orbits a red dwarf star at a distance close enough for water to remain liquid, but far enough away that it would not boil.

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[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

For the first time, scientists have found a rocky planet with an atmosphere orbiting in a star’s habitable zone.

That's a lie: List of potentially habitable exoplanets

Also, why is this narrative pushed everywhere? The paper says nothing about "being the first", it's about escaping helium (also on Wikipedia now). And the planet was discovered in 2017. Determining the atmosphere composition from the light passing through, is also nothing new for exoplanets.

And LHS 1140b is not like earth, it's a super-earth: nearly 2x as large and over 5x as heavy. But it is a ocean planet in the habitable zone of a red dwarf.

~~And lastly, that tabloid should at least add a publish date to it's articles.~~ Also, is this AI-written? Contradictions in two sentences!

[–] Hobo@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Posted 1:40 PM, Jul 22, 2026

It's right below the by line before the article starts.

Pretty much agree with you on the rest of your points though. The "we found a planet we can live on!" articles that get recycled on slow news days are always lazy poorly written garbage. This one is particularly lazy and bad.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Remember, assuming it isn't AI generated to begin with, most "journalists" today have almost no experience with the subject and get paid a pittance, assuming they aren't interns to start with. Clickbait titles are incredibly bad nowadays and have become the norm. I have to laugh at how deceptive they usually are.

[–] dreamkeeper@literature.cafe 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

These kinds of articles are frustrating because they also kill people's trust in science. The scientists say one thing and the "journalists" twist it into clickbait bs. Now the term "Earth-like planet" means practically nothing. Venus would be considered an "Earth-like planet" by these standards.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Seriously, people are getting it filtered through crap and assume the original info was crap too.