Earth-like planets could litter the galaxy

Would-be galactic colonists got a boost this week when a paper in the journal Science suggested that Earth-like planets might be more common than previously thought. Despite the fact that almost all of the extra-solar planets we have detected have been gas giants – often much bigger than Jupiter – research from the US suggests many of these extra-solar solar systems could also harbour smaller, rocky worlds like Earth.

Cool! Now all we need to do is figure how to build starships!