Science makes me happy in my special place.

The fact that some scientists think we’re extremely close to finding life on other planets excites me to no end.

The Hubble Space Telescope made a remarkable discovery on a Jupiter-sized planet from another solar system that finally gives a glimpse of hope that life is possible outside of our own planet. Scientists reported that the Hubble telescope discovered for the first time ever an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a planet found at 63 light-years in the constellation Vulpecula, called HD 189733b.

“This is a crucial stepping stone to eventually characterizing prebiotic molecules on planets where life could exist,” said Mark Swain of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Swain, who is the lead author of the paper that is set to appear in the March 20 issue of the journal Nature also reconfirming that in 2007 NASA’s Spitzer Space telescope uncovered traces of water molecules in the same planet’s atmosphere.

Sure, they haven’t discovered life yet, but finding the building blocks, even on a barren planet, is exciting. I’m playing through Mass Effect right now, which is literally my dream world (or really, Niven’s world). We’d discover alien technology, figure it out, discover the universe is alive with other species and technology and it’s the wild west out there. That’s always been a fantasy of mine. I’m a huge sci fi geek. And loving it.

So this kind of thing excites me. Even if we don’t discover anything more than life exists on other planets (just on the molecular level, not other species and so on), I’ll be able to die a happy man.

What Would Matt Do: Try not to pee in my space ship underwear, that’s what I’d do. And don’t even get me started on what happens with our society if we manage to discover another species either more or less advanced than us. Those would be interesting times. Also, I’d like a moon pony.