June 26,2011: Russian scientists expect humanity to encounter alien civilizations within the next two decades, a top Russian astronomer stated.

“The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms … Life exists on other planets and we will find it within 20 years,” stated Andrei Finkelstein, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Applied Astronomy Institute, according to the Interfax news agency.

Speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, Finkelstein stated 10 percent of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth.

If water can be found there, then so can life, he said, adding that aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head. “They may have different color skin, but even we have that,” he stated.

Finkelstein’s institute runs a program launched in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War space race to watch for and beam out radio signals to outer space.

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A French nun states she felt new inner strength and vitality as her Parkinson’s disease suddenly disappeared in 2005 — a recovery the Vatican attributes to the miraculous intercession of Pope John Paul II.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, who works at a Paris maternity clinic, told reporters in a rare appearance Monday that she felt “reborn” on waking June 3, 2005 after she had prayed for healing to John Paul.

“There was a new strength inside me, and my body was rediscovering its vitality and fluidity,” Simon-Pierre, appearing in good health, told reporters in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence. The 49-year-old nun who has largely been shielded from the media stated she still sometimes talks to John Paul. “For this news conference, I told him to stay right beside me!” said Simon-Pierre, who appeared smiling and wearing a white habit at the news conference.

Pope Benedict XVI has set May 1 as the date for his predecessor’s beatification, a step toward possible sainthood. Church authorities have studied Simon-Pierre’s cure and determined it was inexplicable and due to the intercession of John Paul, who also suffered from Parkinson’s. Benedict approved the miracle last week, paving the way for the beatification.

Last year, there were some questions about whether the nun’s original diagnosis was correct. But in a statement Friday, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints said Vatican-appointed doctors had “scrupulously” studied the case and determined that her cure had no scientific explanation.

Parkinson’s, a disorder of the central nervous system, includes symptoms such as trembling, rigidity and problems of balance. Simon-Pierre’s healing came about two months after John Paul’s death on April 2, 2005, at age 84. Soon before her mysterious recovery, she had asked to stop working, stating she was “ready to finish out her days in a wheelchair,” her former mother superior recalled. “When she came to ask me to replace her, I noticed that she was very worn out. I told her to wait. I told her that John Paul II hadn’t had his last word on the subject,” Sister Marie-Thomas recalled.

Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to possible sainthood just weeks after he died, waiving the typical five-year waiting period before the process could begin. But he insisted that the investigation into John Paul’s life be thorough to avoid any doubts about his virtues. The beatification will nonetheless be the fastest on record, coming a little more than six years after his death and beating out Mother Teresa’s then-record beatification in 2003 by a few days.

Visitors are expected to visit the Vatican in droves on May 1, and the beatification is seen as a morale boost for a church reeling from the clerical sex abuse scandal.

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Is this the other world to come?

In 2007, Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory announced his team had discovered four planets orbiting a star known as Gliese 581 a. One of the planets, 581 d, was discovered to have a probability, although a low one, that life could exist on that planet. As scientists do, the Swiss group released their findings in public and waited for their peers to analyze the numbers.

American astronomers Steven Vogt and Paul Butler examined the Swiss data and confirmed the four planets they found.On Sept. 29, 2010, Vogt and Butler announced they had discovered the first habitable planet outside of Earth’s solar system after nearly 11 years of observing it and the star it orbits. The discovery made headlines across the world.

One of the planets the American astronomers claimed was Gliese 581 g. There are 518 accepted planets as of Friday afternoon and if Gliese 581 g exists, it bears far more Earth-like features than any other, including 581 d. But there were whispers in the astronomical community that shed doubt on this planet and the quick way it was announced.

After the American data was publicly released, the Swiss team had a look at it.

Prof. Jaymie Matthews, who teaches astrophysics at UBC, stated the announcement was premature. “Their findings had not been subject to peer review and if (Vogt and Butler) waited, they may have never held a press conference announcing with 100-per-cent certainty that this planet exists,” stated Matthew.

A Vancouver astronomer is at the centre of a controversy challenging the discovery of the most Earth-like planet ever found.When Prof. Phil Gregory is not lecturing at the University of British Columbia, he is analyzing numbers using a rare system known as Bayesian statistics.”But they also found two other planets,” Gregory stated.”It is ultimately a way of dealing with uncertainty,” Gregory stated.

This is the tool Gregory used to question last year’s discovery of a planet known as Gliese 581 g. The characteristics of this planet — temperature, orbit and mass — give it a likeness to the Earth, making it the first planet where life has the highest chance of existing. But Gregory’s research — although not yet subject to peer review — concludes that Gliese 581 g doesn’t exist.

“The Europeans weren’t able to show the (two) extra planets the Americans are claiming,” states Gregory.This is where the Vancouver professor stepped in as a neutral third party. “I decided that I would have a go at the Gliese 581 g data because I bring to the table the unique system of Bayesian statistics,” stated Gregory.

What Gregory found would shake the briefly held belief that 581 g even exists. “I found there is a strong noise (inaccuracies) in the American data which they seem to be unaware of.”

The revelation Gregory put forward is being dismissed by Vogt, who was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as saying Gregory “manipulated” the numbers.”Vogt is not familiar with the Bayesian techniques so he might assume that I am manipulating the data. I attribute that to a lack of awareness on his part,” stated the soft-spoken Gregory. Gregory has released his research in public and is awaiting a panel of judges that will review his finding

Although the astronomers may disagree on 581 g, scientists still hold a common belief that there is likely a planet out there as habitable as Earth: It’s just a matter of time before it’s found.

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