New Earth like Planet Discovered

[Clint]

You seem to be stuck on the idea that the part of the human brain that makes us what we are is so special that it could never have appeared ever anywhere else under any other circumstances, and yet you refuse to say why that is.

The brain went through billions of years of evolution. From reptiles, to mammals, to migration, which leads to different environments and therefore leads to different ways of evolution. Those different styles of evolution occurring over those billions of years is what makes humans smart. In order for that part of the brain to be developed elsewhere would require circumstances, migration, and evolution to be near exact. Nobody knows what happened during those early years of development, but the slightest change could have sent humans back a notch on the food chain. In other words, there can't be any missing links.

Going back to my point, if the dinosaurs had survived for another 60 million years, there's no reason to say flat out they couldn't have developed intelligence just like mammals eventually did.

Dinosaurs were reptiles. The reptilian brain is the old brain. Even though they are one of the oldest species on the planet, they still have only that old brain. If the dinosaurs had remained alive, there would be no development, as seen with today's reptiles.

and there's no reason to say mammals couldn't have eventually developed intelligence even with the dinosaurs around.

The dominating species holds back all others. Think of Planet of the Apes, for example. In those movies, the apes are the dominating species on the planet, and the humans aren't even smart enough to talk.

And yeah, an atmosphere is probably needed for advanced life as we know it, but most of the planets in our solar system have atmospheres, and even some of the moons. There's nothing special about an atmosphere, and there's no reason to suggest our atmosphere is the only exactly combination of gases that could support intelligent life, or even that you need any of those gases in the first place.

It's true, other planets in our solar system can hold life. Microorganisms. In order for life to grow, however, earth's climate and atmosphere is needed. However, if earth was off it's axis by only a little bit; a bit further to the sun and we'd all fry, a bit further away and we'd all freeze. It's not just about climate, it's about the other planet being in exactly the axis around a sun exactly the same size, as earth is in.

There also has to be a moon corresponding to the scale of our moon. The moon is essential for the magnetic field. If there was no moon, or if the moon was too small, too much radiation would get into the atmosphere, and the planet would become like Mars. A barren wasteland.