Recently, I found an article that talks about the discovery of an earth-like planet, dubbed "Zarmina." This was the first planet found that is capable of supporting life as we know it, and it was discovered by Steve Vogt, astrophysicist at UC Santa Cruz. In this interview (which can be found at http://current.com/1ame74c ) discusses life on Zarmina and compares it to life on earth.
Vogt explains in the interview that gravity on this planet is very much like gravity on earth. On Zarmina, we would be ~1-1.5 gs heavier, enabling us to walk around normally. I thought this was interesting because I never thought that gravity that important to our livelihood, but according to the article, gravity keeps the atmosphere from escaping. And we need the atmosphere to keep water in it's liquid state; water is the bane of our existence! Therefore, gravity is a requirement to sustain life. However, I couldn't help thinking that on Zarmina, we would have to rethink all of our calculations involving acceleration. The acceleration of gravity is ~9.8 m/sec^2, but this value would be undoubtedly different on Zarmina.
I loved trying to imagine how this planet would look, as well. Apparently, Zarmina's sun (which I believe is a red dwarf star) always stays in the same place in the sky, so Zarmina doesn't have "days," like we do. Also, this planet has constant winds ~30-40 mph on the sunny side, and from 0-10 mph on the dark side. These winds could keep the temperature on both sides more in check. Overall, this article made me realize the impact that physics has on our everyday lives. It was really apparent how the physics involved in the discovery of Zarmina (regarding temperature and gravity) tied in with biology and the requirements for life.
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