I know it's fun to argue about politics and economics and all that stuff, but let's not miss the significance of the big stuff:
Astronomers say they have found a miniature version of our own solar system 5,000 light years across the galaxy — the first planetary system that really looks like our own, with outer giant planets and room for smaller inner planets.
The discovery, they said, means that our solar system might be more typical of planetary systems across the universe than had been thought.
[. . .]
Since 1995, around 250 so-called exoplanets have been discovered, but few of them are in systems that even faintly resemble our own. In many cases, giant Jupiter-like planets are whizzing around inside the orbit of Mercury. But are these typical of the universe?
If our solar system isn't as atypical as we thought, there might be many more planets like ours, which means there might be other living creatures in the universe.
Of course, if they don't have the right politics, the hell with them.
