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Comment by thegrim33 | Hacker News Reader

As cool as TESS is, the title is too clickbaity, the article has absolutely nothing to with planets potentially harboring life. It's just a press piece about how more exoplanets have been found. "The habitability of these planets remains a subject of further research."

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-"Chemistry lab creates new molecule, potentially a cure for cancer"

-"Man finds 1000 of ants in kitchen, potentially new species"

Also, "These findings await confirmation by NASA, but the researchers are hopeful that future observations will provide definitive validation."

What exactly is unclear about the title?

“New exoplanets identified that could potentially harbor life”

The word “potentially” setup my expectations perfectly.

When I hear “potential” to harbor life, I think of “potential to harbor life greater than the mean exoplanet.” Otherwise like, why comment on it at all ?

Imagine headlines like “Farm sells latest batch of apples with potential to be a choking hazard.” Wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect the average lay reader to be wary of that farm’s output?

Well I think the problem is with how to interpret that word. The potential is there because these exoplanets are in the habitable zone near their respective stars. That’s the headline and the story: these planets could be habitable and neither the title or article make any claims that they could indeed have any life on them.

'Child born with potential to become a trillionaire' is technically true about any child, but barring some unique aspect of the child is an utterly meaningless headline.

Because it is meaningless bit of information.

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