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Scientists have been studying the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e. Could it harbor alien life?73%
By Regina G. Barber0% Emily Kwong0% Ailsa Chang0% Rachel Carlson0% Jordan-Marie Smith0%
12/12/2025, 8:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 7 faulty reasoning types, including Recency Bias, Anchoring Bias, and Representativeness Heuristic, with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 30.6% saturation with 60 hits. Analysis detected 249 faulty-reasoning hits from 196 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 65.8% and a BS Rank of 73% (4,619 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 72.50% of the article peer group.
Want to be a top notch candidate for hosting alien life?
Then there's a few key requirements you should be aware of: Ideally, you're a large object like a moon or a planet; scientists suspect you also have an atmosphere and water; plus, you should orbit your star from a nice mid-range distance — in the "Goldilocks Zone" of habitability.
Until recently, you would be competing against TRAPPIST-1 e.
It's a planet outside of our solar system.
TRAPPIST-1 e is also only 40 light years away, rocky and the same size as Earth, which prompted researchers to investigate whether it also has an atmosphere — and the potential for alien life.
A team of researchers has been investigating TRAPPIST-1 e to learn more about its potential.
Their answers, recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, say a lot not just about this exoplanet, but about how scientists should refocus their hunt for alien life.
Interested in more space science?
Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and Jordan-Marie Smith.
It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Christopher Intagliata.
Tyler Jones checked the facts and Maggie Luthar was the audio engineer.
Analysis
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