One bit of very interesting news, at least to science fiction writers, is the discovery of a planet around a red dwarf star about twenty light years from Earth that apparently is in that star's "habitable zone," which means that it's in a place where the temperatures allow liquid water to exist. Since liquid water is a pre-requisite for life, it raises the possiblity that Gliese 581c could harbor some sort of "life as we know it."

Whether it does, or not, at this point we can only speculate, since all that is certain is that this planet exists. Current technology does not make it possible for scientists to gain any information about the conditions on this distant world.

For more details, check out the article in Newsweek.