Madrid (AFP)

Fighter of exoplanets, Michel Mayor, laureate Tuesday of the Nobel Prize of physics, warned Wednesday that it was not necessary to count one day on a migration of the humanity towards another planet.

The Swiss researcher was speaking on the sidelines of a conference near Madrid.

Q: What research has been rewarded by this Nobel?

A: "24 years ago, with one of my colleagues (Didier Queloz, distinguished with him), we discovered the first planet that revolved around another star (the Sun) .This was a very old question that was debated by philosophers: are there other worlds in the Universe? Since then, we have discovered nearly 4,000 (exoplanets) or more.We are looking for planets that are closest (of us) , which might look like the Earth, we have started this quest for planets with my colleague and it has been shown that it is possible to study them. "

Q: Is there life elsewhere in the universe?

A: "In the Milky Way, we are sure that there are a lot of rocky planets with a mass similar to the Earth at such a distance (from their star) that the temperature is adequate for the chemistry of life to develop. No one is able to give a probability to life elsewhere Some scientists say that if all conditions are met, then life will emerge on its own, a sort of natural emergence Other laws say: + no, no, it's not true, it's too complicated + We do not know anything The only way to do it is to develop the techniques that we to detect life from a distance, it's up to the next generation to answer this question! "

Q: Will humanity be able to migrate to another planet?

A: "If we talk about extra-solar planets, let's be clear: we will not migrate there, these planets are far, far too far, even in a very optimistic case of a habitable planet not too far away. let's say a few tens of light years, which is very small, the neighborhood, the time to go there is considerable.This is in hundreds of millions of days with the current means.Prehen care of our planet here, she is very beautiful and still quite livable (...) We must kill all the statements of the type + We will go one day on a habitable planet if life is no longer possible on Earth +.It is completely crazy.

Interviewed by Thomas PERROTEAU

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