Controversy in the "Goldilocks zone" as the search for habitable exoplanets intensifies

The explosion of known exoplanets has energized the quest to discover a habitable or "Earth-like" planet in a distant solar system. Exoplanet pioneer Sara Seager is one of many scientists building space- and Earth-based instruments to search for signs of life on planets far, far away. She expects that the next few years will bring a number of possible discoveries of the "first Earth-like planet" to rival the discovery of Earth "cousin" Kepler 452b in July. To prepare science writers for this phase of discoveries, she will share a developing predictive framework for assessing whether a planet might support life. And she will describe how scientists' understanding of what a "habitable planet" might look like is evolving and expanding amid heated debate. Social media hashtag: #ExoplanetScience.