Faith-based astronomy

...in which astronomers extrapolate from the observed to the hoped-for:

There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, a US conference has heard.

So far, telescopes have been able to detect just over 300 planets outside our Solar System.

Very few of these would be capable of supporting life, however. Most are gas giants like our Jupiter, and many orbit so close to their parent stars that any microbes would have to survive roasting temperatures.

But, based on the limited numbers of planets found so far, Dr Boss has estimated that each Sun-like star has on average one "Earth-like" planet.

This simple calculation means there would be huge numbers capable of supporting life.

So, leaping from data gathered from only 300 detected planets so far--most of which are nothing like Earth--we now have science presenters asserting the existence of "billions and billions" of Earth-like orbs scattered around the galactic neighborhood. Does this strike anyone else as a bit of a stretch?

And yet, try to use something like the anthropic principle to assert there may just be a designer to credit for all the "happy coincidences" that allow life to exist here on Terra, and you'll be shown the door. It's easy enough to understand, though--unlike a deity, the possibility of the existence of lots of planets whirling around doesn't imply any moral obligations on the part of the biological beings living on one sphere in particular.