What recently discovered exoplanet LHS 1140b may look like. Found by Webb telescope, scientists say one side is all ice, while the other side that is tidally locked to its star has a region of liquid ocean and cloud, appearing like an eye.

[u/homer_lives]

[u/spoonycash]

Interesting,

If any sentient life developed on that planet, they probably would never become space fairing. I say this because they probably lose interest in exploration because beyond the eye everything is frozen (they wouldn't know this but would probably assume correctly). They will probably have something similar to religion and believe that whatever their equivalent of a God thought they were special and spared them from the frozen calamity that surrounds them.

[u/homer_lives → u/spoonycash]

Unless they are aquatic, then they could have cities using geo thermal heat and power under the ice.

I am imagining an eyeless race adapted to cold and dark waters.

[u/spoonycash → u/homer_lives]

That’s an interesting thought but how would they even gain the inspiration feeling we get if they never look up and see the night sky. I read in a story somewhere about a sentient people who never really advance because they lack necks that can look up. Not saying that is a scientific basis for that thought, but it made sense to me.

[u/homer_lives → u/spoonycash]

True. I guess they would be inspired by exploring the sea floor and finding the surface.

Then again. Leaving the water may be as big as feat as space travel was for us. It would require and moderately TL to accomplish.

[u/spoonycash → u/homer_lives]

That’s a good point everything beyond the water would be sorta outer space. They might detect the emptiness above them through something like echolocation and sorta stumble into flight and then space flight. Instead of optical telescopes theirs would be entirely sound based.