Earth-like planet just 12 light-years away

Before reading article: <i>"Earth-like, eh. This is going to be yet another one of those link bait articles identifying a gas giant closely orbiting some sun as being earth-like."</i><p>Article: <i>"slight changes in Tau Ceti's motion through space suggest that the star may be responding to gravitational tugs from five planets that are only about two to seven times as massive as Earth"</i><p>After reading article: <i>"I was wrong, there wasn't even a confirmed planet involved."</i>

title is linkbait-y.<p>It's saying that there MIGHT be some planets orbiting that star, but there's so much noise in the data that it's likely just noise and nothing else.

You see, this is the benefit you get from not having experienced the 70's, everyone <i>knows</i> that the Grey Aliens come from Tau Ceti. Sheesh.<p>Fortunately, I think the last bit of annoying 70's alien phenomena will be past on December 22nd. Then we can all put to rest any question there might have been that we were visited by ancient astronauts.

If I did my calculations right then at 17,000 mph it would take 474,568.57 years to get there.

If we can reach 10% of the speed of light in a few hundred years, maybe at that time we can have one-way missions like the suggested Mars trips now.<p>Such a trip might require a fusion power source though.

I wonder if SETI focuses in the direction of Earth-like planets, or if they just search the entire sky?

at my old favorite Amstrad's game title star ;-)