Since Kepler finds planets by measuring the tiny dips in a star's brightness when a dark planet moves across the face of that star, less accurate photometry means Earth-like planets will be too hard to find.

CNN: Kepler or not, we'll find life in space

There was even speculation about a dark material on the tiny planet that could conceivably contain the same organic molecules being hunted on Mars, the carbon-based building blocks that are essential to all life.

BBC: New age of exploration in the hunt for extreme life

The Great Dark Spot seen by Voyager 2, a probe which investigated the planet in 1989, disappeared within a year.

ECONOMIST: Comparative meteorology

Finding microbes in the frigid, dark waters of the lake could help scientists better understand the origins of life on our own planet and the potential environments in which it could arise on other planets.

MSN: Mission to drill into buried Antarctic lake hits a snag

Since then, Fox's soundstages have hosted a cattle call of largely U.S.-funded productions, from Dark City to Babe: Pig in the City, The Matrix, M:I-2 and Red Planet.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Harboring Hollywood