EVE Online’s creators, the indie game company CCP from Iceland, collaborated with the University of Reykjavik, the University of Geneva and the winner of 2017 Wolf Prize for Physics, Michel Mayor. Mayor is the man who discovered the first exoplanet known to mankind, Dimidium, on 6 October 1995. Project Discovery allows EVE Online players to review astronomical data from the CoRoT telescope. Once enough players have agreed on the possibility of an exoplanet, the data will be sent to scientists at the University of Geneva, for further exoplanet exploration. Players can access the mini-game and receive graphs, known as ‘light curves’, which represent measurements of the luminosity of stars. By detecting the curves regularly, players may find previously unknown exoplanets.
The importance of exoplanet exploration
With Project Discovery, EVE Online paves the way for the gaming industry to contribute to the evolution of science. With the ability for exoplanet exploration, players and science fans can combine fun with research. Research for an answer to two big questions: Where did we come from? Are we alone? According to NASA, its exoplanet exploration program has the primary goal of discovering and characterizing planetary systems and Earth-like planets around nearby stars. Ultimately, the goal is to see whether there are exoplanets that show signs of possible life that mankind knows how to interpret. Project Discovery instantly multiplies the number of people that are working towards that cause. Gamers from all over the world have the opportunity to offer their insight on exoplanet exploration.
