But, in fact, they were also likely responsible for triggering terrestrial planet formation.

FORBES: Planets Made Easy: The Cosmic Glue That Binds Us All

While US space agency Nasa is to launch a Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission which will also aim to locate Earth-like worlds.

BBC: Corot will be launched just after Christmas (Image: Cnes)

The kilometre-wide separation of the component satellites of Terrestrial Planet Finder should allow it to see planets in distant solar systems a problem akin to looking for moths flying around a football-stadium arc light that is several hundred kilometres away.

ECONOMIST: Birds of a feather

Japan herself is one of 35 terrestrial hotspots in the world, a region of the planet containing huge arrays of biodiversity found nowhere else that are under threat from humans.

FORBES: Japan's Tragedy: Global Ecological Uncertainty