new terror concerns the europe with a deadly police raid. also the u.s. under fire from iraqis claiming we aren't doing enough to stop isil, and how group think posing aing threat to the effectiveness of governments and companies. welcome to consider this, those stories and much more straight ahead. >> authorities in belgium say they have foiled what they called major and eminent attacks. >> after a police counter

terrorism raid. >> authorities say two suspected were killed and one was arrested after the suspects opened fire. >> the speed of the response by the international community to the threat posed is under further scrutiny. >> officials say the coalition is not doing enough to help fight isil. >> sometimes crowd end up aggravated the mistakes made picture their individual members. >> joey is here about how productive collaboration is. >> people often silence themselves ford to follow the leader. >> astronomers are reporting some big discoveries far out in space. >> eight new planets have similar characteristics to earth. >> cooley grail of science is -- >> oscar nominations were released and they say the list of nominees lacked diversity the oscars so white tells it all. we begin with europe on edge. >> inch inch the threat from

fight evers returning home. belgium security forces said the nighttime raid in the city left two dead and one man severely wounded. officials say the man who had been under surveillance were part of a terror cell that was on the verge of launching a large scale attack. >> the serjs were made as a part of an investigation into an operational cell of about ten persons. some of whom had come back. the raid was one of several counter terrorism operations. security officials say more than 350 bell junes had gone to syria to join the fighting. that's the highest number per capita. anxiety has grown, as french authorities continue their essential for a fourth suspect in connection with the attacks in paris last week. and spanish officials are looking into a possible cell in madrid after learning that one of the suspects spent time

there last month with his girlfriend who fled to syria. joining us now is dr. jim walsh and research associate at mit technology security studies program. jim, always good to see you although under these circumstances really a scary stuff in europe. it ayer poos what we are seeing in europe is exactly what we feared. >> yes and i would say it's both better and worse. i know that's not a very satisfied thing to say but yes, they have returned. they attempted to execute attacks. unsuccessfully in belgium so police were able to kill these two before they were able to do any damage, or kill anyone, mott so in france, i would say this that's bad people predicting -- but you know, this is not 9/11, this is way

closer to what was in my own backyard literally my backyard in water town these are folks that buy guns, they don't hijack a plane they don't have hi-tech explosives, they buy guns and then they shoot up an office, they shoot off grocery store or in this case attempted to attack a police station tragic, awful buzz three are soft targets. this does not rise to the level of sort of a thing that would threaten governments. so it is awful and to be condemned but i think we need a little perspective. >> as long as they are limited to individual soft targets but if you have multiple cells conducting multiple attacks at some point, fear can become paralyzing. >> you are absolutely right you put your finger on the number one concern here what is terrorism, the about creating terror, creates fear.

it is spot as if they can fight and win a straight up war you execute smaller attacks the grips and paralyzes the civilian population, leads them to overreact, and make choices they shouldn't make, and that's how they gain strength, so it is all about fear, and that's why i -- i condemn these, they are awful and tragic but i want to underline, more folk will die in violent crime or the flu or in car accidents than happens here, that doesn't mean we shouldn't work really hard to stop it. >> we are going to address that topic but talking again about these fighters and this is the good news, that these guys the way it seems tock working, may return, held for a week, and then watched -- the question becomes is when there are that many going you have more than 1,000 in france. and theyingenled we 150 in the united states. they start coming back, what

do you do? you track them, hope they don't attack. >> yeah, i hear what you are saying i think the u.s. in a better position, we have more resources, we have a lot going on here and other laws may be tougher. we have laws that say if you provide support you can be thrown behind bars. should the laws be tougher. >> the french are actually pretty muscular on this, so this is not that sort of false debate between being tough on terror i. or some it, the french are really tough, i think the problem for france is they had them under surveillance, they were in prison. and then they sort of dropped off the list so oi don't think this is about passing more laws it is about sort of figuring out what they did wrong, and you put your finger on what for europe is a difficult problem. these numbers are always a little shaky here. put it is 3,000, 5,000 folks who may be enganged in jihadi

activity and it takes at least a i cording to one analyst, went five lives to track them, because you are tracking them physically, online audio and so then you multiply 25 by three to 5,000 and you are getting into big numbers. >> not very encouraging. it's a problem. >> and belgium already saw a french algerian who had fight with isil, he then went and shot and killed four people. last may that without thousands to be just inspired but now there is a growing concern that isil isn't just focused -- that european security forces have received indications that isil is beginning to direct european extremism to launch attacks. >> well. >> i think we with should be cautious about this. essentially it is sunni extremism. and there's a lot of groups who all would like to take credit for this, under this lose umbrella of extremism.

again, these guys went over to syria, the folks in belgium, they came back, but i wouldn't call them highly trained. i wouldn't call it sophisticated, but yeah, it is a problem the food muse is when they cross a border, espebblely now, and they go to syria, then that shows up on the radar screen and so i think they will be increasingly under surveillance i think there will be more cooperation about their travel. so that's all to the good, and then the question will be, whether these countries are going to overreact to this, and actually feed the problem. i think at the end of the day france, like the boston marathon bombing is paris going to be paris, yes, it is, is belgium going to be belgium, yes, it is, we need to honor the dead, but we also

need to act prudently. >> as you mentioned isil taking -- well, hasn't taking credit for this, but it's been attributed to isil. >> yes. >> so is that a worst case scenario that we with have these groups competing with each other. >> you know, yes or no. it's a pad scenario when they are competing. the bad news is there are a lot of folks splinters in smalling groups who all have bad intentions that would like to do bad stuff to us. the good news is this is not al quaida 2,000 where you have a centralized leadership. >> operating freely. >> exactly. and ex-scout much more sophisticated. so it is bad i don't want to minimize that, and it is more of a challenge because soft targets you can't really defend every grocery store so there are big challenges but

frankly, this is not about eliminating risk, it is about minimizing risk, and if you have to choose between two bad things i would rather have smaller groups doing smaller stuff, than one big group. >> the obama administration just released five yemenis from guantanamo, one to astoria, they have been held 13 years without charges. senator mccain and others are prop posed to the release. to relief more prisoners they say roughly 30% of the one whose have been released have returned to the battlefield the deft department counters that by saying no, 90% live peacefully around the world. i know this group that was released are supposed to be under survey lance but how big of a risk do you think

they might pose. >> it is a great question because it relate today what we were just talking about we with don't live in a zero risk world, so, yeah, there's a possibility. not that -- part of it is, and this is what the senator does not talk about these were extremists who then go and rejoin the fold, although i think a lot of them are ten years older and weaker. but there's also the potential that they didn't do inning, and would then have a motivation to strike us, but you can't hold people forever. without trial until they die, because you feel they may do something. for me, what i take my cue from you saw a recent ad by a military officer who was in charge of get mo this is the guy that ran it, and he says we can't continue to do this. if you are on the ground -- >> it is costing $3 million per prisoner. >> definitely.

>> always good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> turning now to iraq and the continuing threat posed by the islamic state many iraqis are criticizing the u.s. for not doing enough. parliament speaker told reuters. >> until now our feeling is that the international support is nonconvincing. only a combat level the country is depending on it's own capabilities. >> that despite months of u.s. air strikes and kept the northern kurdish region from being overrun. also after a recent visit the american special envoy in the campaign against isil, the iraqi prime minister release add statement calling on the coalition to increase the tempo of the effective air strikes on islamic state physicians. we are joined from the director of the center of middle east centers good to

see you the u.s. has made it clear that we won't be sending troops. just months ago the prime minister of iraq said he didn't want those troops and wouldn't allow them to help. but now iraq is asking for more assistance. so is what i do that way want that under all these circumstances the u.s. can give? >> well, i mean, i think iraq is in a very difficult and fragile situation. other the summer, the summer that just passed the country came very close to breaking apart, with the expansion of isis they were on the outskirts of baghdad so i think this repeated call for greater assistance is a cry for help. it reflects the very fragile sense today without increased american air such port, and weapons, sales that the

country is not going to come back on it's feet. >> so i think. >> you look at with the military has done, there are currently plans to send 10,000 m 16 rivals, 12,000 sets of body armor, 250 armors vehicled a boost in the number of military trainers but again, we are still hearing that iraq feelses lice thing fighting on it's own right and i think all of this highlights hooper darius the situation is. let's remember, that when isis with a few hundred fighters defeated effectively a 20,000 man iraqi army in mosul that was very revealing in and of itself. it gives you a sense of not only how broken the society is but how broke. military is, and so these

supplies these demands for greater support i think all of that is just sort of highlighting how long it will take for iraq to get back on it's feet. how it needs greater support. i don't think the quite should be giving them everybody it dend mas. is making sure that the iraqi government shifts course and starts to reach out to the community, starts to deal with with the underlying -- so there has to be leverage here, that the united states can can still have, to make sure that they are on the road to sort of reconstruction and rehabilitation. particularly with respect to the 20% iraqi sunni community that has been alienated and has allowed for isis to reach into that community and claim to champion their grievances. blue one with important question is the use losing

leverage? every report is that iran is increasing it's role in helping iraq fight it has depp ployed thousands it is regularly supplying equipment to the military, sup effort powerful arming the shiite 34 lish shas and the press reported that iran has effectively taken charge of iraq's defense, do you think that's fair? well i think it is largely true and that's because there is no understanding army. a lot of the heavy lifting the fighting happen been done by these militias that are in one with way or another tied to the guard core. so that's a big part of the reality of what constitutes iraq today in terms of filing back but i don't think it is a zero sum game, i don't think it's the u.s. having influence over the government, and the iranian regime having no influence. let's not forget that iran and iraq are neighbors. there will automobiles be a relationship there and the government wants to have a

relation are ship with the west with, with the united states. so i think one with has to sort of view iraq's situation in that context. >> you mentioned the government having to deal properly with it's sunni constituency. earlier your was with talking about the danger of iraq breaking apart. because their power base is in the area where sunni isil is strongest. and they are calling on the u.s. to train them and to give them weapons separately from the government that's similar to what the curds wanted so again, are we back, is this another step toward splitting the country into areas. >> well, hopefully not i think -- the parallel that i would sort of point to, that i think is more relevant is what happened in iraq in around 2007 2008, when al quaida had made deep end roads into iraq it had sort of was

banking on and sort of gaining support from members of the community and the united states was able to through a process and a policy known as the sunni awakening arm various tribal groups and get them to turn and switch from fighting the earn manies to fighting al duda, that was broadly successful, of course it came with prompts of inclusion in the political system. something that the government refused to do, have. >> of them sort of turn ainto al quaida, and some of them sympathize with isis. so jobbing this means the breaking up of the country there's international support for that, but you know, i think one has to just acknowledge that the sectarian war, and the scars of that are very deep rooted. there is a long term plan, and problem that's going to take a lot of hard work to get it

right look cartoonist little broader, the wall street is reporting that it isn't working as well with, and that isil has gained ground, and our interests diverge in both iraq the syria iran is standing by syrian leader bashar al asaad and has throughout the war. what would it mean for the region if the role of the u.s. diminishes? well it means that iran's influence sort of extends and expands. it means those allies of the united states will be significantly weakened. i think the big question here, you are right to point to the get of syria syria in many ways is the center of all this had it not been for the chaos the war crimes in syria iraq would not have suffered the plow that it did this past summer with the rise of isis,

so i think the bigging missing link, and unfortunately i think will come back to haunt president obama. is his broad failure to do the right thing on syria from the beginning and his on going reluctant to get involved and support moderate rebels. effectively means that country continues to implode, continues to break apart and continues to allow iran to determine the pace of events not only in syria but throughout the broader region. i think this is something that will come back to haunt president obama always good to have you request us, thank you. >> now for more stories from around the world. we begin in nigeria where shockenning images show razed homes and destroyed towns after boko haram attacks. the pick sures show more than. hundred damaged or destroyed

houses in just two of the 16 towns attacked in north eastern new yorker jeer yeah. on thursday a surprise visit the and city, where boko haram is very active. with thousands of people displaced by the recent attacks. nigeria will hold elections in less than a month. >> next, we head to the plain where pope francis weighed in on the free speech debate while traveling to the philippines. the pope condemned the attacks on the charlie hebdo newspaper but he also said that free speech needed to have limits. especially enwith it comes to religion. the pontiff said freedom of expression should not be used to offend others. we end in cuba, starting friday more americans will be allowed to travel there if americans certify their travel to cuba is for the purpose of any one of 12 approved

categories including education or religion, they can go without first obtaining a license. also makes it easier for telecommunications providers to do business with the island nation. and americans are now allowed to bring loam up to 100-dollars in the alcohol and tobacco that means the ban on cuban cigars is over. and that's some of what is happening around the world. coming up, a much deadlier threat to the world's population than terrorism also the problem with with group think how it can negatively impact everything from governments to businesses. and our social media producer is tracking the top stories on the web. >> antonio people are calling out the academy for the last of diversity in this year's oscars. and while you are watching let us know what you think join the conversation on twitter at a.j. consider this, and on our facebook page.

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many of us feel on edge about terrorism right now and for good reason. in just the part 30 days the world has witnessed the hostage tragedy in sidney australia, a massacre at a school in pakistan, more terror and isil. and the recent attack in paris. but for all the attention these events receive the actual deaths associated with them are just a drop in the bucket compared to all the deaths from violence worldwide, which in turn are just a tiny fraction of global mortality. so are we overreacting to the threat? should we consider redirecting some of the money to the global fight against terror? for more. entitled fighting disease, not terrorism, will save more lives in 2015. he is a senior fellow shut the prison the author of the up side of down.

charles, very good to have you on the show, let's start with the number bees. was around 11,000 people in 20/20/07 you compare that to an estimated 8 million children under the age of 14, who died from childhood illness, that year alone. a number that certainly has improved when in 2000, when 11.6 million people died, so fighting disease has saved an incredible amount of lives. >> indeed, as you suggest about 3 million fewer kids died in 2012, and died in 2000. it is just a fantastic progress, of course, the millions who still die are an immense tragedy but we are making immense progress against childhood deaths and immense progress in terms of life expectsy everywhere which is now an average worldwide of 70 years which is just sort of unheard of.

it is an incredible advance. >> and so -- with this advance in childhood mortality and life expectsy, it does as you show with the numbers we are talking about millions of lives so obviously it comes down to money. >> yeah, well, money is a big part of it. in terms of people changing their behaviors too making sure you wash your hands after you eat and go to the bathroom sleeping under a bed net or getting your kids vaccinate add whole bump of rather simple things to save a lot of lives. but some of those do take money. >> and you also say in the piece, if we focus attention on dealing with some of the major causes of early death with the same urgency that we devote to resources to combating terror im, we would see even more improvement. are you arguing that we are spending to much money on the fight?

iraqi think that 1,000 times is off. given that's just vaccine there's a lot of other spenting on health. >> yes. but even if you add it all up, it comes to a tiny fraction of what the u.s. spends on the global war of terror, which is a very small proportion of spending on overall military preparedness. so i think that it would be concern it would certainly save a lot more lives if we moved some of the money from the global war to rolling out vaccines even faster or rolling out bed nets even faster. but i don't want to down play the horror and the shock of the recenter error attacks around the world includes boko haram and what happened

in paris last week, those are tragic events, there are attacks on our freedoms, i don't mean to suggest that we should ignore them, or not respond to those acing tabs, i just would suggest that our overwhelming attention on them doesn't really match up with the numbers with where the suffering is happening worldwide. >> on the other hand, though, terrorism really brings all sorts of other ocon wednesdays including on the health front. if you look at what is happening in syria and, arook, you have mayor healthcare crisis and millions of refugees and displaced persons living in terrible conditions. >> absolutely. and war as a whole a terrible thing, again war is responsible for little under 2% -- a little more than 1% of worldwide deaths each year. so it is a terrible thing, but happily, it is a thing that effects compared to the few of us, tape the analogy imagine that we all spent our time

thinking about retirement, and decided with don't really need to save, because we are going to win the lottery so why bother because we will just use the lottery winnings. for the average person, winning the lottery is more likely than dieing in a terror attack and if you had the government saying well, we aren't going to worry about people as retirement, and social security, they are all going to win the lottery that would be even madder. and in the same way i think it is crazy for the government to spend as much time as it does, compared to the threats that kill the vast majority of us. i understand your likelihood bringing up the likelihood of these things like winning the lottery, but isn't the danger of a major terrorist attack, a real threat. if it got to the point where there are a nba already bomb,

or some sort of biological or chemical agent. wouldn't that then be the consequences be so phenomenal, that we have to battle against it and spend the kind of money we are spending on it, no matter what the cost. >> it'sening thattic, it is terrible but when you come up with lines like no matter what the cost, there is a cost, and if we spend a lot of money on one thing we are spending a lotless on something else. and frankly, it is tragic that every year 8 million. >> those children. so i don't think that's a very strong argument. in a world where we with have limited resources how are we going to spend them to maximize the quality of life. i think at the moment, i am not saying we shouldn't pay

nothing on the war on terror. they out to face justice but the imbalance between the amount of tension and money and time that we spend on the terror threat compared to again. >> in 2012 you think we are overreported the bad news and not highlighting success stories. >> yeah, and i have some sympathy somebody who writes for the media periodically, it is a hard story to tell, somebody hasn't died. it doesn't really grab the attention. but i do think at least it's a bit odd to -- the deaths that do kill the vast majority of us get so little attention compared to these few deaths, these tragic deaths but few

deaths. and it is a sign that terrorism works. you don't have to kill a lot of people to get a mas.sive reaction but if that's true, that means we are almost playing into their hands bynd soing as much as we do. by covering it as much as we do. >> it is a very thought provoking piece and so is your book. the up side of down, why the rise of the rest is great for the west. good to see you. >> earlier this week, the lack of gender quality another matter had social media buzzing on thursday. antonio, a lot of people are calling out the academy for the lack of diversity. in a year no plaque actors were nominated in any of the major categories all 20 nominees in the acting categories are white. >> one of the i hooest scores on rotten tomatoes of any of

the best with a 99, but the film received only two nods. one for best picture and a second for best original song. american sniper with a score of 73 grabenned six nominations including best actor and best adaptive screen play. it probably helped that it was directed by hollywood veteran clint eastwood. referring to american sniper told my friend today that even the most immediate yolk iraqi film about a white male hero would have generate add best actor, #oscar. another person tweeted they don't see race, or movies with black folks in the it, apparently. a frequent fest exodus was snubbed because it was too drs. that film came under fire for casting two white actors as moses. and pharaoh. >> max says hard to argue against oscar so white when 94% white 76% male, and an

average age of 63, the academy kneels to deal fast or lose legitimacy. junior adds it is important to remember that the lack of diversity is a hollywood problem. although antonio isaac boom angered a lot of people by saying the group doesn't have a diversity problem at all. straight ahead, why group brainstorming sessions can pull sol some of the best idea the negative effects of group think why a volcanic eruption has made part of iceland one of the hottest places on earth, are the discoveries of new planets manufacture hype than places are life can thrive

help, work with me. >> ali velshi kicks off our special state of the union coverage at 7:00. >> we'll take an in-depth look at our nation's financial future. >> then john seigenthaler breaks down the issues. >> we need to know what's going on in our backyard. >> plus, objective analysis and live reports from across the nation and reaction from around the world. the state of the union address. special coverage begins tuesday, 7:00 eastern. right here on al jazeera america.

of all the overused buzz words the term team player never seems to go away, and why should it? since grayed school it's been drilled into us that two heads are better than one, and that collaboration pays off, what if we have been doing it all wrong? a new book warns that groups in all arenas to religious organizations and labor unions off fall into traps that can lead to very bad decisions. who is currently a professor at harvard law school, he served in the obama administration, first as the administrator of information and then on review group on intelligence, he is the co author of the new group wiser getting beyond group think to make groups smarter. very food to see you. it is a fascinating book, as i

said it's been drilled into us that groups work better, but you point out one danger with with groups is they can amplify individual mistakes instead of correcting them? >> yeah, here is an example that individuals are absolutely herbal in to what is called the planning fallacy, which means they often think a project will be completed faster than it is, and yous are frequently worse in aggravating the individual tendency they get super optimisting and then very disappointed when it takes weeks longer. >> and it isn't just about the timing it is about whether a project will be successful at all, that otherconfidence is something that groups agreeing people agreeing among themselveses can lead to that too. >> yeah, completely. so there's the planning fallacy, which is about time, but human beings and there's probably a good reason for this, tend tor unrealistically optimistic, and if you are the a company where they think it will be a terrific success or

a policy will work great the tendency can create terrible trouble. >> right and you think that happy talk, and just too much emphasis on consensus can be problematic, and you point out the affordable care act, obama care as being an example of all this. >> i am a big fan of obama care i think it is works in a way that makes the country better than it would be. but it is the case that on some respects there was more optimism about how things would work out nan reality really warranted. the obvious example is the healthcare.gov website where thingses didn't work, they were fixed. but a degree of anxiety in the government many the private sector is often a terrific safeguard. >> you pointed out examples where we are anxious types made things work much more effectively. >> my own observation is that

the current administration, things are certain better by the virtue of the fact that some people in positions of great authority were constantly thinking inning their heads what can go wrong whether it is health care, or environment, or highway safety or immigration thinking on the legal side and policy side. so we often think of a team player that is upbeat and smiling and kind of rah rah but i think a team player is someone that adds motivation that the group lacks and that means the players are often anxious, in the sense that they are less than dispairing but in the sense that they are pointing out to the -- what about this potential problem. >> but you also point out that one of the problems with something you refer to as hidden profile that people that might be in a position to point point out those issues are sometimed silenced by grouch think. >> this is a problem in the

kennedy administration, and afterwards there were hitten profiles meaning knowledge that no one voiced because most people in the group things wouldn't go sour. so i think with all adults the most children who groups where they have and they shut up thinking silence is golden, because if other people people aren't saying these things then their information is misleading or wrong. that can be devastating to group reform. >> another thing you found in the book, specifically in colorado with a group in boulder, you had political issues and you muted out these hot button issue you found when you put liberals together that the group would

increase the based. >> yeah, i think this little study, which as you say in colorado reflects a lot of things that are happening around the world. we put a bunk of liberals together. and when they started to talk, we asked them anonymously their views with some diversity, and some were extreme, some not after short conversations almost all of our groups got more extreme more unified so while they could talk to conservatives more and have some commonty, afterwards they just didn't. we did the same thing in colorado springs on the same issues and internal discussions just one another shot them far to the right pop so when we ice lited the groups of people they ended up after the fact so far from each other, it was almost as if they were living in different worms. and before they constructive

discussions would have before far more possible. >> is on both sides. from the time we are kids. we seek out people who are like minded. we hang out with people that are like minding. there is a great men judge with the unlikely name learned hand who said in the world war ii, the spirit of libby terrorism raidsy is not the spirit that is too sure that it is right. you can be sure that you are right, but not too sure, and if you aren't too sure, you are probably going to think i need people different from me, if i tend to think that this product is going to do great given how the economy is i need people who are skeptical

of that. if you are in government, and you think these are my favorite policies to have someone who is quite different from you in terms of policies that can be an excellent idea that's one way of understanding the motion, where a team of rivals can be kind of a good political play, the diverse people, and that can model something. but you have to make sure is you have a ton more information. >> you have all sorts of recommendations on what organizations can do to prevent the problems with group think pressure to have you with us, the book is wiser. coming up, we keep hearing about new earth liken planet ets being discovered but how likely is it that life as we know it is thriving elsewhere in the universes? but first, it is one of the hottest shows on earth iceland's biggest lava flow in serjrys. our data dive next.

nature's power, when this experiencing it's biggest lava is flow in more than 200 years. captures thesism imagines of the area, bigger than the island of manhattan. the massive eruption took place in august. and could continue to spread for years. the lava flow also runs deep up to four or five feet. temperatures 1470 degrees fahrenheit. university of iceland remers have sampled the lava and emerges from about 12 miles beneath the earth's surface. massa says it is the largest lava flow since 1783 which killed more than a quarter of the population.

put still a number of volcanos that are ready to blow the gee logical survey reports that 1500 are active, many on the pacific rim in what is called the ring of fire, that doesn't even include volcanos on the floor. about 500 have erupted in recorded history, the u.s. mainly in alaska, is is one of the most active on earth it is eresultinging almost constantly. in may of 1980, mount helens spewed more than 500 million tons of cash, the corruption flattened trees 20 miles away, killed 57 people and caused nearly $3 billion in damage. it was devastating volcanic eruption in history. is that an exaggeration, just how similar a planet are they?

>> do astronomers oversell us on the discoveries of new earth like planets in the universes? is this year, has brought eight new planets that orbit other stars in what are called goldie lox zones. but you might not get too excited about alien life on planets just yet. derrick pits is the chief astronomer at the franklin institute good to see you as always these goldie locks are hundreds of light years away,

too far to study in detail, some might not habitable for various reasons is it hype to just be calling these earth like, and making it sound like there's life there? is. >> i think we overuse the term earth like, when they are described, i think that's the term used to create interest in the general lick, so they will pay more attention. but when we look at them, we find that very few of them are what we can refer to as earth like. there's all sorts of interesting objects out there but we also have to ask the questions are they rocky or not. do they have a atmosphere or not. water no liquid water. we find that the great bulk of those, most of them are not really earth like at all and

many can be called super earth. thousands of degrees way too close to the star, and made up mostly of noxious glasses. >> is they are important for a variety of reasons. >> yes, it is. if we get the planet size just right and it turns out to be rocky, then it may have liquid water and that can lead to a gaseous atmosphere. something like what we might expect to find here on earth but if the object is too big then all kinds of havoc breaks out if it is way too small sometimes these will be too close to their star, or maybe too far away. one thing i read which is

interesting is that earth has a special situation in that it has a jupiter a massive planet infinitely larger than the earth not that far away, and that if these other planets don't have something like that, they also mite not be able to sustain life as we know it here, because jupiter's gravity attracts a lot of the asteroids that may come crashing down the earth. >> in a sense, jupiter, and the other giant planets of our solar system have acted like a shield for the inner planets. sweeping off lot of the dust and the dirt and the debris left over. and also capturing other bodies that have wandering through this portion of space passing through our solar system, one of the most famous of those bodies happens to be the dwarf planet was know now of as pollute toe that's one of the planets but those have served to protect us, and so if a system is generated that

doesn't have that kind of protection along with a lot of other situations that we find in our solar system, then the chances for the development of life might be very low we have already discovered thousands of these planets in that big world of what we are calling earth like. and the reality is there are millions of stars just in -- the known universes and they have their own could have their own planetary system. so we could be talking about billions of planets which you would think would make it likely. >> you would think that. 83,000 light years away, that

is identified as possible planets just under 1,000 had been confirmed and this now leads us to believe that it's much more unusual for a star not to have planets than it is for a star to have planets. so runs this number up very high we could be talking about 400 billion planets. but the possible for life does seem to go up dramatically when we talk about such large numbers. always is that the conditionings under which it developed here are very very special very very conditional to this location. and that mean as lot when we are looking around the rest of the galaxy. >> yes a lot of presented could very quickly be eliminated american astronauts

had to evacuate over the russian part of the space station because of the fear ammonia leak what do we know about what happened. >> as it turns out it looks like the situation that developed yesterday was due to a faulty sensor the sensor was making it look like the pressure inside the habitat modules was much higher than it should be, and it was thought that an ammonia leak was causing this the astronauts were all pulled back over into the russian side of the space station and the hatch closed. until operators on the ground in both moscow and the united states could figure out what was going on onboard the station. >> is there a danger that if this had been real it could happen any where.

what do the astronauts do? the great thing about how the station is operating is that ground engineering in controllers pay very close attention to what is going on throughout all the systems. so at the at least amount of alarm or concern, they are procedures that they follow so they can compartmentmentlize what the problem is. in the case in which there is something that is irreversible and they have to abandon the station, they do have afternoon escape vehicle attached to space stations so that if they had to leave they could.

sglufrnling hi everyone. this is al jazeera. i am john seigenthaler. bell jum raid. the gun battle the arrest and the fear of more attacks in europe funerals in paris as the pope warns against insulting the faithful. manu change. >> healthier foods. >> the fast food change taking a stand on animal welfare. will it cost them? oscar under fire. >> the no, ma'am