All planets are born in killer environments

"Thommes and his former colleagues at Northwestern University ran the simulation through over 100 scenarios to see how gas giants formed from the gas disks that surrounded young stars. Newborn planets typically seemed to get pushed toward the central star by the gas disk remnant surrounding them."

Note: Consistant with observations

"The tussle among gas giants can typically lead to loopy elliptical orbits. Sometimes a gas giant even acts as a slingshot to throw a sibling into deep space. "

Note: Consistant with observations

"The simulation traces the creation of a planetary system from almost beginning to end, for the first time, and suggests that our solar system started with just the right mass to become a relatively orderly place in the universe.

"You have to have the conditions just right," Thommes told Space.com. "They have to be in a fairly narrow range.""

Note: Inconsistant with the idea that intelligence is common idea if you believe an earthlike planet is needed.

Now I guess Phil can't use this in support of the rare Earth arguement since he doesn't believe in simulations, but I do and can.

I've said for a long time that the very unexpected nature of what we were discovering about extra-solar planets suggested there was something wrong with our assumption that solar systems like ours were normal around sunlike stars. The method selected for large and close orbits, but not elliptical ones. The combination of close giants and elliptical ones together suggested stable near circular orbits were not the norm.

Regards,
Mark