--- title: "An AI Just Confirmed the Existence of 50 Planets By Digging Through NASA Data" description: "A machine learning algorithm just confirmed the existence of 50 new planets in a world first. The team behind the algorithm from Warwick University fed huge datasets originating from NASA’s now-retired Kepler missions and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a space telescope that launched in 2018. The scientists are hoping their research could pave a […]" date: "2020-08-25" modified: "2020-08-25" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/ai-confirmed-existence-50-planets-nasa-data" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "ai" - "ai algorithm" - "exoplanet" - "Kepler" - "machine learning" - "NASA" --- # An AI Just Confirmed the Existence of 50 Planets By Digging Through NASA Data ![A machine learning algorithm created by a team of scientists at Warwick University just confirmed the existence of 50 new planets in a world first.]() *\Image: NASA\* A machine learning algorithm [just confirmed]() the existence of 50 new planets. The team behind the algorithm, from Warwick University, fed it huge datasets originating from NASA's now-retired Kepler mission and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a space telescope that launched in 2018. The scientists are hoping their research could pave the way for future planet validation techniques. Current techniques for spotting and confirming the existence of other planets are easily swayed by noise, interference of an object in the background, or even errors in the camera. The team trained their algorithm by teaching it the difference between confirmed planets and false positives. They then unleashed it on a separate dataset that has yet to be validated for planetary candidates. The algorithm was able to confirm 50 new planets — a first in the history of astronomy, according to the team. "The algorithm we have developed lets us take fifty candidates across the threshold for planet validation, upgrading them to real planets," David Armstrong, from the University of Warwick department of physics, and lead author of the paper published in the journal *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society* last week, said in [a statement](). The planets come in a variety of sizes. Some are as large as Neptune, while others are even smaller than Earth. "Rather than saying which candidates are more likely to be planets, we can now say what the precise statistical likelihood is," Armstrong explained. "Where there is less than a 1 percent chance of a candidate being a false positive, it is considered a validated planet." It's not only extremely effective, the algorithm works very fast entirely on its own. "We still have to spend time training the algorithm, but once that is done it becomes much easier to apply it to future candidates," Armstrong added. "We hope to apply this technique to large samples of candidates from current and future missions like TESS and PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars, a space telescope set to launch in 2026\]." **READ MORE:** [This AI just found 50 new planets in a huge NASA dataset]() \[*The Next Web*\] **More on Kepler:** *[Astronomers Discover “Intriguing,” Extremely Earth-Like Exoplanet]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()