Red dwarfs-- smaller, cooler stars than the Sun-- make up some 80 percent of the total stellar population. Still, astronomers have not considered them likely hosts for life because their habitable zones are so small and so close to the star. A new study, however, finds that 41 percent of red dwarf stars likely have planets in their habitable zones. If confirmed, that would add billions of possible life sites.
There are some problems with life evolving on a world closer to its star than Mercury is to the Sun, the main one being powerful radiation from solar eruptions could destroy living tissue and break down genetic codes. That could be countered, for example, by a planet with a good magnetic field, which is what happens on Earth.
There is also another possibility. Even if a given red dwarf had no native life in its planetary system, it still could be home to an offshoot of an interstellar civilization. Because red dwarf stars are so common overall, they could be ideal stepping stones for a civilization seeking to expand throughout the galaxy.
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