Guillermo González and Gliese 581C

I recently asked Prof. González from Iowa State University about Gliese 581C, this is his response.

"Yes, I know about this planet. I think the probability of life on any planets orbiting M dwarfs is very small. M dwarfs provide very poor habitats for life for several reasons, including water freeze-out on the dark side of a synchronously rotating planet, weaker planetary magnetic field resulting from the slower rotation and greater doses of ionizing radiation from host star flares. In addition, terrestrial planets more massive than Earth are less likely to have dry land, since there is less surface relief for more massive planets. And, the planets around Gliese 581, in particular, are probably very water rich since they likely migrated to their present locations (given the presence of a neptune-mass planet in the system)."