Planets Santa might end up visiting... next year?

As Santa sits at the North Pole anticipating the discovery of life on some far-flung planet he might be somewhat nervously scanning the latest scientific literature to see which exoplanets are hot topics

Checking to see just how hostile an environment can be on known exoplanets, Santa might draw up a list marked 'Planets to which presents don’t need to be delivered'

Every year brings with it an expectation that this might be the time when life is finally confirmed on another planet.

For us humans, such a discovery would likely have profound implications about how we view ourselves, our origins, and our long-held belief that we occupy a special place in the universe.