Light bends when a supermassive object causes it to bend, otherwise it continues onward, I think the astronomers who found this planet would be more than aware of such things, no?
There may be loads of black holes out there to bend light but there aren't a whole load surrounding Gliese
Except it's far far far from almost certainly.
It almost certainly does based on our observed Science, that wherever there is water there is life. Planet G constantly faces its sun on one side and is in constant darkness on the other, this leaves a zone around the planet that's said to be perfect for liquid water and the correct temperatures to support life, the planet itself is at a perfect position for this to happen in its solar system.
If the probability was high that a planetary system out there could support life then this discovery has further improved that probability by a huge deal.
And then there's the fact that it was discovered so soon, these exoplanet searches only started kicking off in full motion recently.
And lastly, yes they are aware it takes time for the "signals" to be seen, in this case 20 years, but that isn't the point. The point is knowing that something exists, whether you see it i your lifetime or not doesn't matter either, the fact that a signal from elsewhere could be confirmed is exciting and world changing news enough, especially for future generations.
