Sasselov announced Kepler’s discoveries at the TEDGlobal conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) in Oxford last week.
In April, researchers at the NASA Ames Research Center announced the discovered of roughly 400 Earth-like planets, but NASA sealed its research from the public, citing the need for more time to confirm the existence of these planets.
In June, the Kepler team announced the discovery of 706 planet candidates. Once candidates are identified, they undergo follow-up tests to verify that they are actually planets, and not something else.The Kepler mission launched in March of 2009, and is expected to last four years.