There is no more profound mystery in our universe than the question of whether life exists beyond Earth. Scientists have been searching for life on other planets for decades, but we’ve never found any evidence that it exists.
And now, after NASA announced that they’ve found the most Earth-like planet yet, the question has come up again. So what are scientists doing to find alien life? Here are the latest breakthroughs in the search for alien life.
The Breakthroughs
Scientists are looking at the Enceladus ( moon of jupiter ) mystery one more time. This little moon has frozen water on its surface, along with a series of fractures that swirl in a spiral pattern like water in a drain.
The lines of fractures are thought to be a result of geysers coming from the south pole of the moon, but it’s unknown whether they’re spewing water or any other type of material.
Now researchers have had their eyes back on Enceladus’s south pole to search for any signs of life. They believe there’s evidence for a plume of water shooting out of the surface, and now Nasa has plan to launched a small lunar Rover to investigate.
It should arrive at the surface in 2050. They’re also searching for life on Europa, ( a moon of Jupiter) and they’ve set up the Europa Clipper mission.
The Planets
In the last few years, scientists have discovered a handful of exoplanets that are much like Earth — they might have oceans and, if they do, then they maybe able to support life. There are hundreds more planets that scientists aren’t sure about yet, but they’re also likely habitable.
Life on the Exoplanets Astronomers have detected signatures of the chemical “biosignatures” that come from life on some of these planets, but they haven’t been able to come up with an explanation for what those biosignatures might be.
Some scientists suggest that life might be based on methane, which is thought to be a key component of life on Earth, but these scientists have had trouble pinning down an explanation for where life could come from on these distant worlds.
What Next?
After NASA announced the discovery of this Earth-like planet earlier this month, the team behind it announced that they’re going to perform more research to determine if there’s actually life on the planet.
And right now, they aren’t the only ones interested in the planet. Scientists from the University of Washington have been studying it, and they are going to analyze the atmosphere for things like ozone layer, carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen.
Another team is also looking at the planet, and they’re trying to determine if it’s a “super-Earth”—a super-earth is a planet that is similar to Earth in mass, size, and composition.
These measurements are only the beginning. And there’s still a lot of work to be done to determine if this planet actually contains life.
My Verdict
I don’t know yet if alien life exists or not, but we do know that we won’t be able to answer the question if we don’t try.
No one knows where alien life could be. In science, some ideas that sound crazy have been proved to be true. What if you multiply an orange by 16 and shake it? You might get a grapefruit.
If you force an egg to look like a peanut and roll it around in peanut butter, you might get an alien.
It might sound ridiculous, but when you have a theory to test, you have to find a way to disprove it. If you ask why the number of planets in our galaxy is equal to the number of stars, I will say there is no answer “because that’s the way it is.
Thanks for Reading..
Cheers !!!
No one knows if aliens is true. I enjoyed reading your article. I also love exploring things that's why I think I like your idea.