Scientists suggest the possibility of finding “aliens”
A team of scientists said that there is a possibility of finding alien life in the dust emanating from other worlds. Material expelled from other worlds could bear signs of life on their planets.
When a planet undergoes a massive impact, such as an asteroid, bits of its material are often ejected into space. This material can then travel across the universe, covering vast distances over long periods of time.
These materials may contain direct or indirect signs of life on these planets, such as fossils of microorganisms.
And a new paper suggests that if we want to find evidence of extraterrestrial life, we don't need to keep looking for chemicals in exoplanet atmospheres or distant radio signals. Instead, we should study the thousands of micrometer-sized pieces of interstellar dust that strike Earth each year.
"I propose that we study well-preserved dust grains ejected from other worlds for possible signs of life," said Tomonori Totani of the University of Tokyo, an author of the new paper.
He added: “Looking for life outside our solar system usually means looking for signs of contact, which would indicate intelligent life but preclude any pre-tech life. Or look for atmospheric signatures that might indicate life, but without direct confirmation there can always be an explanation that doesn't mean life exists. However, if there are signs of life in the dust grains, not only will we be sure, but we can also discover it soon.”
Larger pieces of material that are thrown into space usually return to their home planet, or join new permanent orbits around a planet, and may be too small to contain useful signs of life. But there are bits of dust in the middle, about 1 micrometer in size, that could be a key to finding life elsewhere.
Many space rocks hit Earth each year, leaving behind meteorites full of potential scientific discoveries. Unfortunately, in the process of entering the atmosphere, heat burns a lot of material, such as traces of biological life.
But the same rule doesn't apply to dust particles smaller than 10-100 micrometers in size, which Totani said are able to survive entering the atmosphere without generating too much heat, which means biosignatures on or in the dust can survive. from the trip.
Professor Totani suggested: “This piece of dust is not only large enough to host a single-celled organism, but small enough to leave its solar system. Once that is done, it may make its way to us.”
Moreover, some of these grains may already be present on Earth. It may be difficult to identify it as coming from another solar system, and may require further work.
Source : websites Internet