Extraterrestrial life – Scientists have been trying to figure out how we humans will react if one of our space probes suddenly finds what they are looking for.
Is there life elsewhere than on earth?
The question has probably occupied people from the time we realized that there were planets other than our own. A little over a hundred years ago, enthusiasts imagined that there were civilizations both on the moon and on Mars.
That dream crumbled so clearly in line with technological advances. But we have not given up on the hunt for some form of life. On the contrary, we are constantly searching for earth-like clusters around other suns, and for traces of bacteria in the soil of Mars.
But how will humanity react if a Mars robot suddenly announces that it has found incontrovertible evidence of life?
Are we happy? Or panicked?
Little research
Some more or less rubbish films have obviously explored the theme.
But they are mostly about visits from ugly, cunning aliens who are looking to beef up our planet. Not about inhospitable bacteria.
Almost no real research has been done on how to mentally tackle extraterrestrial bacteria, writes researcher Jung Yul Kwon and colleagues at Arizona State University.
However, they have done something about the matter.
Most were positive
Kwon and co have done several experiments to find out more.
They examined language use in media outlets around past discoveries of possible signs of life, and also tested how people reacted to such stories.
The results are uplifting.
Most of the participants turned out to be positive about the news, and they often saw more opportunities than the dangers of discovery. People also tended to believe that they themselves coped with such news better than humanity, writes the researchers, who conclude:
This suggests that future news about extraterrestrial bacteria is likely to be fairly well-received.
Whether the reaction will be the same the day images of extraterrestrial microorganisms are actually pasted on all the newspaper’s front pages remains to be seen.
Nasa: We will find Alien life on Mars
“Alien” Surroundings Give Up Watery Clues
Opportunity rover revealed that Mars has far better conditions than scientists previously thought. Now, Nasa claims that they are well on their way to finding extraterrestrial life on the planet.
The researcher world scans space to find places with conditions where organisms could exist – and a number of exciting discoveries have been made. Nasa has a number of ongoing projects but now finds that our own solar system is likely to deliver extraterrestrial life.
Opportunity rover was recently pronounced dead, but during its lifetime, the robot has revealed that Mars is a far more active and interesting place than scientists previously thought. Now Nasa says they are well on their way to finding alien life on Mars. It claims Jim Bridenstine, who was named the NASA Administrator by President Trump.
Want to explore parts of March
Jim Bridenstine’s goal is for future expeditions to Mars to take samples from the planet’s surface home to Earth.
– We will be able to look at the samples and determine if they contain a biosignature. The goal is to discover life in another world – that’s what we’re trying to achieve, Jim Bridenstine tells the Independent.
He notes that a whole series of observations from Mars have shown a high probability that life once existed on the planet – or even still exists. But, for example, have already seen that the building blocks needed to create complex organic molecules are in place, and below the surface, there is vital water.
– All in all, these things point to the fact that we have much that we need to learn, and my friends – we will do it quickly, says Jim Bridenstine.