our universe could turn out to be a pretty wild place recent astronomical discoveries
suggest that billions of earth-like planets are dotted throughout our galaxy which is just one of
billions of galaxies in the universe life may be present in abundance outside of our solar system
based on two simple facts first the chemical elements of life such as nitrogen hydrogen and
oxygen are widespread in the universe as are the two key compounds of life on earth liquid water
and organic carbon second we know that life was present on Earth very early in its history soon
after the planet was formed which suggests that once the conditions are right life
Springs up easily and quickly if the origin of life is widespread then complex life will
be widespread too and we might expect to find more than just single-celled microbes out there
intelligent alien life might have Arisen and then perished some may have migrated to another planet
or star system to escape the wrath of their dying star there is one rule that has to be
uniform Across the Universe for life in any form and it is survival of the fittest life adapts to
its surroundings and evolves as information is passed from one generation on to the next
and now scientists are trying to lay down the science of not only how life is we now it would
be different in space but also of what exotic life that was made of other chemicals might be like
on any planet in the universe the laws of physics and chemistry will still be the same
as here because there's only a limited number of ways to beat physics even on an Earth-like planet
there would be similar physical constraints leading to the evolution of similar life to
what we have on Earth there are only so many ways one can efficiently see hear walk swim or
fly and natural selection will largely weed out inefficient body plans as it has on this planet
asteroid strikes and solar flares are a couple of cosmic challenges even alien civilizations will
have to face but we will talk about Cosmic challenges some other time today let's take
a journey to a planet not so far away from us welcome to lab 360. it's time to explore
four light years away from Earth lies the closest exoplanet detected till date Proxima B
some astronomers have found it potentially habitable While others have blasted it for
the intense x-rays it constantly gets pelted with by the star it orbits Proxima Centauri
the exoplanet orbits 20 times closer to its star than the distance at which Earth Journeys around
the Sun but because its star is a red dwarf the energy levels it receives from Proxima Centauri
are close to what our planet gets this means that the temperature of the planet should be mild
enough for liquid water to exist on its surface however there's no guarantee that creatures which
didn't originate on Earth breathe oxygen and absolutely need water but the conditions on our
planet are what we have to go off of and Proxima B is a tightly locked Planet which means that
one side of the planet is always facing the star bathing in solar radiation and the other side in
Eternal Darkness whether or not Proxima B could be a hotbed of Life most likely depends on whether
an atmosphere exists because to support life it would need an atmosphere that could hold
its own against 400 times the x-rays that reach Earth and if it has one life could be thriving
in the planet's Twilight Zone the region between the day and night side and amidst all the life
nestled in her lap Proxima B might give birth to an intelligent species that species could
Harbor energy directly from the Star by building a Dyson Sphere that species could also be the source
of the strange radio signals that we detected in 2019 coming from the direction of the star
while the sun could provide them energy it could also be the reason for their Extinction
red dwarfs produce Stellar flares a lot more frequently than our sun does
in 2018 scientists discovered flashes of light coming from Proxima Centauri that looked very
different from solar flares they were using a telescope that detects lighted millimeter
wavelengths to monitor Proxima Centauri and saw a big of flash of light in this wavelength
astronomers had never seen a stellar flare in millimeter wavelengths of light as such scientists
wanted to learn more about these unusual brightenings in the millimeter light coming from
the Star and see whether they were actually flares or some other phenomenon they used nine telescopes
on Earth as well as a satellite Observatory to get the longest set of observations about
two days worth of Proxima Centauri with the most wavelength coverage that had ever been obtained
immediately they discovered a really strong flare the ultraviolet light of the star increased by
over ten thousand times in just a fraction of a second if humans could see ultraviolet light it
would be like being Blinded By The Flash of a camera Proxima Centauri got bright really
fast this increase lasted for only a couple of seconds and then there was a gradual decline
such massive flares basically erode away a bit of the atmosphere of any planets orbiting that
star including this potentially Earth-like planet and if you don't have an atmosphere
left on your planet then you definitely have a pretty hostile environment to life there would
be huge amounts of radiation massive temperature fluctuations and little or no air to breathe
it's not that life would be impossible but having the surface of a planet basically
directly exposed to space would be an environment totally different than anything on Earth and
that's why for a civilization to grow and Thrive they will need to make the night side their home
scientists believe that they would build massive mirrors and have them levitate in the air to
capture light and solar energy or they could build massive LED lights to illuminate their world
observations from Earth so far tell us that the chances of Life on Proxima B are slim but not
ludicrous and we will soon find out more about the planet once our technological Marvel turns
its eyes towards the star system the James Webb Space Telescope will not only be able to capture
the star and its planets but also study the atmospheric composition of Proxima B to find
telltale signs of life if there are any artificial lights Webb will be able to detect them too
and if Proxima B is truly habitable then Humanity has a planet nearby where we can settle or make
it our second home to become a multi-planetary species discovery of Life on Proxima B will change
everything for humans now we just wait and watch what do you think drop in your comments below and
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