Now we’ve all come to terms with the fact that when we find Alien life, it probably
won’t look like this, or this, or even this guy.
What we’re more likely to find, is this -- bacteria.
Which is exactly what NASA is hoping to find on future missions to Mars and Saturn’s
icy moon Enceladus.
Trying to find life on other planets, especially when looking for something as microscopic
as bacteria, is tricky to say the least.
It’s a bit like trying to find a stranger in a crowd -- unless you know who you’re
looking for, you will probably never find them.
It’s the same for astrobiologists searching for microbial life on other planets, without
knowing what we’re looking for, or where to look, trying to find extraterrestrial life
can seem impossible.
Luckily, there are clues to help solve this conundrum, right here, on Earth.
To be more specific, indications of what alien life might look like can be found in naturally-occurring,
extreme environments.
That’s because these habitats are probably as close as we’re going to get to mimicking
those on other planets, like boiling hot springs, permafrost and hydrothermal vents.
And while these environments may seem inhospitable, organisms do live and even thrive, in these
surroundings.
Scientists call these organisms extremophiles.
And the very first example of one was found just over 40 years ago, here, in the hot springs
of Yellowstone National Park.
Researchers discovered that tiny microbes who were able to thrive within the hot springs,
enduring temperatures of 160 degrees fahrenheit.3
Since they were first discovered, extremophiles have been found in a variety of extreme environments
across the globe.
Most are microbes, like bacteria, fungi or algae but there are one or two examples of
more complex organisms, like Pompeii worms found near hydrothermal vents or Antarctic
Krill.
Regardless, of their complexity, every example of extremophile has adapted to an environmental
niche that differs from the mesophilic conditions generally found on Earth.
Some can exist in extreme acidity, some without oxygen or light while others survive in high
levels of radiation.
Armed with this knowledge, Astrobiologists are starting to speculate whether extremophiles
could endure the high carbon dioxide atmosphere on the surface of Mars or in it’s deep subsurface
permafrost.
And researchers aren’t just interested in if extremophiles could survive on another
planet, they're also curious to see if they could survive in space.
In 2011, a study conducted by the Japan Agency of Marine-Earth Science, subjected several
extremophile bacterial strains to extreme gravity, roughly 400 thousand times stronger
than Earth.
In order to do this, they placed each strain of bacteria in an ultracentrifuge at high
speeds -- according to the researchers, the idea was to simulate the kind of hyper-acceleration
which is usually found only in cosmic environments, such as on massive stars or in the shock waves
of supernovas.
What they found was that one strain, called Paracoccus denitrificans, not only survived
the extreme gravity but experienced rapid growth.
Now this is huge news, because this means that life forms could potentially survive
in the extreme gravity of space.
Meaning that life could survive something like an interplanetary exchange, something
like a meteor strike.
It all falls in line with a theory known as Panspermia, which proposes that lifeforms
could transfer from one world to the next, by travelling across space on comets or meteoroids.
This theory hasn’t been proven yet, but Astrobiologists continue to test extremophiles
on Earth in space-like conditions, each time hoping to find more clues about life and how
it may have spread throughout the universe.
So yes, it would be great to shake hands with an intelligent being from another galaxy,
but discovering bacteria on one of Saturn’s moons is just as important because finding
microbes on meteoroids in outer space, or on other planets, could tell us more about
the universe than any Vulcan could.
Our fascination with learning more about the universe is only limited by our ability to
explore it.
The New James Webb Telescope will finally allow us to observe some of the most distant
objects in the Universe.
If you want an incredible behind-the-scenes look at the new James Webb Space Telescope,
make sure to check out Discovery’s brand new documentary Telescope!
The world premiere is this Saturday, February 20 at 9pm on the Discovery Channel.
I’ll be tuning
in too.