One
of the most intriguing questions that has increasingly become the
subject of scientific investigations, as well as popular media
speculation, is the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Are we
alone in the universe? I have played with this question in several
past postings of this blog. I recently read an article on the subject
that raised another fascinating aspect to the question. Here's the
essence of it.
Science
has edged relentlessly closer to the hypothesis that, indeed, there
may well be life out there, for several reasons. (1) We now know that
there are billions of planets just in our galaxy alone—something
for which we had no evidence just a few years ago. (2) Researchers
are getting better at understanding the conditions under which life
may have spontaneously originated; if so, it could have done so in
many locations throughout the universe. (3) Our space probes have
discovered complex organic molecules on other bodies in space, such
as comets; which were present at the beginning of our solar system,
4.5 billion years ago. There is a strong possibility that these
molecules may be able to initiate life, when conditions allow. (4)
Science has widened the conditions under which life can survive, if
not thrive—conditions we only recently thought would be too
hostile, until we discovered life thriving there, right here on
Earth. (5) We also now know that some forms of life can survive the
incredibly harsh environment of space, which potentially makes it
possible for life to travel (as hardy microorganisms) from one planet
to another.
Clearly
extraterrestrial life has not yet been found, but we seem to be much
closer to discovering it, if it's out there. Recent findings
by the Mars rovers have directed our attention to that planet—giving
us greater expectation that life may be found there. Scientists are
excited by the prospect of this age-old question soon being answered.
Thus many of them are turning their attention to what we may
discover, if we do find life out there. We'd best prepare so
that we are not taken by unpleasant surprises.
Suppose
we do come across life elsewhere. It may come in a form that is
utterly different from what we expect. Will we even recognize
it as life? And the big question: Will it be
intelligent—whatever that means? If so, will its intelligence
resemble our own? We tend to regard our high-tech smart phones as
evidence of our acumen. The guy who invented velcro was very smart;
so was the team that discovered the Higgs boson last year. Ants are
dumb, by human standards, but they've been around for over 100
million years. Is that not an example of a kind of intelligence? So
if there is intelligent life elsewhere, its type of
intelligence may be completely unexpected by us. We'd best keep our
minds open.
There's
another fascinating aspect about discovering intelligent life out
there: technologically speaking it may be millions (or even billions)
of years ahead of us, or just getting started. Earth is some 4.5
billion years old and life appears to have begun on our planet less
than a billion years after it formed. So life has been here for maybe
as long as four billion years. Think about that: it took some four
billion years for humans to attain the advanced technological state
we now find ourselves in. And our highly developed civilization is
only a few hundred years old. Where might we be in another 100 years?
Or 1,000 years? We can't begin to guess. Any of our predictions in
the past have been far wide of the mark. And science fiction is of
little help; their scenarios are usually quite naive.
More
on life out there, next time...
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