Evidence of intelligent life on other exoplanets may be so “alien” to Earthlings any biological signatures may be incomprehensible to scientists. Theories about alien biosignatures and whether an exoplanet is habitable are constantly evolving.
But Peter Vickers, an Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science at Durham University believes experts have no other option but to interpret the data we have with the current best theory, not with some vague future idea.
When it comes to alien life, is it enough to assume ‘we’ll know it when we see it?’
Professor Peter Vickers
Professor Vickers believes scientists need to maintain an open mind when searching for alien life elsewhere in the Universe.
In an article for The Conversation, the science philosopher warns conventional thinking or any bias towards life as we know could cause humanity to miss out on arguably the greatest-ever discovery.
He wrote: “Plenty of breakthroughs happen by accident, from the discovery of penicillin to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang.”
“These often reflect a degree of luck on behalf of the researchers involved. When it comes to alien life, is it enough to assume ‘we’ll know it when we see it?’”
Scientists attempt to identify alien life by searching for biosignatures – any phenomenon providing scientific evidence of past or present extraterrestrial life.
It could be an element, isotope or molecule which would need life in order to account for the substance in any given environment.
Dr Vickers added: “Recent years have seen changes to our theories about what counts as a biosignature and which planets might be habitable, and further turnarounds are inevitable.
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“But the best we can really do is interpret the data we have with our current best theory, not with some future idea we haven’t had yet.”
A recent study revealed it is more common for distant exoplanets orbiting distant stars to have water in their atmosphere.
University of Cambridge researchers recently analysed the composition of 19 worlds over five years and found water is often spotted but in low amounts.
In total 14 of these worlds had water vapour in their atmospheres and chemicals important for life such as sodium and potassium were each present on six planets.
It is vital researchers approach any future search for life with an open mind and be prepared to discover “the unexpected”, Dr Vickers wrote.
He said: “Studying the universe largely unshackled from theory is not only a legitimate scientific endeavour – it’s a crucial one.”
Referencing Dr Scott Gaudi of NASA’s Advisory Council, he said: “One thing I am quite sure of, now having spent more than 20 years in this field of exoplanets … expect the unexpected.”
Due to the impossibly infinite number of world in the Universe, the chance of alien species evolving, event at a microbial level, is thought to be extremely high.
To put this into context, a famous Hubble Ultra Deep Field images depicts an approximate 10,000 galaxies in a small region of the night sky.
Each of the galaxies boasts an average of 100 million stars and exoplanet researchers think each star is estimated to have at least one planet.
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