I recently watched Project Hail Mary, a movie that tells the story of how we discover and interact with alien lifeforms outside of our solar system. In the first few minutes of the story, we are introduced to the “astrophage,” a unicellular organism that uses the electromagnetic radiation from the sun as an energy source, leading to the slow dimming of our sun.
Watching the movie as a chemical engineer was a fascinating experience. Between nitpicking the way Ryland Grace loaded a centrifuge and pondering how solid xenon was even possible, I was thinking of the possibilities of alternative life forms that don’t fit the mold (no pun intended) of what we conventionally expect extraterrestrials to look like. If aliens may not look like the classic green humanoids we typically think of, then what do we expect life outside of our planet to look like?
There have been many novel, exciting discoveries in astrobiology. Recently, the Mars rover Perseverance may have detected possible biosignatures (a substance of potential biological origin) from rocks found on Cheyava Falls. These rocks contain clay, silt, organic carbon, iron and phosphorus, which may all be sources of microbial metabolism. Additionally, scientists at the Applied Physics Lab are currently working on designing and testing Dragonfly, a mission scheduled to land on Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034. This mission would allow us to better study organic chemistry and potential origins of life in a non-oxygen-rich environment and the potential existence of liquid water on its surface.
I find the human body such a fascinating system to study. Human life is so beautifully complex as it is an amalgamation of complex cell types, proteins and interactions harmoniously working together to create a unique living system. Despite learning so much about the way our bodies work and have evolved, there’s still so much to discover. And yet, that’s just in one species! The range of life on our planet is so immense, ranging from unicellular organisms thriving in hot springs to massive whale sharks swimming in our oceans.
Seeing this much biodiversity on just Earth alone piques my curiosity and makes me think about what else may exist out in space. Our version of life on our planet may not be the same as elsewhere, and it is up to us to question our perceptions and beliefs. In our universe with billions and trillions of planets, the probability of finding complex life like ours on Earth remains unknown. Maybe one day, we will find the answers, but until then, we shall continue to look into the night sky and beyond.
Sources:
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dragonfly/
- https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-says-mars-rover-discovered-potential-biosignature-last-year/
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