What's scarier, that we're not the only ones out there, or that in the spans of the cosmos we're the sole beings of our kind who have ever, or will ever exist? Whatever you think, scientists say that according to our current knowledge of the universe, it would be impossible to deny the existence of alien life. The teams at NASA predict that we'll find surefire evidence of our cosmic neighbors in the next 10-20 years. However, it most likely won't be little green men they find, but tiny living microbes and possibly even single-celled alien organisms. As we've learned more and more about our own solar system over the decades, we've discovered that it's actually a pretty soggy and wet place to be. Not only has ice been found on our own moon, but according to data collected from the studies of Mars, it's estimated that the planet's northern hemisphere was once covered in oceans of WATER more than a mile deep for 1.2 BILLION years. Where did all that water go? The Key to Earth's habitat of organic success is our magnetic field protecting us from the destructive solar wind. It acts like a dome, or shield that protects us from all the radioactive harm that comes our way. Mars however, does not have the same magnetic advantage as we do, at least not today anyways. Because of Mars's lack of defense, oceans along with most of its atmosphere would just be blown away by solar winds in today's state. There's also been several studies that determine the existence of water on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, forcing the scientific community to change what it defines as a "Habitable Zone" or "Sweet Spot" for life to exist. And we're just talking about water-based life here, other studies suggest that under certain conditions, special kinds of life could exist under extreme circumstances. These forms of life would not be based upon water, but liquid hydrocarbon with a livable atmosphere of methane. Space is CRAZY!
If the missions to Mars within the decade prove successful, it may lead to the event of discovering fossilized remnants of ancient life upon the rusty planet. Because of Mars's similarities to Earth, life found on Mars could be similar to life existing here on Earth. However, the rest of the universe, heck, the rest of the SOLAR SYSTEM is a much stranger place. Who knows what kinds of strange life we'll find?
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Do you think there's life out there beyond our home planet? Why or Why not?
If you could visit Mars to join the search for alien life and fossils, would you? Why or Why not?
Replies
Excellent job!
I 100% believe that we are not the only ones out there. That can not be possible. Space is to big, and has to many galaxies to not house any other life forms. And would i go to mars? Heck yea I would! I would love to go to mars, and look for alien remnants, or just water. It would be fun and educating.
I totally agree with you! Just like we're a tiny speck on Earth, our Sun is just a tiny speck in the Milky way, which is just a tiny speck in the entire realm of space! The odds are WAYYYY against us being the only ones out there. I think it would be scary if we were, because that would emphasize how fragile our existence would be. Pretty lonely too.
Probably. But like you said it is most likely to be single cell organisms. I think it is crazy that earth has a magnetic field that is protecting us and no other planets consist of this.
It would be very difficult to locate complex alien life in space, but it's not impossible that they're out there!
Other planets do have their own magnetic fields (Well, most of them anyways). Earth's magnetic field is just unusually strong. It's theorized that our magnetic field behaves the way it does because of the specific liquid properties of our planet's core. This could suggest that Mars's core might be more solid than our own, if not completely. That could explain what happened to it's magnetic field, atmosphere, and all the water that vanished with them. When the core solidified, the magnetic field weakened and everything blew away in the solar wind!