Today, February 18, the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars with part of its mission being to look for proof of past life on Mars. Other Rovers have done this in the past, but like any new technology, this rover has more features and capabilities that allow it to be better suited for this mission than rovers from the past.
This got me thinking about what it would mean to find existing or past life on other planets. First, how advanced would the species of life be? Would they be more advanced than humans, or as advanced as bacteria? Next, if it is an advanced species, would we be able to communicate with it and learn about the history of its civilization? Would there be any connections to the way that we find ourselves living on Earth or would it be completely different?
These are just a few of hundreds upon thousands of question that we would have to ask ourselves if we run into an alien species. Of course, this is all hypothetical, as we may be alone in the universe with no other life except that on Earth. If this is true, its' a pretty scary idea to think about. If the Earth were to get destroyed by a meteor or an explosion by our sun, there would be nothing left. At least no life left.
This is why figuring out planetary travel and colonization is so important for the future of the human race. If we could safely find a way to get to and live on Mars, we could eventually travel everywhere in the universe over a really long period of time through setting up societies in each planet so that they could act as pit stops for rockets to refuel and restock on food and cargo. This would ensure that even if one planet got destroyed, we would still be alive as a human race.
There are also other mysteries relating to if there was once life out there that is no longer around today. If this is true, will that mean that life on Earth will eventually come to the same outcome, and if not, what makes us different?
I'm sorry that this blog was full of more questions than answers, but that just shows how mysterious E.T. life would be, and how much we don't know about our universe and everything that lies in it.
I do believe that there is life out there because if life was able to scientifically form on Earth, why wouldn't it have formed on other planets that meet the same criteria as Earth to allow life to survive on the planet. Additionally, in a more religious view, there are parts of the Torah referring to an unknown people that some rabbis interpret to be a reference to aliens, so both science and religion allow for my belief in E.T. life to be possible.
Do you think that there is life out there and why or why not? What do you think it would mean to discover life out there and what do you think it would mean to come to the conclusion that we are alone in this universe?
Hi Isaac
ReplyDeleteI definitely think there is life somewhere else in space. It is literally infinite, so I can't imagine that there wouldn't be some sort of bacteria. I have sometimes thought about if there was life on another planet that didn't fit earth's definition of life (has cells) but seem to be living.