
Are we getting closer to finding alien life?
New data from the ALMA Radio Telescope Array in Chile has discovered a cloud filled with organic chemicals surrounding a distant star. It's now looking like the ingredients involved in life are common throughout the universe. So, where are all the aliens? And if we find them, what will they look like?
Methyl cyanide, a complex carbon-based molecule, has been discovered along with other types of cyanide around the star MWC 480. This star is twice as massive as our sun, located 455 light years from here. It is also a very young star, which is why it is surrounded by a disc of material that has not yet coalesced into planets.
Meanwhile, the interest rover has found organics on Mars, as well. And new images from the Mars exploration Orbiter show that massive glaciers are hidden under the red sands of Mars, providing further proof that Mars was once a warm and much wetter world than it is today.
Still, some scientists are hopeful that we will find alien life by 2025.If we do, the big question is, will it be like us? To think that aliens will have a humanoid shape is expedient for science fiction movies, but actually somewhat arrogant. Humans are a recent addition to life on Earth. For most of the Earth's history, life has come in immensely different forms. To get a better idea of what we might find on other worlds, let's again take a look at our own.
Is this what we will find in space, or will life out there be even stranger.