Scientists have been talking about extraterrestrial civilizations for a long time. But if earlier this issue was dealt with by individual enthusiasts, who were considered either eccentrics or crazy, now many, many scientists of different specializations are interested in this issue. And they firmly believe that life does not exist only on planet Earth.
Life is possible everywhere
Scientists at one of the conferences argued: in billions of star systems, there are probably planets where there is some kind of living creatures: either single-celled creatures or human-like ones. Moreover, the latter can be much smarter than earthlings. There are different ways to find brothers in mind. However, there are no impressive results yet.
At the scientific conference "Horizons of Astronomy: Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations" leading researcher at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Grigory Beskin stated the following: “The main problem is that we do not know where to look. Our radio telescope - one of the most powerful in the world - has received many signals that cannot yet be explained. Perhaps their source is natural phenomena unknown to us. But it is possible that this is a manifestation of the activity of another civilization. The age of the universe is 15 billion years, the age of the solar system is 4.5-5 billion. Most stars are much older than the "earthly" Sun. And if there are civilizations somewhere, then they are much more "mature" than us. If they are also looking for contacts, then they can use different methods, to which we have not yet grown up. I am afraid that we earthlings"Small", almost undeveloped, and yet we do not understand at what level we should look for reasonable contacts."
We exist in anomaly
Already more and more astronomers believe that the structure of the solar system is abnormal. And the most daring scientists say: our world was created artificially. Why did this opinion arise? An employee of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Leonid Ksanfomality says this as follows: “To date, 168 planets have been discovered in 144 star systems. And there, they have, planetary systems are built according to the following principle: the largest planet is located closer to its star. There is a clear pattern: the smaller the planet, the further it is from its star. We have small Mercury "spinning" near the Sun. And the orbits of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn pass far from our star. Of course, there are scientific models that support this anomalous location. But in practice, astronomers have not found similar systems in telescopes."
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Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. It is also possible that there are systems of a similar structure. After all, the sky is endless. Humanity has studied only the smallest - the smallest part of it. But, you see, an interesting fact.
Sergey Yazev, an employee of the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, spoke in the same spirit: “A couple of years ago, only a scientist who did not care about his reputation could“blame”extraterrestrial civilizations on interference in the structure of the solar system. But then how to understand all these anomalies? Of course, each of them can find some kind of scientific rational explanation, build a model. But in practice, stellar systems similar to our solar have not yet been discovered. Perhaps, when stronger telescopes appear, everything will change, but now a model of artificial interference can be assumed as an explanation. If we assume that intelligent life in the Universe necessarily exists, then this version is no worse than others. And not necessarily "brothers in mind" purposefully "built" our system the way it turned out. Maybe,all anomalies are a by-product of some incomprehensible actions of representatives of a foreign civilization."
Is life possible in extraterrestrial conditions?
For many years it has been argued that the Earth is a unique planet. Life arose here due to the amazingly developed natural conditions: the atmosphere, water, vegetation that absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, and so on. Today, the outlook of scientists about life in other conditions has expanded significantly.
According to the observations of astronomers, most of the planets of known star systems are giants like Jupiter. They have a very high temperature, and the oxygen content is scanty. However, scientists suggest that life is possible even in such destructive conditions for earthlings.
Alexei Topunov, a researcher at the Institute of Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, gave the following arguments in defense of alien life: “A billion years ago, when life was just beginning here, there was also very little oxygen in the atmosphere. From any nearby star, the Earth would be defined as oxygen-free. "Life-giving" gas appeared only when plants began to release it as a result of photosynthesis. Yes, now the inhabitants of our planet cannot survive without oxygen. But there are organisms on Earth that use nitrogen, sulfur and even iron instead of oxygen. There are few of them, they are rudiments of ancient times. But I admit that during the origin of life on Earth they were more numerous and were in equal conditions with the "oxygen" ones. It's just that the latter, for some reason, won the battle for a place under the Sun and began to rebuild the Earth for themselves. And if others won,then we were breathing not oxygen, but nitrogen or, for example, hydrogen sulfide. The lack of oxygen on the planet does not mean at all that it is lifeless. As for the high temperature, there are microorganisms on Earth that live on volcanoes, in hot thermal springs. They managed to adapt to temperatures of 100-150 °. I cannot imagine a creature living in a thousand degrees of heat, but this does not mean that such creatures cannot exist. We need to develop an alternative biochemistry to the earth. To take a planet with any conditions and not just compare it with the Earth, but try to understand what forms of life could develop on it. "in hot thermal springs. They managed to adapt to temperatures of 100-150 °. I cannot imagine a creature living in a thousand degrees of heat, but this does not mean that such creatures cannot exist. We need to develop an alternative biochemistry to the earth. To take a planet with any conditions and not just compare it with the Earth, but try to understand what forms of life could develop on it. "in hot thermal springs. They managed to adapt to temperatures of 100-150 °. I cannot imagine a creature living in a thousand degrees of heat, but this does not mean that such creatures cannot exist. We need to develop an alternative biochemistry to the earth. To take a planet with any conditions and not just compare it with the Earth, but try to understand what forms of life could develop on it."
Is there life on Mars and our other planets?
Aleksey Topunov, mentioned above, believes that life is possible on Mars. After all, there was water, rivers flowed. True, the planet has a large difference in day and night temperatures (from +10 to -100 °), so the ideal habitat on the Red Planet is the deep layers of the soil. The scientist does not claim that a highly developed race of "green humanoids" is hiding there, but some kind of simple life can still exist.
Scientists also suggest that life is possible at great depths of high-temperature Venus and Mercury. There are some living beings in the upper layers of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and also on Neptune. Neptune is a ball of frozen water. And on earth's glaciers in the mountains, the simplest microorganisms live and reproduce calmly. Why can't something like this live on Neptune?
According to astronomers, the most promising in terms of detecting intelligent life are the moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Calisto. There is an atmosphere here, and due to the proximity to Jupiter, active seismic activity is taking place on the satellites, volcanoes erupt, so an acceptable temperature remains on the surface.
And finally, one more surprising fact. In 1969, the American Apollo 12 spacecraft landed on the moon near Surveyor 3, which had landed two years earlier. Astronauts disassembled the apparatus and delivered part of the mechanisms to Earth. Imagine the surprise of the scientists when, on the details of the Surveyor, they found terrestrial bacteria that had lived safely for two years on the Moon, in airless space!
Mikhail Ershov. Secrets of the 20th century magazine