Alien Life Could Already Be Here!

Never mind Mars, alien life may be thriving right here on Earth, a major science conference has heard.

Our planet may harbour forms of "weird life" unrelated to life as we know it, according to Professor Paul Davies, a physicist at Arizona State University.

This "shadow life" may be hidden in toxic arsenic lakes or in boiling deep sea hydrothermal vents, he says.

He has called on scientists to launch a "mission to Earth" by trawling hostile environments for signs of bio-activity.

Weird life could even be living among us, in forms which we don't yet recognise, he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Chicago.

"We don't have to go to other planets to find weird life.

"It could be right in front of our noses - or even in our noses," said the physicist.

"It is entirely reasonable to expect we will find a shadow biosphere here on Earth.

"But nobody has actually taken the trouble to look.

"The question is why? The cost is not expensive - it would be a fraction of the money we spend searching for extraterrestrial life." ...

this is a link to the rest of the article:

news.bbc.co.uk...

and a link to a related thread I started last year which may make for interesting reading if this caught your imagination at all:

www.abovetopsecret.com...


I know its not strictly about UFO's or Extra Terrestrials but it makes for an interesting and thought provoking read anyway. Particularly with regard to expanding the horizon of the search for E.T. life.


Keep Rockin'

Digdeep

This is another related thread from ATS that I was reading recently.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I've always wondered if we have life just above our atmosphere, similar to how we can have life in deep seas, why not just above our atmosphere, I mean just imagine, it's not so crazy, right?

like these guys?

www.youtube.com...

www.youtube.com...

there is even a couple on NASA footage and confirmed sightings from astronauts. What they are is anyones guess though!

shame this one didnt take off, ithought it was quite interesting. especially coupled with the 1st RNA to be manufactured in a lab a couple of days ago.

i guess im just too mainstream for you guys!

If it's already on planet earth, then why is it considered "alien"? Do you mean this "life" came from another planet and is currently here on earth now?

no i mean it is a completely different form of life from those that we are used to. aliens don't necessarily come from other planets. not to be confused with extra terrestrials, who do.

welcome to ATS!

reply to post by digdeep


I think Cagalli has a point....

Catchy thread title, though. Should get some decent foot traffic?

Basically, what your OP is pointing out is the fact that there exist a form of life known as 'extremophiles'. I found a 'google' reference saying they were only discovered as recently as the 1970s.

Saw a really cool IMAX film at the San Diego Balboa Park some years back, about life forms that thrive near lava vents in the deep, deep sea. Wish I could remember the title.

reply to post by digdeep


Whats Paul Davies agenda............Kiddies why waste money looking for weird and wonderful things outta space when you can look for it here?

reply to post by weedwhacker



lol I lifted the title straight out of the news article!! As for extremophiles, they are an interesting example although not exactly whats being referred to. I think he may be looking for us to think even further outside the box.

It's definitely possible, humans have a hard trouble getting over the 'human scale', everything has to be scaled up or scaled down to our size, that way we become easily familiar with the item, since we are creatures that are terrified of the unknown.

It makes sense, but it's also holding us back as a species.

Originally posted by starfemme1
reply to post by digdeep

 

Whats Paul Davies agenda............Kiddies why waste money looking for weird and wonderful things outta space when you can look for it here?

hidden agenda. lol have i inadvertantly triggered a new conspiracy theory?!

reply to post by digdeep


Oh my gosh!!!

I'm laughing at myself, because remember I mentioned the IMAX film?? Found it --- it is called "Aliens of the Deep"

You nailed it, Mr. dig!!

I really enjoyed it, maybe it's out online for free by now....

PS....James Cameron produced it....he's a big fan of underwater stuff.


EDIT: I didn't read all of the links, but what I find most exciting and interesting is that the mere fact of these lifeforms' existence lends a lot hope to the viability of life on many of the planets and moons in our own Solar System.

[edit on 5/14/0909 by weedwhacker]

Originally posted by Deus Ex Machina 42
It's definitely possible, humans have a hard trouble getting over the 'human scale', everything has to be scaled up or scaled down to our size, that way we become easily familiar with the item, since we are creatures that are terrified of the unknown.

It makes sense, but it's also holding us back as a species.

you are right even the most enlightened among us can be guilty of being blinded by our preconceptions.

reply to post by _Phoenix_


I know what you mean, I started a thread the other day that talked about something like that.

Life evolved from the sea to land; land to air would be the net logical step, then would come the evolution from our upper-atmosphere to life in space.

Some of the UFOs that are seen could actually be organisms that have evolved from life on the surface.

If you think of it as when you start progressing outwards from the center of the Earth the eco-systems change and, though different, are definitely livable by adapted life-forms - it wouldn't be so complicated:

1. Water is much more dense than air, yet life thrives in it and cannot survive on Earth (Most of it)

2. Air (atmosphere) is much less dense than water and life thrives in it too, but cannot survive in water (most of the time)

3. The upper atmosphere is much less dense, has a lot less pressure, and undoubtedly we couldn't survive in those conditions. That doesn't mean that there isn't a type of life-form that has adapted to life there.

It is quite plausable to think that, if there is a life-form existing in the upper-atmosphere, it couldn't survive on or near the surface because of the increased oxygen and pressure.

4. Outerspace, having no pressure or oxygen, would be the next step for evolution and, though it is much different than the previous 3, it is not too far a stretch to believe life could have adapted to such an enviroment over millions of years.

Life in the upper-atmosphere wouldn't neccassarily be as susceptible to devastion that occurs on the surface. Therefore it could have much more time to adapt than many Earth and ocean bound life.

We cannot survive, unassisted in either the oceans, the upper-atmosphere, or outerspace. Nature has proven that just because one life form cannot exist in one eco-system doesn't mean that there isn't life adapted to that particular system.

If this is the case the question must be turned to what this high-altitude life-form looks like, what it's biological make-up could be, and what happens to the body when it dies?

It's hard to say, since we don't spend much time up there or under water, what types of creatures have yet to be introduced into our awareness.

As odd as upper-atmosphere life-forms sound, there are surely equally odd life-forms below the surface of the oceans.

It would definitely be worth 10% of the space programs budget to find out what is going on under the 90 some-odd % of ocean and sea that hasn't been explored and documented.

Unless the world governments already have explored and know what is to be found. Maybe they don't want us to know what is down there, as many speculate this is where many of the UFOs originate from.

What a perfect place to have a base, in the middle of the ocean, away from nearly any type of population or prying eyes. This is where Google Earth should be pointed. I imagine if there are UFOs over our oceans that Google could manage to snap a shot of one while they are documenting the up-close photos.

Sorry for the long post, I do like this topic.

reply to post by esteay812


Excellent points from esteay812. Life is, lets face it, rampant on the earth. From the microbes which live in the lava vents to our house cat. There is a huge variety of diversification, so is too much of a reach to suggest that life evolved into the upper atmosphere and into space? Mammals evolved from the oceans and Dolphins evolved right back.

reply to post by esteay812


I am intrigued by your 'concentric theory of evolution. I don't know how true it might be but it seems to make sense on some level.

Originally posted by mithrawept
reply to post by esteay812

 

Mammals evolved from the oceans and Dolphins evolved right back.

i guess everything just evolves in a direction that works. not neccessarily always the most obvious direction, or even the most effective but the only prerequisite for evolution is that an organism can survivr for long enough to reproduce. as a result the one thing that can be asserted is that evolution will choose a path that ensures this will happen.

Hello everyone. Long time forum browser, first time poster. Anyway, to the point...

Originally posted by starfemme1
Whats Paul Davies agenda............Kiddies why waste money looking for weird and wonderful things outta space when you can look for it here?

Dr. Davies doesn't have to have some ulterior motive; he just wants to know the same fundamental question every human being who has looked up at the night sky has asked themselves. On that same token, we already know life exists on this planet, discovering strange life here, however interesting it may be, does nothing to answer that fundamental question.

reply to post by digdeep


Have you thought to look into the work of the brilliant Mr. Ivan T. Sanderson? He published a lovely little gem called Invisible Residents...very thought provoking

While I understand you're hinting more at the shadow Biosphere, a lot of Sanderson's work centralizes the idea that we're all looking in one direction for the things that are actually standing beside us

Invisible Residents



[edit on 15-5-2009 by starsyren]