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    Home > Biochemistry News > Biotechnology News > Researchers say the search for extraterrestrial life may have answers within 20 years

    Researchers say the search for extraterrestrial life may have answers within 20 years

    • Last Update: 2021-08-17
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    If you can overlook the Milky Way, you will see a huge spiral disk with a dense silver core and multiple spiral arms


    The sun on which we live is only one of the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way.



    The Drake formula is not a really good formula for quantifying the search possibilities of extraterrestrial civilization, but it gives the main concepts that scientists must consider in the process of studying this issue


    The first parameter, the number of stars in the Milky Way, has been estimated to be accurate to the order of hundreds of billions


    Since 1995, astronomers have detected 1,800 exoplanets orbiting sun-like stars


    So, which planets are more likely to have life? This involves the concept of a livable zone


    The next step is to look for markers of life on these terrestrial planets in the habitable zone, such as oxygen.


    Of course, all of the above are inferred based on our existing knowledge, and it may prove to be wrong in the end


    The distance between stars in the Milky Way is measured in light years, and the nearest is also a few light years away


    TMT may have epoch-making discoveries

    According to the different operating bands, it can be divided into gamma ray telescopes telescope, X-ray telescope, ultraviolet telescope, optical telescopes, infrared telescopes, radio telescopes and other types


    The detection of extraterrestrial life can be divided into two steps: the first step is to search for habitable terrestrial planets; the second step is to directly observe the searched samples to find markers of the existence of life


    The most effective searcher for terrestrial planets today is the Kepler satellite launched by NASA, but the Kepler satellite can only detect the size and cannot confirm the mass of the planet, so the result is called a "candidate"


    The direct observation of exoplanets presents even more extreme challenges to telescopes


    The next-generation ground-based large-scale optical-infrared telescope TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope), which is built by the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and India, will make great achievements in both aspects (of course, its capabilities will include but It is by no means limited to the detection of exoplanets)


    The race to discover new planets, especially terrestrial planets in the habitable zone, is ultimately a dispute over the telescope's light-gathering ability, resolution, and measurement accuracy


    The scientific instrument PFI (Planet Formation Instrument) in the TMT program can meet the two conditions of high resolution and high contrast at the same time.
    It can directly image the inner region of the planetary system to discover planets, directly observe planetary radiation, and study the process of planet formation
    .

    Current research on the atmosphere of exoplanets is limited to a few hot Jupiters with a revolution period of less than 10 days and a handful of hot super-Earths
    .
    Combining TMT's optical and infrared bands, high resolution and large aperture, long-period and low-mass atmospheric observations of habitable terrestrial planets will become possible
    .
    We will be able to find evidence of the existence of life such as oxygen, water, ozone, carbon, dioxide, methane, chlorophyll "red edge" phenomenon, or at least the environment in which life may be produced in the planetary spectrum
    .


    TMT will start construction this year at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, one of the world's best observatory sites, and is expected to be completed in 2022
    .
    In this huge international cooperative scientific project, China will have a 10% share, or about 1 billion yuan
    .
    These investments will mainly be used in the high-tech research and development of relevant domestic research institutes in the mode of "contribution in kind" that undertakes TMT construction tasks such as optical systems, laser guide star systems, and scientific instruments
    .
    The emergence of each generation of astronomical telescopes is the condensation of the world's most sophisticated technology at that time
    .
    Before establishing the observation time to share the corresponding share, we will first gain technical benefits
    .

    With the completion of TMT and the accumulation of observations, within 20 years, humans will most likely answer the question of whether there are other life in the galaxy
    .
    But please note: this is only the first step to discover the markers of the existence of life
    .
    As for what these beings look like and whether they have wisdom, further research is needed
    .

    Of course, if there is no discovery, it does not mean failure-it is also progress for science to exclude certain possibilities
    .
    We will adjust our thinking, re-examine whether the original theory is correct, and then look for other possible evidence based on the new theory
    .
    Test
    .
    Astronomers have taken a different approach, systematically conducting scientific research on the first four parameters, exploring the possibility of extraterrestrial life
    .

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