Question

Many astronomers have spent their entire career attempting to definitively answer the question "Are we alone?". To date, we have found no other life forms. Discuss the type of efforts made to date to answer this question and the results of those efforts. Within our solar system, what are the best candidates for harboring life? Aside from the scientific evidence, what are your views regarding life beyond Earth and the basis for why you feel that way?

Answer 1

Answer:

Astrobiologists have put in tremendous efforts till now in the search for extra-terrestrial life. They are searching not only for tremendously developed life forms like humans, but also for microbes that are found to inhabit even the harshest of environments on Earth. Due to the tremendous development in technology, the odds of finding life beyond Earth are increasing day by day. Nasa's Kepler mission was launched to hunt for Earth like planets beyond our Solar System, and till now this mission has established the presence of 2,337 exoplanets, along with 1,284 new planets. This hugely increases the chances of finding another Earth like planet outside the limits of our Solar system. NASA's Astrobiology researchers are presently studying the most severe environments on Earth for improved understanding of the kind of conditions that would be able to support life in every part of the universe. Moreover, programs for instance SETI are keeping an eye on the galaxy for electromagnetic communications occurring or situated between stars from the societies on new worlds.

There is still a tremendous possibility to find life in our solar system. By the discovery of life forms in the extreme environments here on Earth, scientists have realized that the presence of solar energy is not an absolute necessity for the subsistence of life. Energy from chemical reactions can also trigger the organic elements to interact and start the formation of life. In the Solar system, Jupiter's moons Io and Europa and Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan have been realized to the very strong candidates for the presence of microscopic life forms.

Explanation:

I hold a very optimistic view on the presence of life beyond Earth. It is highly probable that life on Earth is not an exceptional case but it should be a general one in the Universe. While we are always excited to imagine that we might encounter species as much developed or more highly developed than us, there is very good chance that the Universe is teeming with microscopic life forms. Also, to discover another intelligent life form would also be highly welcome.