What Finding Alien Life Could Mean for Earth Imagine that
tomorrow morning scientists tell the world they’ve found
evidence for a colony of aliens living only 35 million miles
from Earth. Do you think your neighbors would wig out - stocking
up on Ramen noodles, and secluding themselves and the family
schnauzer in the basement? Or do you believe most folks would
simply mutter “whatever,” and go back to checking out new
Facebook friends? The question’s not altogether fatuous, because
this kind of discovery could happen soon, thanks to the efforts
of astrobiologists - researchers who study the origin, nature
and distribution of life. Although we still haven’t found any
biological activity elsewhere, it’s hardly inconceivable that
before your car gets its next oil change, robot spacecraft could
discover a horde of microbes hidden beneath the Martian sands.
Or maybe a few years down the road, some astrobiology experiment
will stumble across alien pond scum floating in Titan’s rime-
frosted lakes, or pick up a radio