Live Science highlights some of the most notable research and discoveries in the ongoing quest for extraterrestrial life that astronomers around the world are tirelessly pursuing.
1. Black Holes Hide “Super” Civilizations
Dyson Sphere – a hypothetical energy-harvesting structure proposed by scientists over half a century ago – may have been successfully invented and utilized by extraterrestrials – (Photo: Marc Ward)
A study published in July 2021 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society warns that astronomers are overly focused on searching for Earth-like planets while neglecting a potentially life-rich world: black holes.
A black hole can provide energy up to 100,000 times that of a star like our Sun, which could be harnessed by nearby extraterrestrial civilizations using a high-tech structure known as a Dyson Sphere. Therefore, worlds surrounding black holes deserve more attention.
2. Don’t Search for Earth-like Planets!
A study published in August 2021 in the Astrophysical Journal asserts that “Hycean” planets—large oceanic planets 2.5 times the size of Earth with hydrogen-rich atmospheres—are extremely suitable environments for extremophilic microbial life, similar to life forms we have found underground, beneath ice-covered lakes, and in volcanic vents on Earth. Hycean planets are much more common than Earth-like planets.
World on a Hycean Planet – (Photo: Amanda Smith/Nikky Madhusudhan)
3. Enceladus Must Harbor Life!
A study published in June 2021, based on evidence of methane emissions from Saturn’s moon Enceladus collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, confirms that the impressive “tiger stripes” of this moon are regions ejecting water ice particles into space, carrying a range of organic compounds. This is also where life is believed to exist beneath the subsurface ocean.
4. Is Oumuamua an Alien Probe?
This claim has been supported by multiple layers of evidence presented over the years, particularly in a 2021 book by astronomer Avi Loeb from Harvard University. Oumuamua is a cigar-shaped asteroid proven to be an object from outside our solar system. Dr. Loeb and his colleagues provide evidence suggesting its behavior is highly unusual, and they believe it may be a disguised technological product from an extraterrestrial civilization.
5. Thousands of Worlds Have Witnessed Human Evolution?
Earth Viewed from Space – (Photo: ISS).
A study published in the journal Nature in June 2021 indicates that from stars located 300 light-years away, there are at least 1,700 planets that could potentially harbor life capable of observing Earth. The research led by Associate Professor Lisa Kaltenegger from the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University asserts that many of these planets may possess civilizations far more advanced than ours, capable of observing human evolution while our technology remains too primitive to communicate with them.
