Alien Life Could Look Nothing Like What We Expect. Here's...

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: Like the lead character of “Project Hail Mary,” some scientists are proposing ways that life might exist beyond a star’s “habitable zone,” often considered the gold standard of potential livability Alien Life Could Look Nothing Like What We Expect.

Heres How Microbes Beyond Earth Might Live Without Liquid Water Like the lead character of “Project Hail Mary,” some scientists are proposing ways that life might exist beyond a star’s “habitable zone,” often considered the gold standard of potential livability McKenzie Prillaman - Assistant Digital Editor, Science & Innovation 7:00 a. An artist s illustration of the exoplanet HD 219134 b, a rocky world about 21 light-years from Earth. (wild, right?)

This scorching planet, which orbits deadass close to its host star, might have a partially molten surface and volcanoes.

The Details

NASA / JPL-Caltech Every known living thing on Earth needs water. The life-giving liquid makes up around 60 percent of each human’s body weight, regulating temperature, transporting nutrients to cells and protecting organs.

Plants need it to make their own food, and fungi use it to break down organic matter. Water is so crucial that the search for life, particularly beyond our solar system, often homes in on a specific region around a star known as its “habitable zone.

Why This Matters

” That’s the space where a rocky planet, moon or other body orbits at just the right distance so that its temperature and other factors might allow liquid water to pool on its surface. But it’s possible to imagine worlds that support life in other ways. In the science fiction novel Project Hail Mary , dropped as a film adaptation in theaters today, the main character, Ryland Grace, criticizes the idea of the habitable zone and suspects that liquid water is not necessary for life beyond Earth.

This could have implications for future research in this area.

Key Takeaways

• That proposal, deemed ridiculous , gets him laughed out of academia.
• Recent research, but, suggests that his idea might not be so out-there after all—at least when it comes to water on a planet or moon’s surface.

The Bottom Line

That proposal, deemed ridiculous , gets him laughed out of academia. Recent research, but, suggests that his idea might not be so out-there after all—at least when it comes to water on a planet or moon’s surface.

How do you feel about this development?