Aliens and Tardigrades

We have all heard stories of mysterious UFO sightings and I’m sure most of you don’t believe them, however are there actually other life forms out there? I believe the answer to that question is yes.

If you think about it statistically, it is almost certain that there are other forms of life out there somewhere. The radius of our observable universe (The observable universe is how much of the universe we can see in each direction, so Earth is the centre of our observable universe) is 46 billion light years and just one light year is roughly 10 trillion kilometres. What I’m trying to say is the observable universe is big, really, really big. And the observable universe could just be a tiny section of the actual universe. This means that because there are so many planets orbiting stars it is highly likely that on one of them there is some form of life, possibly even sentient life.

We have already found other planets and moons which have an atmosphere and may possibly be able to support life, in fact we have found other planets and moons within our own solar system which may have or may have once been able to support life. The most famous example is of course Mars. Now I’m not saying that there are little green men running around on Mars but I do acknowledge the pact that given that Mars once had an environment that could sustain water flow. We know that there is currently frozen water on Mars. If you think about it an environment like this could have very probably supported single cell life forms, maybe even more.

Less known is the 6^th moon of Jupiter Europa. Europa has a mostly oxygen atmosphere and is has an iron core and the surface is mostly composed of ice. Nobody knows if there is liquid water underneath the surface or not but it is entirely plausible. This means it is also entirely plausible for Europa to have sustained or currently sustain some form of life.

There are at least 3 objects in our solar system alone that do, or might have in the past sustained life. Therefore is overwhelmingly possible for there to be other forms of life. I can’t comment as to whether this life would be sentient or not or have at least evolved into animals or developed plant life. In fact thinking about the statistical probability I think it is quite plausible that there is other sentient life and it is my hope that someday we will be able to communicate with them.

Now I want to talk about some amazing microscopic creatures called “Tardigrades” these little creatures, also known as water bears, have been taken into the vacuum of space and left there completely exposed for 10 days. (A project called “Tardigrades in space” also known as “T.A.R.D.I.S.”) Now for any other known living being that would have killed them instantly, however when they retrieved these Tardigrades and brought them back to earth, they found that they were still alive! Not only that but they were happily swimming and some of them even made little Tardigrade babies. This ability to survive in the vacuum of space has given weight to the theory of Panspermia, which is the theory that originally basic life forms arrived on planet Earth from out of space and from there have evolved to form life as we know it.

So whilst I don’t think little green men have come down to earth in flying saucers, I do believe that there are other forms of life out there, maybe even other sentient beings. I hope one day that science will evolve enough to allow us to find these species and possibly communicate with them.
What do you think about the Panspermia theory? Food for thought! :3
DFTBA