What Finding Alien Life Could Mean For Earth

What Finding Alien Life Could Mean for Earth

By Seth Shostak
Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute
posted: 19 February 2009
8:12 am ET

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 signal beamed earthward from the star system Gliese 581.

The impact of such news would be significant and, at this point, largely unknown. So to get a better grip on how astrobiological discoveries would play out, the SETI Institute and the NASA Astrobiology Institute recently held a three-day workshop to bring together scientists, ethicists, historians, lawyers, anthropologists, and the media to consider the societal consequences of this type of research.

It's obvious that three days of conversation is thoroughly inadequate for gauging the cultural repercussions of astrobiology's wide range of research. So Margaret Race, the organizer of the event and a scientist at the SETI Institute, suggested that the forty-and-more participants simply devise a "roadmap" - a reconnaissance of the issues, if you will. What should we be studying in this field? As the traveling salesmen in The Music Man insisted, "you've got to know the territory."

Well, let me tell you: the territory is immense, and encompasses such dramatic and controversial conundrums as protecting ourselves from errant asteroids (is it OK to deflect an incoming rock just enough to keep it from pulverizing your own country but let it wallop, say, western China?) and dealing with the possibility of synthetic life, cooked up in a lab (should there be controls on such research?)

I won't even try to survey the field. But I will offer an example that will keep your brain warm if you ponder it during your ride to work. It's the scenario that began this short essay, and it will give you some flavor of the type of problems foreseen by the workshop participants.

It goes like this. As zealous followers of space research know, there's now good evidence for methane floating above the Martian landscape in several regions of the planet. Now there are only two straightforward explanations for this gas: (1) the methane is the consequence of geological activity, such as volcanism, or (2) it's produced by bacteria-like microbes under the surface. Suppose we were to discover that biology, not geology, is making the methane. This would be big news, because after centuries of imaginative speculation, we would have found real Martians.

Now consider the long-term problems this would pose. Mars, rather than being a natural place for humankind to explore and exploit, would take on a different mien. Suddenly we'd know it has natives.

So what do we do about that? Some would say, "Hey, these Martians are mindless and miniscule. We don't worry about earthworms at a building site. We won't worry about these guys." Of course, samples of this life would be made available for scientific scrutiny, but that's a different, and short-term, matter. Once the inhabitants had been cataloged and crated, Mars would be open for business. After all, isn't it human destiny to spread out? Surely we wouldn't let a messy mass of microbes interfere with our efforts to colonize the Red Planet.

Or would we? Others might say, "Look, the planet has its own ecosystem. Leave it alone. We'll turn Mars into a nature preserve." If, like NASA's Chris McKay, you think that life is special and should be encouraged, you might wish to intervene to give the indigenous Martian life a helping hand; to let it flourish in a way that's clearly beyond what it's doing now. In other words, not merely preserve the Martians' habitat, but improve it.

Those who cotton to third-way approaches might consider fencing off Mars' inhabited real estate (assuming that it doesn't lace the entire planet), and limiting human intrusion. It's unclear, of course, how well this would work, and in any case, any long-term terraforming project would change the climate in the "Martian territories" as well as the rest of this world.

So what would you do? What should humanity do, and how will it decide? And even if there was some sort of international agreement, who would be tasked with enforcing it?

These are not easy questions to answer, and the organizers of the workshop thought it worth getting a head start before the headlines arrive. Consider the reluctance of Nicolaus Copernicus to publish his work a half-millennium ago. Fearful of the reaction of religious zealots, he initially did no more than circulate a small book, without his name on it, outlining his ideas. His magnum opus, De Revolutionibus Orbeum Coelestium, hit the shelves (and, according to popular account, his deathbed) much later. Similarly, Charles Darwin delayed publication of his evolutionary theories, worrying that they would discomfit readers because humankind would no longer be so exceptional. Societal reaction can matter.

The fact is that much of what scientists do won't change your life very much. A lot of it is like numismatics or canning fruit: specialized activities with only modest cultural impact. But if we find life of any kind beyond Earth, everyone's going to notice, and our descendants will be affected in profound ways. Exactly how they'll be affected deserves our consideration now.

Video - Figure the Odds of E.T.
Video - Reflections on Fermi's Paradox
UFOs - Flying Emotions


Comments (57)
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Rascal_sage wrote:
"Is it OK to deflect an incoming rock just enough to keep it from pulverizing your own country but let it wallop, say, western China?"

Since China is financing most of my country's deficit spending, that is a real dilema.
.3 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 8:34:18 AM.RachaelWhitney wrote:
the alien in the picture above is SEXYYYYYYYYYYYYY
.3 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 8:44:26 AM.mduncan36 wrote:
I think most societies on Earth would deal with the news of life elsewhere without falling apart. If nothing else we have been conditioned by popular culture to believe it already exists. Being intimately familiar with fundamentalist Christianity, it has long been pointed out that God doesn't say in the Bible that there isn't life anywhere else. What does concern me will be the usual whack-jobs of whatever belief system that will claim this is part of an attempt to devalue their faith. For example, what will happen if the Taliban says this is merely an attempt to lure people from God? This will be very powerful and upsetting stuff to certain people.
.3 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 8:46:39 AM.Danzi wrote:
What would we do if Mars did actually have 'Martians' . . . well i think we should colonise a part of the planet, and leave the rest to carry on with its natural life, and let the planet evolve naturally, so if man wants to venture onto the planet and away from the colony, then they have a limited period, and no 'Earth Germs' to be allowed on the planet at all.
But before we went if there were Bacteria, we would have to make sure that we would die from them as soon as we touched down. It would be somthing out bodys have never encountered, and could cause are bodys serious damage.
Then there is also the dilema of Animals. Do we take them with us, or are they strictly Earth bound, i mean, it wouldnt do any bacteria any good if there was dog mess all over the place, or they could thrive on it . . . who knows.

Well as for the asteroid, surley if its big enough that you need to deflect it, then you will still feel the impact where ever you are on Earth, and still face serious conciquenced from the impact. If possible, deflecting it back into space is more feesable as then the whole planet is safe. If they have to sacrifice a part of this planet to be hit, surly its a no brainer to have it hit a large desert in Africa where there is little or no people.

.1 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 8:50:04 AM.HelloBozos wrote:
only way we'd exsept them is if they coming to save us from something,other wize,it's religon,race,an terrestrial place wars
.0 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 8:50:40 AM.TD wrote:
No one freaked out when Slipher announced simple plant life on Mars over 50 years ago, or when Sinton discovered spectroscopic signatures of organic compounds on Mars at about the same time....most people just don't care. The only folks that seem to get excited are scientsts that want to "protect" whatever life is there. And if there are indications of life on Mars, and if it is being kept secret, or even just delayed, from society by some small group of scientists, (whoever they are), there are going to be a lot of angry people running around. And society's trust in science will fall even lower at a time when issues like global warming need some level of trust.
.10 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 8:51:11 AM.Gerrit_smit_br wrote:
The best way to protect alien life is to not go there, not stick fingers in the alien soil, and not bring samples back.
.0 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 9:01:52 AM.jollie849 wrote:
Seth, the pond scum has been discovered!! It's a colony of lawyers!! It continues to infect us every moment and we've yet to find an antidote!!!!!!!!!!!! Help us all.
.5 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 9:10:04 AM.Stockeraties wrote:
Face it, if we could thrive on another planet then something else will already be there, pretty much fact. So if we do want to expand the race then I am afraid that the other life comes second!
.3 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 9:10:12 AM.MartianSam wrote:
It was a broadly-held idea in theological circles for many decades that God would show his creativity by creating life everywhere. Some theologians in France and Germany speculated on this since Copernicus.

The better question is that Mars is not black and white - there is a third zone which is life from Earth to Mars carried over by meteors millions of years ago. Fortunately, some flightworthy instruments are able to initially determine by the handedness of amino acids if there is life, roughly how decade or active, and should the handedness be different, if it is alien, or should I say native, in origin. And what if we find native life there, that opens up a possiblity that native mars life has been transported HERE and we either accept it as native to Earth or it exists in a parallel ecosystem we have so far not discovered. What then?
And what if it all exists at least 4 meters underground - how does that impact settlement when we, too, need to be at least 4 meters under to protect from cosmic rays (my suggestion, grab the top meter and push it over the habs).
I do not agree with those who say we should collect our landers and go home. They should be sterilized in place and left as monuments to our explorations there, and future landers should be fully sterilized prior to departure.
.0 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/19/2009 9:23:16 AM.Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6Leave a Comment

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