Astronomy 2021A/B Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Methane, Patricia Briggs, Astrobiology
2 Oct 2015
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What are we looking for exactly: is it: intelligent life portrayed in sci fi, more akin to the plants and animals we see in parks or zoos, or is it tiny bacteria like microbes, the simple answer to this question is all of the above , extraterrestrial life: life beyond earth, we are looking for any sign of life, be it simple, complex, or even intelligent. Why has scientific interest in life beyond earth exploded in the past few decades: although large, multi cellular life in our solar system seems unlikely anywhere but on earth, new discoveries in both planetary science and biology have given us some reason to think that simpler life perhaps tiny microbes might yet exist on other planets and moons that orbit our sun, we have only recently gained concrete evidence telling us that the universe is full of planets as well as stars (we already knew this)
