Skip to main content

Forget Searching for Individual Biosignatures. Instead, Find Their Patterns

This artist's illustration symbolizes the search for individual chemicals that are biosignatures. But new research shows how fruitless this search might be, and how searching for statistical patterns in amino acids and lipids could be the way forward in the search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. Image Credit: NASA

The search for life elsewhere focuses on biosignatures. These are chemicals in atmospheres that can only be attributed to life. But despite the prowess of the JWST, finding slam-dunk proof of life on other worlds is a confounding exercise. New research suggests that rather than focus on individual chemicals, we should look for statistical patterns.



from Universe Today https://ift.tt/IjsDxp6
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment