Are we alone in the universe? Perhaps, as scientists haven’t yet found any evidence of extraterrestrial life.
But now they have a new tool to help them, and it’s 10,000 times more sensitive than other detection methods we’ve previously sent to other planets.
When we do send rovers to places like Mars, they aren’t looking out for wandering martians, but chemical trails that hint at the building blocks of life.
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The automated vehicles sample the soil and ice for amino acids, which combine to form proteins, certain types of which are found in every cell of every living thing on Earth.
These researchers tried out their new tool in the incredibly salty Mono Lake in California, which acts as a stand-in for bodies of water on Mars or the solar system’s many moons.
The test could detect amino acid ‘biosignatures’, amino acid combinations probably resulting from living things, even in these harsh conditions.
The researchers think their test could be sent on missions to space destinations like Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons and Europa, one of Jupiter’s. Both are water-based – another factor scientists believe is essential for life.
However, even tools like this could miss clues about aliens. Scientists are only testing for substances like the ones that everything on Earth is made up of. If aliens are made of something else, they may well be missing the signs.
The paper was published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, and can be read here.
