Alien life could harbor on Planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres
Life can flourish in a 100
percent Hydrogen air, according to another study. The finding could totally
change our comprehension of how (and where) life may exist in the world.
For the analysis, a group
of And, amazingly, the microbes lived, showing how life could dwell in this
intense setting. (By comparison, hydrogen constitutes less than 1 part per
million of Earth's air, which is composed of mainly nitrogen.)
Assessing microbes
The microbes which
Seager "A few times more slowly for E. Coli and a few
hundred times more slowly for yeast," she explained. But she added
that "this isn't too surprising, because without oxygen the microbes
have to get all their food from fermentation, and that just doesn't yield as
much energy."
The experiment wasn't
Designed to reveal whether microbes may rely on hydrogen as a power supply.
Instead, the purpose was to demonstrate a 100% hydrogen atmosphere wouldn't
hurt or kill specific kinds of existence.
Looking into the stars
These findings are
Particularly important to the hunt for life since, even though they have not
discovered them yet, astronomers believe that there are probably large, rugged
exoplanets with sparse, hydrogen-rich atmospheres, Seager said.
"We don't know any
planets like that — yet," Seager said. "Theory says they should exist
… However, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, giant exoplanets [and] mini
Neptunes all have H2 [Hydrogen] and He [Helium] dominated atmospheres — though
no one thinks life is there."
Moving ahead,
understanding They can extend their gaze to search for these planets they may
have missed while making observations using present technology. Also, when
tools such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope start to space (the space
telescope is presently set to start at March 2021), they'll have the ability to
receive even greater observations.
This work was published on
May 4 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
