Back in 2012, a team of leading astrophysicists reported on Arxiv that 100,000 rogue, free-floating planets might exists for for every star in the Milky Way, which could put the number of nomad planets in the quadrillions. They suggested that it could be that nomad planets play a dynamic role in spreading life throughout universe: if life can exist without the warmth of a nearby sun, it raises the possibility that, along with sustaining life, nomad planets could be transporting life as well.
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“For most of human history, the question of whether or not life exists elsewhere has belonged only within the philosophical realm. It’s only in recent years that we have had the modeling tools and observational technology to address this question,” said Northwestern’s Howard Chen, future investigator in NASA Earth & Space Science & Technology and first author of the research team that is the first to combine 3D climate modeling with atmospheric chemistry to explore the habitability of planets around M dwarf stars, which comprise about 70% of the total galactic population.
The discovery of the language of life, an ancient, long molecule called DNA with eight nucleotide letters suitable for storing and transmitting information, was a breakthrough in our knowledge of the range of possibilities necessary for life on Earth and beyond. Now, new studies suggest that alternatives to DNA-based life, as we know it on Earth, may be possible on other worlds.
The “Planet Earth Report” connects you to headline news on the science, technology, discoveries, people and events changing our planet and the future of the human species.