Scientists simulate an Earth without life to help hunt for aliens and inhabited worlds
To aid in distinguishing between habitable and inhabited planets, planetary scientist Samantha Gilbert-Janizek of the University of California, Riverside, developed a model that simulates the evolution of a rocky planet without life.
Key points
- That calibration gives us confidence that future simulations of exoplanets will be accurate." While any deviation from what is predicted by the model will not necessarily mean there is definitely life on a planet, it will help pick out those worlds that are worthy of follow-up studies by the next generation of telescopes.
- An illustration shows the landscape of a primordial Earth before life arose as lightning splits the skies (Image credit: Robert Lea (created with Canva)) What makes the simulation especially useful is its plug-and-play nature.
- "After more than a decade of work by many scientists, Dr Gilbert-Janizek has finally completed a model of the Earth that simultaneously reproduces properties of Earth’s core, mantle, surface and atmosphere.
A new computer simulation that depicts Earth, or a rocky planet in general, without life is the latest tool in the quest to discover whether or not we are alone in the universe.
Additional details
- If the result is a planet with an atmosphere that matches what is detected spectroscopically by the James Webb Space Telescope or, in the future, the various extremely large 30-meter-plus ground-based telescopes or NASA’s planned Habitable Worlds Observatory, then we know that planet probably does not have life as we know it.
- "When we interpret observations of an exoplanet’s atmosphere, this tool will help us determine the probability that what we observe indicates life on the surface," said Gilbert-Janizek.
- However, if the simulated planet without life does not match what we observe on the real planet, then it becomes possible that life is present and altering the atmosphere.
- Some are obvious, while others can be produced by both biology and geology, meaning that distinguishing a planet that has life from one that does not, solely based on what gases we can detect in its atmosphere, can be difficult.
- "The model can help us see how habitable but non-living planets might mimic living planets," Gilbert-Janizek, who was a PhD student at the University of Washington when the research was conducted, said in a statement.
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