{"id":738,"date":"2020-10-28T11:44:20","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T11:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1325817"},"modified":"2020-10-28T11:44:20","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T11:44:20","slug":"we-keep-looking-for-aliens-but-are-aliens-looking-for-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=738","title":{"rendered":"We keep looking for aliens \u2014 but are aliens looking for us?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Could extraterrestrials find life on Earth? The question of whether or not life exists on other worlds suggests pondering if extraterrestrial beings might be able to find life on our home world.<\/p>\n

More than 4,500 exoplanets are currently known to astronomers, many of which were found as they orbited in front of their parent star as seen from Earth, dimming light from the stellar surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s reverse the viewpoint to that of other stars and ask from which vantage point other observers could find Earth as a transiting planet,\u201d Lisa Kaltenegger<\/a>, associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University\u2019s Carl Sagan Institute stated.<\/p>\n

Astronomers identified 1,004 stellar systems featuring a Sun-like star and exoplanets<\/a> orbiting within their habitable zone, with moderate temperatures.<\/p>\n

One key to the study was searching for worlds in line with the Earth\u2019s ecliptic \u2014 the plane drawn out by our planet as it orbits the Sun. Alien astronomers on worlds roughly in line with our orbit would see the Earth pass in front of the Sun.<\/p>\n

[Read: What audience intelligence data tells us about the 2020 US presidential election<\/span><\/a>]<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Something in the air<\/h2>\n
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\u201cI believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth.\u201d \u2014 Stephen Hawking<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Light passing through our atmosphere would reveal the presence of large concentrations of oxygen<\/a>, along with methane and other gases revealing life on our world.<\/p>\n

Astronomers are just now developing the ability to search the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars, looking for telltale signs of life. In the coming years, astronomers could find the chemical fingerprints of life on other worlds.<\/p>\n

In the video below, Lisa Kaltenegger of Cornell University discusses her study of worlds where extraterrestrials may be able to detect life on Earth. (Video credit: Cornell University)<\/p>\n