Could Extraterrestrials be Spreading Biological Life?

It is a well-known hypothesis (but not fully agreed upon) by astrobiologists that extraterrestrial life could have hitched a ride on some interstellar cometary objects like 3I/Atlas (the unusual elongated comet that entered our Solar System recently) that have entered ours and other solar systems. This theory is known as panspermia - and both Carl Sagan and Avi Loeb have postulated that the biological seeds of intelligent life may have arrived via these comets spreading the material in stellar systems.

Loeb has even suggested that extraterrestrials may be spreading life across the galaxy as a fertilization mission. You can read more here: Did 3I/ATLAS Deliver Extrasolar Life to Our Backyard?

Could Different Arrangements of Matter Become Conscious?

Well, it is interesting when philosophers jump in on extraterrestrial life. Pober & Schwitzgebel (2026) published a recent and very speculative paper arguing on how extraterrestrial consciousness could arise in different arrangements of matter (think of what biological constructs are needed for human consciousness to arise). Their logic is simple:

  P1: The universe contains at least a thousand different behaviorally sophisticated species
  P2: These species have substantially different substrates

  P3: Some of these species with substantially different substrates are conscious

  Conclusion: Therefore, consciousness is possible in substantially different substrates

Adding some other thoughts - each galaxy has over a million planets - combine to that a relaxation of the constraint that it must be the same substrates as on Earth. Interesting to speculate on, but in terms of the levels of argument, it's a Level 4.

You can read the paper here: Substrate Flexibility and the Copernican Principle of Consciousness

Detected Habitable Planets?

Yesterday I mentioned Barnard's Star having four exoplanets but none of them are in the estimated habitable zone defined for a red M-dwarf parent star. So, where are we currently at for detection of potentially habitable planets? The current estimates are approximately 70 out of 5000+ detected exoplanets that are more likely to have a rocky composition and support surface liquid water. These would have varying parent stars that would typically be like our own Sun (G-dwarf) or cooler (K or M dwarfs)

One of the Closest Stars to Earth has 4 Exoplanets

Did you know that Barnard’s Star - one of the closest stars to Earth at approximately 6 light years away currently has 4 confirmed exoplanets. Also known as Proxima Ophiuchi (in the constellation of Ophiuchus), it is a small, red M-dwarf star of about 16% the mass of the Sun and 18% of the Sun’s radius. These 4 small exoplanets are only about 30% the size of Earth and orbit Barnard’s Star about every 2.5 to 7 days (moving outward to each planet). Unfortunately these exoplanets are not the in the star’s habitable zone - but being only 6 light years away, it is a prime candidate for continuing exoplanet research.

A Brief History of SETI

Universe Today has done a very good series this month on SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). It’s well written and worth the read.

Here is the first part: A Brief-ish History of SETI. Part 1: "Where is Everybody?"

Exoplanet Explosive Growth

Well, recent news has shown the explosive growth in exoplanet discoveries in the last year - up over 650 since last Sept. The TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) output an all sky mosaic show both confirmed and potential exoplanet (5000+) systems. We’re now close to estimating that every star in the Milky Way has, on average, at least 2 planets - that’s 200+ billion planets in our own galaxy alone.

Certainly a Level 1 view of exoplanet science!

Are we really Nearing Disclosure of Extraterrestrials?

Well, the title says it all - can we really be near something definitive? There's been a lot of noise in the press recently starting with the Trump administration's announcements from the Dept of War and some more initial analysis here. Nevertheless, the first point to call out is that there are no references to the terms of “UFOs” (other than a small tag) or “extraterrestrials” in the government release notes. All text points to UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) - which implies the releases are still in the realm of anomalous objects that could originate anywhere. The primary quote being:

"The American people can now access the federal government's declassified UAP files instantly. The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place – no clearance required. While past administrations sought to discredit or dissuade the American people, President Trump is focused on providing maximum transparency to the public, who can ultimately make up their own minds about the information contained in these files."

 

Granted, you can search the released declassified documents for those terms. As far as I’ve been able to tell - nothing earth shattering has appeared. Both The Conversation and The Skeptic did a nice job reviewing this early release (from which I have to quote one author noting - “...absolutely nothing stands out beyond the usual blurry photographs, grainy videos, artist reconstructions, and countless stories about weird things in the sky and in space.”)  Scientific American also did a short overview noting a statement from Sean Kirkpatrick, "There’s nothing unexpected in their release. And without any analysis or context, [it] will only serve to fuel more speculation, conspiracy and armchair pseudoscience, particularly from the playhouse politics theater company..."

No matter your political affiliation it is readily apparent that the administration is attempting to appease critics complaints about not following through on some of the early campaign promises. This doesn’t imply, however, that national security would be compromised in any way if the US or any government entity had some strategic advantage from anything technological be it from other countries or extraterrestrial in origin - this being the most problematic part of disclosure.  

So here we sit again with just as much (if not more) speculation regarding extraterrestrial life. It's difficult to note whether this stands in Level 3 or Level 2 of the exoastronomy categorization - but, it mostly fits in Level 2 due to government classification and documentation.

You can go out and download the released material directly (as have thousands on social media that are full of speculation). I’m sure there’s more to come.  

Science Fairs and Exoastronomy

Last month I had the honor again to be a judge at the regional high school science fair comprised of students from the full metro area of the Twin Cities. There were over 200 projects across all disciplines from over 50 high schools (so great to see). Nevertheless, each year I'm usually disappointed (not in the projects) due to the fact that there is typically only one astronomical project in the program.

However, this year was an exception with 6 projects having astronomical ties including 2 that were specifically about exoplanet research. For me personally it was exciting to be able to interview the students on their approach and research. In the exoastronomy realm, one of the two projects focused on improving Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraphs (APLC) for direct exoplanet imaging and the other on comparisons of the K2-18b exoplanet's DMS spectra with other known spectral signatures in the HITRAN database.

Just amazing to see the creativity and good science coming out of our high schools!