They’re shooting for the stars.
Scientists have developed a laser that could detect extraterrestrial life in outer space, which could speed up the decades-long quest to find other beings “on faraway moons and planets.”
The NASA-backed research conducted at the University of Maryland shows that the laser technology could potentially identify signs of life and analyze materials from other planets.
The study was published Monday in the Nature Astronomy journal.
“The good thing about a laser source is that anything that can be ionized can be analyzed,” lead study author Ricardo Arevalo, an associate professor of geology at the University of Maryland, said in a statement. “If we shoot our laser beam at an ice sample, we should be able to characterize the composition of the ice and see biosignatures in it.”
“This tool has such a high mass resolution and accuracy that any molecular or chemical structures in a sample become much more identifiable,” he added.
This new system is made up of laser desorption mass spectometry (LDMS) technology, which can remove morsels of materials from a sample, and one “Orbitrap,” an analyzer that can determine the chemistry of the mystery material.
But for the technology to work successfully onboard a spacecraft, it had to be shrunken down to just 17 pounds.
First, the researchers shrunk a commercial-only system, then developed one fit for space travel over the course of eight years.
“The Orbitrap was originally built for commercial use,” said Arevalo.
“You can find them in the labs of pharmaceutical, medical and proteomic industries,” he added. “The one in my own lab is just under 400 pounds, so they’re quite large, and it took us eight years to make a prototype that could be used efficiently in space —significantly smaller and less resource-intensive, but still capable of cutting-edge science.”
The hope is that this system can detect and confirm alien life, as indicated by complex compounds.
Previously, scientists have used different methods to identify life elsewhere in our galaxy, such as looking for traces of methane or detecting radio energy. In fact, just last year, experts discovered a planet that may be the perfect atmosphere for life, as it was located in the Goldilocks habitability of its dying sun – not too hot nor too cold – and even had water.
Already existing systems have only detected simpler, smaller compounds like amino acids, but they aren’t necessarily indicative of life forms. But this laser-based method, as detailed in the study published in the journal “Nature Astronomy,” is even more precise.
“We know now that larger and more complex molecules, like proteins, are more likely to have been created by or associated with living systems,” Arevalo said. “The laser lets us study larger and more complex organics that can reflect higher fidelity biosignatures than smaller, simpler compounds.”
While UFO sightings in our galaxy have baffled civilians and alluded to life beyond our stratosphere, these scientists want to go even farther than what our naked eye can see from Earth.
The next step for the researchers is to attempt to use the technology in real-time space ventures, specifically into the outer solar system, where researchers have attempted to find other life forms, as well as moon explorations.
“I view this prototype as a pathfinder for other future LDMS and Orbitrap-based instruments,” said Arevalo. “Our mini Orbitrap LDMS instrument has the potential to significantly enhance the way we currently study the geochemistry or astrobiology of a planetary surface.”
The study follows statements by the Pentagon made just last month claiming there is no sign of “alien” life out there.
“We have not seen anything, and we’re still very early on, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin,” Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, said in December 2022.
But it clearly hasn’t stopped the pursuit. Regardless, scientists from the group SETI, standing for the “search for extraterrestrial intelligence,” claims humanity cannot afford to be unprepared for alien contact – if and when it happens.
“Will we ever get a message from E.T.? We don’t know,” Dr. John Elliott, a computer scientist and the SETI Post-Detection Hub coordinator, previously said. “We also don’t know when this is going to happen. But we do know that we cannot afford to be ill-prepared — scientifically, socially and politically rudderless — for an event that could turn into reality as early as tomorrow and which we cannot afford to mismanage.”