Are Aliens Among Us?

Written by: Samuel K. Sloan (FarPoint Media Executive News Director)

In humankind’s constant search for life beyond our own planet by the use of spacefarying probes launched from Earth’s atmosphere, SETI’s mutil-billion dollar arrays listening to every sound coming from the cosmos, lunar probes, International Space Station experiments in orbit around us and those two hard-working roving robots, Spirit and Opportunity, on Mars, American Scientific magazine asks the question “Are Aliens Among Us?” Not out there, but right here on good ole’ planet Earth?

Scientists are currently searching for microbes that are radically different from all known organisms present on our planet with the purposes of finding evidence that life, perhaps intelligent life, arose on Earth more than once.

Science journalist Paul Davies writes a fascinating article in this upcoming December 2007 edition of Scientific American that probes the question that has remained unanswered, at least from a scientific perspective — “What is the origin of life?”

With recent discoveries, the old, over a quarter century theory, that life resulted from an accidental chemical fluke is now being questioned. Many scientists are now just as likely to accept the theory that all life is “written into the laws of nature.” That would mean that life could be everywhere, not only here but over there and way, way out there as well.

So, the new question for researchers is “which theory is likely to be the correct one?”

Davies’ article in Scientific American tackles this question and looks at all the possible answers including such ideas once considered pure science fiction, like the argument for alien intervention by a variety of means, whether accidental, like the idea that microbial life from Mars found its way to Earth via an asteroid or meteor impact, or (and this leads to another inquiry) were the building blocks of life, DNA, brought here by an advanced species of intelligent life, setting life on our planet on its current evolutionary path?

Nothing is left to chance for this endeavor as scientists widen their investigative research to include even the fields of the synthetic, or what can be termed intelligent artificial life — the kind of life we humans are currently creating in computerized robotics.

Davies even goes so far as to try and answer the hardest question of all — “What Is Life, Anyway?” His conclusion is interesting, to say the least.

Regardless of where one stands on the philosophical, scientific or religious point of view as it pertains to life, in all its forms, this article by Paul Davies can’t be dismissed and should be read by all who possess even a hint of intelligent life.