It was around a few days back that Dr Helen Sharman, who visited the Soviet Mir space station in May 1991, suggested the possibility of invisible alien forms that might be living among us on the earth. Now, Samantha Rolfe, a Lecturer in Astrobiology and Principal Technical Officer at Bayfordbury Observatory, University of Hertfordshire has talked about the possibility of alternate biochemistry, and the way in which this unknown biochemistry supports alien life.
Silicon-based alien life?
Rolfe made these comments in her recent article on The Conversation. In her article, Rolfe revealed that life may exist in a shadow biosphere, and due to limitations in modern technology, humans have not explored it.
"Life would exist in a "shadow biosphere". By that, I don't mean a ghost realm, but undiscovered creatures probably with different biochemistry. This means we can't study or even notice them because they are outside of our comprehension. Assuming it exists, such a shadow biosphere would probably be microscopic," wrote Rolfe.
As per Rolfe, silicon-based life could explain the existence of invisible alien life, as it is very similar to carbon, and has four electrons available for creating bonds with other atoms. "A popular suggestion for alternative biochemistry is one based on silicon rather than carbon. It makes sense, even from a geocentric point of view. Around 90% of the Earth is made up of silicon, iron, magnesium, and oxygen, which means there are lots to go around for building potential life," added Rolfe.
Rolfe believes that silicon-based aliens might be thriving on Saturn's moon Titan, or in other exoplanets. She also urged experts to think outside of the terrestrial biology box to detect such alien life forms.
Did advanced aliens visit earth?
However, Samantha Rolfe does not think advanced aliens that are technologically more advanced have visited the earth from the deep nooks of the universe. However, she made it clear that alien life forms might be harboring somewhere as carbon-based molecules were discovered on meteorites.
In the meantime, NASA chief scientist Dr Jim Green had recently predicted that alien life forms at least in its microbial form will be discovered on Mars within 2021. He also made it clear that humanity is not ready to accept the realities surrounding extraterrestrial existence.
