Even though scientists have not found any concrete evidence of alien life yet, space agencies like NASA continue their efforts to make the first contact with extraterrestrials that might be living in deep space. But now, Peter Ward, an evolutionary biologist has claimed that humans are the only advanced beings in the universe.
Is earth the only planet that could host life?
Ward believes that only earth has the right mixture of oceans and continents, which makes this planet the perfect place for harbouring life. Even though seas are widely considered the cradles of life, advanced beings like humans can be only seen on land, and this single factor alone minimizes the chances of finding similar alien beings in distant planets.
Ward argued that most of the exoplanets which are considered potential candidates to find alien life are tidally locked, and with just one side permanently facing their stars. He believes that the earth's habitability will be questioned if the planet is tidally locked to the sun.
"Earth would not be Earth if it was tidally locked. Nor could any such planet have animal life unless. No one has tested whether a tidally locked planet could maintain an ocean. The heat on one side and cold on the other would produce wind speeds beyond anything we can observe on Earth," said Ward, Daily Star reports.
However, considering the vastness of the universe, Ward revealed that there could be advanced alien beings in the universe, but available evidence garnered by modern science until now states that humans and earth are unique.
The potential of searching Europa
Even though there could not be any advanced life forms, Monica Grady, a professor of planetary and space science at Liverpool Hope University claims that Jupiter's moon Europa is the perfect choice to search any kind of extraterrestrial life. She also believes that alien life, mostly in its microbial form will be present under the surface of Mars.
In the meantime, NASA chief scientist Dr Jim Green believes that aliens will be discovered within 2021 on Mars. He also made it clear that humans are not ready to accept realities surrounding alien existence.
