Hunt For Life Beyond Earth

Hi everyone,

I'm reading an exciting article from the National Geographic.

So, they say that one of the oldest questions may be answered in our lifetime: ARE WE ALONE?

Discoveries are more and more numerous.
Europa's frozen, fissured surface, seen from Galileo spacecraft, hides liquid ocean that may hold all the ingredients needed for life.
A few years ago, scientists said that a planet were life could be found was mandatorily the size of Earth, the distance of Earth to the star, etc. Assertions are different nowadays: the ranges of size, and distance, and temperature are far wider...
A few years ago, scientists said water was absolutely needed for life; we now know it's not the case as we discovered, on our Earth, several combinations leading to several possible ecosystems... 2 experiments are current, permitting in-depth study of this revolution (very different ecosystems): a cavity around Mexico showing life in sulfuric acid, can you imagin?


A bunch of what were separated domains are combined in what is termed "geomicrobiology".

Howdy,

The story began in November 1961 when Frank Drake, a young radio-astronomer, organized a meeting, managing to bring in a handful of astronomers, chemists, biologists...

Before his guests arrived, Drake scribbled an equation on the blackboard.


So Drake asked the attendees to solve the equation, finding all of the factors...
At the time of '61, the first factor only could be estimated - R^* - the formation rate of sunlike stars.
It would be a third of a century before scientists could even begin to put rough estimates into the equation.

Hi Gérard everyone.
yes life beyond earth has always been a dream for humanity. Thanks Gérard for writing about that subject.  As I don't understand much Drake's equation I have asked Google and found that
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28295042

Michael Merrifield a professor of astronomy at the University of Nottingham told 5 live Breakfast, "probably in the next 10 or 20 years we'll find life elsewhere".

I hope to be still alive when it happens.