There are 36 planets with civilizations on them in the whole galaxy according to a new study (article). That's a very low number for the number of stars we have, and every star we looked at so far had planets orbiting it. The galaxy is 105,700 light-years in diameter or 8.77 billion squared light-years in area not accounting for the thickness of the galactic disk. That is 243.7 million squared light-years per civilization. WTF? No wonder we never see each other. We would have to be able to search that much of deep space. We cannot even send a probe to the next star, Alpha Centauri (4.5 light-years away).
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| Blue Marble by EC Holm |
We are the biggest and baddest life we know. Earth has the only life we know about so far. We haven't found life anywhere else, but we are still holding out hope for Mars.
Earth is full of microbes down to the core. These are mostly the cause of methane from the ground. Mars has been found to have methane (article). There is a chance it has microbes hiding in its rocky depths. What if most planets have microbes that do the same? That would mean that life is abundant in the galaxy. In the 1990s, NASA JPL found microbial fossils in a meteorite that came from Mars (article). Though this is not conclusive evidence that Mars has microbes, it is strong evidence.
The Earth is full of microbes throughout its crust (article). This means something extraordinary. We never understood this before. It should have made more of a splash than it did. If the crust is full of life. When did life start? I suggest it didn't start on the surface in a pool of water. I suggest it started as the planet was forming, as the rocks, dust, water, and minerals were coming together in the Sun’s accretion disc that formed the Earth. Static electricity and other forces would no doubt be present at the time. Lightning at this time could spark the formation of amino acids which are essential for life. Here is an article supporting this idea. It is pure speculation how you get from amino acids to full-blown microbes of both bacterial and archaeal, but life does it. This scenario would result in widespread microbes on the crust both on the surface and below the new planet.
As a result of microbes exist throughout the crust of the planet, and methane emerges from the depths. Sure you may say what about abiotic methane. Well, most of Earth's methane is biotic, produced from organic material, and/or with the aid of microbes (article). Abiotic methane on Earth is rare. Methane outgassing has been observed on other planets in the solar system and assumed to be abiotic. What if it is biotic like on Earth? That could mean microbial life would be abundant in the universe. What a statement that would be.
If microbial life is abundant in the universe, then that gives a better chance for the other 35 civilizations to exist. Now wouldn't that be something? We are all formed out of the ground because the ground is alive. You can think about that the next time you are digging in your garden.
Much of this is based on assumptions, speculations, and a few facts. It is fun to think about the possibilities. It is also fun to watch science evolve like the new NASA rover to Mars, Perseverance. It is due to launch soon. Check out its mission page and follow along (mission page).
