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Unicellular organisms like Escherichia coli and yeast can grow and survive in an atmosphere like that of the type theorized to exist in many Rocky exoplanets, according to a new article.
Scientists would love to know if there is life elsewhere in the universe., and part of answering that question is determining what inhabits the exoplanet would look like our telescopes here on Earth. Do these planets have atmospheres like ours? HHow would the presence of life change these atmospheres? meIf life can survive in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere like that of the type expected to be found in many exoplanets, then scientists may need to broaden their definition of what a life-supporting planet might look like.
“This should open up, continue to press astronomers on what kind of planets might be habitable,” first study author and MIT professor Sara Seager told Gizmodo.. “We will have so few planets to search for life, even with our next sophisticated telescopes, that we want to keep the options open.”
The MIT team of researchers started colonies of E. coli bacteria and brewer’s yeast. They incubated the microorganisms in four bottles with different gas concentrations: one regularly air, one with 100 percent hydrogen, one with 100 percent helium, and one with 20 percent carbon dioxide and 80 percent nitrogen. the the microorganisms were able to play in all four bottles but they did at least twice as fast in the air than in other gases, according to paper published in Nature Astronomy.
No wonder a microorganism can survive without oxygen – many of the so-called anaerobic organisms live here. in Land. Some microorganisms can survive in the most extreme environments on the planet, like around deep water hydrothermal vents. But the researchers explain if microbes can survive 100 percent In the hydrogen environment, they can survive atmospheres most likely to be found on rocky exoplanets.
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Astronomers have not yet observed a rocky exoplanet with a hydrogen atmosphere, but they believe that rocky planets with atmospheres of hydrogen would be easier to detect and study than those with atmospheres of heavier gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Are pretty sure they will to see these planets and determine the composition of their atmospheres with upcoming telescopes, including The James Webb Space Telescope. Perhaps, according to this most recent study, scientists will be able to see signs of life on these hydrogen-dominated exoplanets, in the form of traces of gases emitted by microorganisms.
This does not mean that life definitely exists in such planets, and laboratory experiments are not exactly recreate what happens in nature. These E. coli and yeast cells started their lives (and evolved) on Earth’s nitrogen and rich in oxygen atmosphere. And the conditions at the laboratory are not the same as those on a real exo planetplanet the atmospheres would contain A mixture of gases due to the chemistry on its surface. To maintain a hydrogen-only atmosphere, these exoplanets either Has to be colder than Earth, have stronger gravity in its surface, or have a way to replenish the hydrogen in your atmosphere“And it’s hard to say what effect any of these changes would have on life.”
But this study still offers hope that life will be more diverse than what we see in Land, and if so, maybe the next round of telescopes can find it.
