A Planet’s Breathing Unveils the Mystery of Life ⚡ экспресс
Scientists search for life on distant planets by looking at gases in their atmospheres. But the mere presence of a gas doesn't yet mean it was produced by living organisms—chemistry and climate can confuse everything. A new method allows tracking gases back to their source on the surface, as if by smell we could find where it comes from. In a test on an imaginary planet, methane was linked to possible life. Will we ever be able to say for sure whether we are alone in the Universe?
The smell of fresh bread says a bakery is near. But to know if baking is happening right now, it’s the intensity of the scent — a stream of aroma from the oven — that matters, not just the smell itself. Same goes for hunting life on other planets. Before, we’d merely measure how much “living” gas was in the air — like judging the baking solely by the room’s aroma. But gases also pile up from non-living processes. The new method clocks how fast gases escape the surface, as if tracking the hot air gushing from an oven: a steady, warm flow means something’s baking inside. That’s how fresh microbial emissions get separated from ancient reservoirs. Scientists tried the idea on a model of planet TRAPPIST-1 e — a twin of early Earth. A virtual telescope captured light fingerprints of the atmosphere, and the model computed the fluxes. It nailed carbon dioxide and methane, with the methane flux pointing to living producers at 80% probability. It’s not a verdict, but a weighty clue. We’re after not just traces of life, but its breathing — right now.
🎯 In deep time (2.5–4 billion years ago), Earth life was already busily pumping out methane, but oxygen was nearly absent. An alien telescope would spot not oxygen but methane paired with carbon dioxide — exactly as in this study.
🎬 Sci-fi devices that instantly sniff out life from the air just got a step closer: this method brings smart atmospheric scanners nearer to reality.