Ruben Chavarria

Koch Comp I

Comparison of essays

01/05/2023

With space being so vast, who knows what we could find out there, but I believe there is

a more significant question to be asked, how do we search for what we are looking for? In order

to answer this bigger question there must be an answer to what it is we are even looking for,

beings that would emit biosignatures, technosignatures, or maybe no signatures at all. In search

of possible answers for these questions, I will be exploring the thoughts and information brought

upon by different writers; in order to distinguish the diversity of new space search.

One major idea when it comes to search for extraterrestrial beings is the plausibility,

identifying factors that humans need to survive in our universe and separating them from the

possibilities out there is a major way to diversify the search. In Marcia Clemmitt’s 2014 paper,

“Search for Life On New Planets”, she brings up a lot of intriguing questions to our search of

habitable planets, but also focuses a lot on the public's opinion/involvement in said search.

Clemmitt firstly introduces the readers to a suggestion that life out in space isn't as crazy as one

might think, but then quickly transfers to the support of space exploration by a number of

nations. Soon after Clemmitt gave a significant detail to support the idea of extraterrestrial life,

such as inorganic chemicals transforming into organic molecules, she downplays this idea by

mentioning the chaotic nature of our galaxy. With our galaxy being so chaotic, Clemmitt comes

to the conclusion that maybe Earth is extremely unique, the one planet solely meant for complex

life forms. Although this is Clemmitt’s initial idea, soon enough she realized the possibility of

contrast that could be out in our cosmos, expanding her understanding from our limited

knowledge of habitability on other planets for life forms. Understanding that searches for life
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might be too conservative, Clemmitt stumbles onto her new daring question of whether robots or

human space missions are more suitable for the task of space exploration. In this topic, Clemmitt

sees both the advantages and disadvantages of each faction, almost as each side having parallel

problems and solutions to the other. Despite the fact that Clemmitt views robot space exploration

to be improving, she finishes off this topic with a quote that seems to be in favor of the

advantages of human space missions. After discussing the expenses and nations involvement

with space missions, Clemmitt links all of what she has written to the biggest issue that must be

addressed in order to go further on with space exploration, the need for cooperation. Clemmitt

rightfully argues that if one day we get any signal of extraterrestrial life, that it would be sent to

Earth, not just a portion of it. Clemmitt completes her final argument by comparing the need for

cooperation in space exploration with other struggles we face currently, such as climate change,

poverty, and resource depletion.

Las Cumbres Observatory first starts off this article by stating exactly what is meant

when “looking for extraterrestrial life”, as astrobiologists believe it to be the search for living

organisms originating from complex chemical bonds with carbon. After this clarification the

observatory opens up the idea that it is possible that not all life is DNA based, such as life on

Earth. Although the observatory has stated that extraterrestrial life might not be so similar to our

life, they still look at the likelihood of the need for water for life to arise. Another parallel to the

problem of the possible need for water is the existence of other liquids in space, brought up by

the observatory, but they also bring up that these other liquids don’t have the same properties

needed for the basis of life, as water does. The second main necessity that is thought, by the Las

Cumbres Observatory, to be needed for life to arise is the area in which life's planets would be in

their solar system. Usually stated as the habitable zone, the observatory believes this because if a
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planet is too close to its sun, then it would not be able to sustain water, therefore if a planet is too

far away from its sun, its water would not be able to stay liquid. The observatory also believes

that the size of a star would have a great effect on the possibility of life, stating that our star is

just the right size to allow life to develop. Besides the stars, the observatory has another habitable

zone in mind that could affect the chances of life, this being the Milky Way’s own habitable

zone, in which being very similar to the luck of Earth, our solar system seems to be just in the

right spot to possibly sustain life. Looking past these main threats to the possibility of

extraterrestrial life, the observatory mentions all of the smaller, but still significant, possible

necessities for life to arise. One of these smaller possible necessities being the importance of

another bigger planet in that solar system, like our relationship with Jupiter, this bigger planet

would attract many asteroids, moving them out of the way from their line of destruction. The

second smaller threat, stated by the observatory, is the recycling trend of the Earth's crust; this

keeps the carbon dioxide levels from getting too high or too low. With most of these worries

revolving around the first possible need of water, the observatory sticks to the thought that

extraterrestrial life has most, if not the same, needs as us humans.

In Jon Gertner’s 2022 article about the future to come for the search for intelligent life, he

starts the reader off with a flashback to the Galileo mission, which leads him to a thought of how

similar our signs as humans would be to extraterrestrial beings. Not only is Gertner thinking of

the similarities between signs, but also not being so conservative when looking for signals,

stating that we have started sweeping the sky for signals instead of assuming that they are

coming straight towards us. Another way that Gertner brings up open minded thinking is the

search for technosignatures, seeking out signs of civilization instead of being similar to us.

Gertner states the main source of all of this changed thinking, this being the new production of
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telescopes, these telescopes have given us a vast amount of new information about space. One

main telescope Gertner focuses on is the Webb telescope, this telescope has many advantages for

our search into space. Gertner states that with this new advanced telescope, we will need to

adjust to things never seen before. Even though technosignatures and biosignatures are aimed at

the same discovery, Gertner brings light to the fact that they are pursued by different scientific

communities. According to Gertner, biosignatures are overriding technosignatures, but he also

states that biosignatures might just point to marks of technology as well. Gertner interviews

Jason Wright, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Pen State, who considers the

plausibility of life, if it would even be complex life, and the challenges of biosignatures instead

of technosignatures. One thing that Wright states, while being interviewed by Gertner, are the

benefits of technosignatures, with their abundance and longer time spans, leading Wright to the

example of our tech in space. The last thing that Gertner brings up that might change the way of

thinking about the search for extraterrestrial life is if they would want to be found, leading to a

resolution of the paradox. This resolution is known as “the great filter”, this refers to the thought

that there are difficult points in any species evolution.

With each of these articles giving much information about extraterrestrial search, certain

points are made that each author goes deeper into. Before Marcia Clemmitt gets into Earth’s

relationship with extraterrestrial search, she browses the troubles that might make life unfeasible

anywhere else in space. Although Clemmitt mainly talks about the possibility of extraterrestrial

life, the involvement of humans in this search at the end of her article pointed out to me the

conservative ideas that us humans have when searching for signs of life. Although Clemmitt

already explores some of the feasibility of extraterrestrial life, Las Cumbres Observatory goes

further into detail, giving specifics. These specifics have some obstacles making life seem
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implausible, but not all are impossible. The last article, by John Gertner, might be the most

intriguing information found while researching this topic, with Gertner bringing light to things

like bio and techno signatures. The addition of these signatures adds more evidence to the

thought that space search is evolving from their conservative ways, with biosignatures being

more narrowed to signals closer to us humans, on the other hand the technosignatures lead us

closer to civilization.